The Swarm (1978) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 13, 1978

Irwin Allen's production of The Swarm is one of the crown jewels of my childhood. The pre-release hype and ballyhoo was impressive, causing the "killer bee" fear mongering of the late-seventies to reach a fever pitch. I had the movie-tie edition of the Arthur Herzog novel and examined each and every black and white photo, wondering if this movie would do for bees was Jaws had done for sharks.

Then the movie opened and, well, the rancid stench of flop sweat and fresh turkey manure filled empty theaters across the nation. Ineptly made and poorly written, The Swarm is a bombastic mess of a movie that was woefully out of touch with the era in which it was made and set. The meandering plot wanders and drifts at a pace that makes a glacial seem like a speed run.

Allen seems to have spent most of his big budget on wrangling an all star cast that, despite all having done solid to great work elsewhere, give performances here that range from wooden to operatically over the top. I think Michael Caine and Richard Widmark, who spend a majority of the film arguing with each other, made bet as to who could chew the most scenery and boy do the splinters fly when they  go at each other.

One of the many joys this film has given is the gleeful delight whenever I take the Warner Bros Studio tour. Being able to see and walk around the raw material with which "Marysville, Texas" was created on the Burbank backlot is an intoxicating joy that will forever have me wanting to take just one more tour and just a few more pictures.