The War of the Worlds (1953)

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 | Atomic Bomb | Alien Invasion | Panic

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Dec. 26

12:30 AM

AMC

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)

Also Known As:

La guerre des mondes (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Kampf der Welten (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Dünyalar çarpisiyor (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Klodernes kamp (Denmark) [da]
La guerra de los mundos (Spain) [es]
La guerra dei mondi (Italy) [it]
Maailmojen sota (Finland) [fi]
Oorlog der werelden (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Rat svetova (Serbia) [sr]
Världarnas krig (Sweden) [sv]
Wojna swiatów (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (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:

The disintegration of Col. Heffner took 144 individual mattes. Earlier in the scene, the stuntman that portrayed the soldier catching on fire was badly burned from the flames getting out of control.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When the scientist are are about to project an image using the Martian lens there are two separate shadows from the boom and mike. As soon as the projector screen is pulled down there is a shadow from the boom that goes across the entire screen. At that same moment the shadow from the mike can be seen on the wall to the left of the projector screen.

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:

Featured in Monster Mania (1997) (TV)

One word: CLASSIC!

George Pal redeems himself after the appalling special effects from "When Worlds Collide" by giving us one of the best science fiction movies from the 1950's. Without the use of Industrial Light & Magic or THX, George Pal created the near-perfect illusion of flying swan-like Martian machines attacking the Earth. (Near-perfect because you can faintly see the wires) Ann Robinson gives a BRILLIANT performance as "The damsel in distress". Sandro Giglio (from "When Worlds Collide") returns as one of the scientists. Also Leith Stevens returns from "When Worlds Collide" to provide the music. You'll notice too that some of the footage from this movie comes from "When Worlds Collide". I must add...look for George Pal & Byron Haskins as the hobos listening to the radio.