The War of the Worlds (1953) | |
| Director(s) | Byron Haskin |
| Producer(s) | George Pal, Cecil B. DeMille (executive uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Action, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller/Suspense |
| Top Topics | Aliens, Book-Based |
Featured Cast:
The War of the Worlds Overview:
The War of the Worlds (1953) was a Action - Horror Film directed by Byron Haskin and produced by Cecil B. DeMille and George Pal.
The film was based on the novel War of the Worlds written by H. G. Wells published in 1898.
SYNOPSIS
H. G. Wells's 1898 novella of Martian invasion terrified radio audiences with Orson Welles's Mercury Theater production (1938) and this film adaptation continues to be a science-fiction favorite. Special-effects maestro Pal set the screen version in the U.S. (just as Welles did) as Martians looking for a new home land in the desert in what appear to be meteors and make a worldwide assault, easily defeating the human weapons, until they encounter a microscopic line of defense. Russian director Sergey Eisenstein was briefly considered for the project!
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.The War of the Worlds was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2011.
Academy Awards 1953 --- Ceremony Number 26 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Film Editing | Everett Douglas | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
1001 Classic Movies: The War of the Worlds (1953)
By Amanda Garrett on Oct 13, 2017 From Old Hollywood FilmsThe War of the Worlds (1953) is one of the 1001 classic movies you should see. This science fiction classic shows a Martian army (the creature in the photo) destroying downtown Los Angeles. Each week, I'm going to recommend a classic movie you should see (for the reasons behind the 1001 series ... Read full article
George Pal's Production of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds
By Rick29 on Jun 26, 2016 From Classic Film & TV CafeThe Martian machines and their force fields. H.G. Wells purists may quibble with George Pal's 1953 production of The War of the Worlds. True enough, little remains of the novel's original plot. However, Pal and director Byron Haskin successfully balance the large-scale scope of the Earth's desperat... Read full article
George Pal's Production of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds
By Rick29 on Jun 26, 2016 From Classic Film & TV CafeThe Martian machines and their force fields. H.G. Wells purists may quibble with George Pal's 1953 production of The War of the Worlds. True enough, little remains of the novel's original plot. However, Pal and director Byron Haskin successfully balance the large-scale scope of the Earth's desperat... Read full article
Now on Netflix: The War of the Worlds
By Amanda Garrett on Jan 7, 2015 From Old Hollywood FilmsThe groundbreaking science fiction classic The War of the Worlds is now available for streaming on Netflix. Director: Byron Haskin. Stars: Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. The plot: Martians invade a small town in California before beginning their invasion of earth. The bottom line: Produce... Read full article
The War of the Worlds (1953) with Gene Barry
By Greg Orypeck on Jan 8, 2014 From Classic Film FreakShare This! ?If they?re mortal, they must have mortal weaknesses. They?ll be stopped, somehow.???Gene Barry The original version of The War of the Worlds was a product of the horror/science fiction films of the 1950s following World War II and expressing latent fears of the hydrogen bomb and Russi... Read full article
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Quotes from
Commentary: No one would have believed in the middle of the 20th Century that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than Man's. Yet, across the gulf of space on the planet Mars, intellects vast and cool and unsypathetic regarded our Earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely joined their plans against us. Mars is more than 140 million miles from the sun, and for centuries has been in the last status of exhaustion. At night, temperatures drop far below zero even at its equator. Inhabitants of this dying planet looked across space with instruments and intelligences that which we have scarcely dreamed, searching for another world to which they could migrate.
Commentary: The Martians had calculated their descent with amazing perfection and subtlety. As more of their cylinders came from the mysterious depths of space, their war machines, awesome in their power and complexity, created a wave of fear throughout the world.
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Facts about
The estate of H.G. Wells was so pleased with the final production that they offered George Pal his choice of any other Wells' property. Pal chose The Time Machine.
The Martian machines are always seen marching from screen right to screen left with the exception of the sequence that contains the montage of the international efforts against the Martians.
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