All Movie Guide
This gripping 1979 drama about the dangers of nuclear power carried an extra jolt when a real-life accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania occurred just weeks after the film opened. Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) is a TV reporter trying to advance from fluff pieces to harder news. Wells and cameraman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas, who also produced) are doing a story on energy when they happen to witness a near-meltdown at a local nuclear plant, averted only by quick-thinking engineer Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon). While Wells and Adams fruitlessly attempt to get the story on their station, Godell begins his own investigation and discovers that corporate greed and cost-trimming have led to potentially deadly faults in the plant’s construction. He provides evidence of the faulty equipment, which could lead to another meltdown (the “China syndrome” of the title), to the station’s soundman to deliver to Wells and Adams at a hearing on nuclear power. However, on the way to the hearing, the soundman is run off the road by evil henchmen, leading Godell to realize that his own life is threatened, possibly by his bosses at the plant. Driven to the edge of a breakdown, Godell takes over the plant’s control room at gunpoint and demands to reveal his findings on TV. The plant’s management, however, has other plans, and the facility itself is becoming dangerously unstable. Whether or not you agree with the film’s clear anti-nuclear bias, its sobering message and riveting, realistic story and performances are still difficult to ignore. Don Kaye
Directed by
James Bridges
Writing credits
Mike Gray (written by) &
T.S. Cook (written by) and
James Bridges (written by)
Jane Fonda … Kimberly Wells
Jack Lemmon … Jack Godell
Michael Douglas … Richard Adams
Scott Brady … Herman De Young
James Hampton … Bill Gibson
Peter Donat … Don Jacovich
Wilford Brimley … Ted Spindler
Richard Herd … Evan McCormack
Daniel Valdez … Hector Salas
Stan Bohrman … Pete Martin
James Karen … Mac Churchill
Michael Alaimo … Greg Minor
Donald Hotton … Dr. Lowell
Khalilah Ali … Marge
Paul Larson … D.B. Royce
Ron Lombard … Barney
Tom Eure … Tommy
Nick Pellegrino … Borden
Daniel Lewk … Donny
Allan Chinn … Holt
Martin Fiscoe … Control Guard
Alan Kaul … TV Director
Michael Mann … TV Consultant
David Eisenbise … Technical Director
Frank Cavestani … News Reporter
Reuben Collins … Sportscaster
E. Hampton Beagle … Mort
David Pfeiffer … David
Lewis Arquette … Hatcher
Dennis McMullen … Robertson
Rita Taggart … Rita Jacovich
James Hall … Harmon
Carol Schlanger … Waitress (as Carol Helvey)
Trudy Lane … Alma Spindler
Jack Smith Jr. … Tom
David Arnsen … KXLA Cameraman
Betty Harford … Woman at Demonstration
Donald Bishop … Hearings Chairman
Al Baietti … Pro-Nuclear Witness
Diandra Morrell … Sasha
Darrell Larson … Young Demonstrator
Roger Pancake … Gate Guard
Joe Lowry … Security Agent
Harry M. Williams … Fire Rescue
Dennis Barker … Jaws of Life
Joseph Garcia … Highway Patrolman
James Kline … Jim
Alan Beckwith … Technician
Clay Hodges … SWAT Squad Leader
Val Clenard … Val Clenard