Movie Review: The War of the Worlds (1953) directed by Byron Haskin
It is the mid-Twentieth Century, and what appears to be a meteor lands near a small town in rural California. Among the people that come to see the object is Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry), a physicist from the Pacific Institute who’d been fishing nearby. He meets Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson), a library science teacher from Minnesota who’s been visiting her uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins (Lewis Martin). The crashed object, clearly not a normal meteor, is still too hot to examine, so Dr. Forrester goes with Sylvia to a square dance. The deputies assigned to guard the site are the first to see that part of the object is unscrewing itself, and are the first to die from the Martian death ray.
For it turns out the object is a Martian spacecraft, the first of many sent to invade the Earth. They have declared war, a war of the worlds!
This classic science fiction movie is based on the also classic novel by H.G. Wells, reviewed earlier on this blog. It was comparatively high-budget for the time, and shot in Technicolor. Wisely, given technical limitations of the time, the story swaps out the much loved Tripods for flying machines for the Martians (even then you can sometimes spot the wires.) And because human weapons technology had advanced so quickly in the sixty or so years since the book was written (atom bombs!) the Martians were given force fields to re-uneven the playing field.
The acting is competent, some of the bit characters are broadly drawn, but not actually embarrassing. Sir Cecil Hardwicke does a good job as narrator, keeping us updated on events around the world (with special attention to Britain in a nod to the source material. I also liked Paul Frees’ opening announcement with art of other planets as imagined by Chesley Bonestell.
A lot of the political and philosophical subtext from the novel is missing from the movie. And it has a much more positive religious subtext. Neither the military nor scientists can put a scratch on the Martian war machines, and the scientists are forestalled from even trying towards the end by panicked and greedy looters. But church prayers seem to be answered at the last moment by God’s tiniest servants, bacteria. Plus the pastor who dies trying to interact peacefully with the Martians towards the beginning is framed as brave rather than stupid.
Overall, an excellent special effects extravaganza well worth a watch. Sit down with some popcorn, soda and maybe some chocolate-covered raisins for a good old-fashioned movie experience.
