The War of the Worlds (1953)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Byron Haskin

Writers:

H.G. Wells (novel)
Barré Lyndon (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 August 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Amazing! terrifying! The most savage spectacle of all time!

Plot:

The film adaptation of the H.G.Wells story told on radio of the invasion of Earth by Martians.

Plot Keywords:

Martian | Invasion | Cold War | Panic | Meteor

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 5

2:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Gene Barry	...	Dr. Clayton Forrester
Ann Robinson	...	Sylvia Van Buren
Les Tremayne	...	Maj. Gen. Mann
Robert Cornthwaite	...	Dr. Pryor (as Bob Cornthwaite)
Sandro Giglio	...	Dr. Bilderbeck
Lewis Martin	...	Pastor Dr. Matthew Collins
Houseley Stevenson Jr.	...	Gen. Mann's aide
Paul Frees	...	Second Radio Reporter / Opening Announcer
William Phipps	...	Wash Perry (as Bill Phipps)
Vernon Rich	...	Col. Ralph Heffner
Henry Brandon	...	Cop at Crash Site
Jack Kruschen	...	Salvatore
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Commentary (voice) (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cliff Clark	...	Australian Policeman (scenes deleted)
Rudy Lee	...	Boy (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording) (35 mm optical prints) | 3 Channel Stereo (Western Electric Multi-Track Magnetic Stereophonic) (35 mm magnetic prints)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16011) (original rating) | Netherlands:12 | Spain:T | Germany:16 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | USA:G (re-rating) (1977) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1954) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | Canada:G

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cecil B. DeMille was due to direct the film when the rights were originally purchased in 1925, and Alfred Hitchcock was to direct a proposed version in the 1930s.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the mob hijacks Forrester's truck, he runs over to a couple of MPs and says to the one standing, "They've got to be stopped. Those instruments!", then turns to go. As he starts to leave, the MP clearly begins to follow him, but in the very next shot of Forrester fighting his way back to the truck, not only is the one MP not behind him, but both MPs have completely disappeared from the scene.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Radio Reporter: [voiceover] In the First World War, and for the first time in the history of man, nations combined to fight against nations using the crude weapons of those days. The Second World War involved every continent on the globe, and men turned to science for new devices of warfare, which reached an unparalleled peak in their capacity for destruction. And now, fought with the terrible weapons of super-science, menacing all mankind and every creature on the Earth comes the War of the Worlds.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "M*A*S*H: War of Nerves (#6.4)" (1977)

the little men in lime green machines

HG Wells' futuristic novel responds well to the Technicolor splashed on it in this 50s B classic. Gene Barry over emotes in the lead now and then but the martian invasion is handled very well and the tension rises to the final scenes where the surviving populace huddle in the church as the buildings crash and burn around them.

'War of the Worlds' deserves its place as both a highly regarded novel and a well-remembered movie. Byron Haskin and George Pal did a great job in visualising the apocalyptic bits of Wells' text, while still making the end result enjoyable and interesting for the viewer.

Recommended for fans of intellectualised science fiction.