Tilting The Earth
Guest and the rest didn't do much homework.
When McKern's science correspondent `speculates' that the planet may have been further tilted, he was way behind the obvious. Several things would have left no doubt at all.
Firstly, the Earth's core is a gigantic ball of iron lying in a hot slurry. It's the densest part of the planet and massive. So if the body of the planet had swung, the core's own inertia would have left it more or less in the same place. This would have caused the magnetic pole to remain in-situ, but the tilted planet would have resulted in a relative shift of hundreds of miles. Every compass and any scientific apparatus dependant on magnetic field would therefore have been out of kilter. In 1961, many larger vessels were using radar and RDF to establish their positions. But these were not always practicable in the middle of the ocean. Most small vessels and private yachts still employed `dead reckoning', which required charts, a compass and also a sextant. There was no sat-nav in 1961.
Regarding the sextant: a tilt in the planet would have caused the sun, moon and all stars to suddenly change latitude, making a complete mockery of day to day navigation.
That same phenomenon would have affected hundreds of astronomical telescopes throughout the world. Their `equatorial mounts', using an axis parallel to the world's, enables them to track cellestial objects day by day and night after night - especially radio-telescopes. Once again; they'd suddenly be finding themselves out of kilter. Even today, most amateur astronomers' rule of thumb for celestial polarity in the northern hemisphere is Polaris - the north polar star. Suddenly it wouldn't be, and all `equatorial mounts' would inexplicably need adjusting. Astronomers are meticulous observers, and they talk.
Likewise, the change in latitude would effectively create a change in season and climate. That bit they got right, but it would also have caused a lengthening or shortening of the day, depending upon northern or southern latitude. Film-makers might not spot that, but you can bet that farmers would.
And finally, returning to the inertia issue; like the centre of the Earth only moreso, the oceans are fluid too. If the Earth shifted suddenly over a period of a few days, the sextillions of tons of water would lag behind, causing a colossal `reverse-flow' spring tide. Then they would flow back, with the added impetus of a restoring moment, and we would see the sort of inundations depicted in `The Day After Tomorrow'. No seaboard city - including London - would be spared. That wouldn't have been a bank of mist oozing up the Thames, but a vast wall of water.
Great movie - shame about the science.