George Pal's Production of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds

The 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 desperate struggle for survival with vignettes that capture the humanity of mankind. In doing so, they created one of the most influential science fiction films of the 1950s.

Gene Barry as Forrester.

Gene Barry stars as Dr. Clayton Forrester, an astro physicist from the Pacific Institute of Science and Technology, whose fishing trip is interrupted when a meteor lands in a small California town. At the meteor site, Forrester meets Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson), an attractive USC library science teacher. In a classic "meet cute," she starts babbling about the great Clayton Forrester--unaware that she is talking with him.

The meteor, of course, turns out be one of many Martian spacecrafts sent as part of an epic invasion. In no time at all, cities like Paris are crumbling to the ground as the Earth's weapons prove useless against the invaders' most advanced technology. Can the Earth be saved?

The combat scenes remain impressive today with the Martians' triangular black-and-green war machines flitting over the battleground as they fire their incinerating death rays. Not surprisingly, these striking scenes earned The War of the Worlds an Oscar for Best Special Effects. It was nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Sound--and should have won the latter. It did win an award for sound from the Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA.

The uncredited SFX team used no computer digital technology!

A Martian hand on Robinson.

Despite its technical achievements, it's the more intimate scenes that give War of the Worlds its emotional strength. In fact, there are four that stand out for me on each viewing. Two are justly famous: (1) the scene where the priest walks fearlessly toward the aliens--Bible in hand, reciting a prayer--only to be obliterated; (2) the deserted farmhouse sequence with Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, in which she comes face-to-face with one of the Martians.

The other two scenes of note are less widely praised, but equally impressive. The first occurs when, as a last resort, the U.S. military uses an atomic bomb to stop the Martians...only to watch in futility as an alien craft emerges from a cloud of debris ("Guns, tanks, bombs--they're like toys against them," says a general). The final scene I'll mention occurs near the climax when Forrester, who has been separated from Sylvia, finds her in a church as Los Angeles faces imminent destruction. With explosions lighting up the church's stained glass windows, a loud crashing sound causes everyone in the church to instinctively drop to the ground--except for Forester and Sylvia who remain standing in their embrace.

Playwright Barré Lyndon, who penned the screenplay, incorporates strong religious themes throughout the film. Examples include the scenes with the priest and in the church, the pending Armageddon, and even the narration that describes how the Martians were finally defeated.

Michael Rennie as the good alien Klaatu.

The 1950s remains the peak decade for science fiction films with bona fide classics like The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Thing, Forbidden Planet, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The War of the Worlds can't top any of those four, but making it into the top 5 is an impressive achievement.

By the way, Ann Robinson reprised her role as Sylvia 36 years later in three episodes of the funky syndicated TV series War of the Worlds.

Textbook Survival: Robinson Crusoe on Mars

I could have sworn that Robinson Crusoe on Mars was produced by George Pal. However, as a recent viewing confirmed, Pal played no role in the making of this 1964 cult classic. If it seems like a Pal picture, that's because it was directed by Byron Haskin. A former special effects wizard, Haskin teamed up with Pal for four movies, including The War of the Worlds (1953) and personal favorites The Naked Jungle (1964) and The Power (1968). Both men shared a love of visual science fiction and fantasy, a trait that's readily obvious in Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

Paul Mantee as Christopher Draper.

Inspired by Daniel Defoe's novel, the film's premise is established quickly when a meteor forces the two astronauts of the Mars Gravity Probe 1 to abandon their spaceship and land on the Red Planet. Colonel Dan McReady (Adam West) perishes when his escape module crashes. However, his friend Christopher Draper (Paul Mantee) survives--along with a monkey named Mona. With his oxygen and water supplies dwindling with each day, Draper seems destined to die, too. But the astronaut, to his own surprise, proves to be remarkably resourceful. He discovers a rock that burns and gives off oxygen. He finds shelter in a cave. Observing that Mona never drinks water, he follows her and finds an underground lake--and an edible plant.

Mona plays a key role in Draper's survival.

Like its source novel and many film variations (e.g., Cast Away), a large chunk of the running time is devoted to Draper's lonely existence. We "hear" Draper's thoughts as he talks into his tape recorder or discourses with Mona. After four months, he notes that he has conquered all challenges except the biggest one: loneliness. In one of the film's best scenes, he even imagines the survival of his friend McReady.

Director Haskin creates a colorful Martian world, with deserts and mountains set against a bright red sky. Fireballs zip across the surface and winds whisper eerily throughout the night. It's a mysterious world, but also one devoid of any living creatures--until alien spaceships appear and begin mining some of the planet's ore. That sets the stage for the arrival of Friday (Victor Lundin).

With only three human characters and a monkey, Paul Mantee is left with carrying most of the film by himself. A journeyman actor, Mantee creates a vivid portrait of an "everyman." In a 1988 interview with Tom Weaver, Robinson Crusoe on Mars co-writer Ib Melchoir noted: "There is some advantage, when watching a film of this sort, in not seeing a major star in it... The film was more believable that way."

Lundin as Friday.

Unfortunately, Robinson Crusoe on Mars did not perform well enough at the boxoffice to further Mantee's career. The actor guest starred in numerous television series in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, he joined the cast of Cagney and Lacey as Detective Al Corassa. Later, he also had a recurring role on The A Team as Commander Tom Clayton. Mantee died in 2013, as did his Crusoe co-star Victor Lundin.

War of the World fans will note
a spacecraft similarity!

The film's true star, though, is director Byron Haskin. He began his Hollywood career in the 1920s, later worked with David O. Selznick, and directed his most famous movie, The War of the Worlds, when he was 54. Either Haskin had a natural talent for science fiction cinema or he was very good at picking the right properties. In addition to Robinson Crusoe on Mars and The War of the Worlds, he helmed Pal's underrated The Power and two of the best episodes of The Outer Limits TV series ("Demon With a Glass Hand" and The Architects of Fear).

As for Robinson Crusoe on Mars, it has evolved into a cult classic. It even got the highbrow treatment when Criterion released a deluxe blu-ray in 2011 packed with bonus features, such as commentary by screenwriter Ib Melchoir and stars Paul Mantee and Victor Lundin.