A Review by Phil Calabro
1953, Paramount Pictures, Dir. Byron Haskin – Starring Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Robert Cornthwaithe, Sandro Giglio, Lewis Martin, Houseley Stevenson Jr, Paul Frees, William Phipps, Vernon Rich, Henry Brandon, Jack Kruschen, Cedric Hardwicke
It has only recently occurred to me how many movies made in the 1950s, mostly from the horror and science fiction genres, have had the most blantant analogies to Cold War feuds buried within the plots. We've had 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', and now the most relevant case, 'The War of the Worlds'. Originally acquired by Paramount in 1934, with the idea of having Orson Welles star in the story he made famous, it was shelved for years until the studio found reason to film it. As far as 1950 sci-fi movies go, this is one of the more monumental features, exhibiting a great use of special effects and suspense that even Spielberg must have taken a lot of inspiration from. Here we have an alien invasion movie done right, and even though it was made more than 50 years ago, it still manages to provide some incredible scares. It's a Cold War edition of 'Independence Day', a SFX festival for the older audiences. It captures the paranoia and fear of obseletism against the Russian opposition that floated amongst American households, deep in the guise of enormous spaceships and tarsier-esque creatures.
It's 1954 in America , and an enormous chunk of rock described as a meteor crashed into the Southern California valleys. Dr. Clayton Forrester ( Berry), a scientist in the Los Angeles area, comes to inspect the rock and doesn't believe it's a meteor due to its high radioactive level. But on one particular night, the rock breaks open, and one by one, enormous spaceships break out. More spaceships arrive, and by then, they are prepared to do battle with the hopeless earthlings. Gravitated by magnetic levitation, the aliens blast their way through the valleys and farmlands, destroying everything in sight. Forrester and his newfound friend Sylvia Van Buren (Robinson), trump their way into the city trying to find a way to stop them. After the military fails, air strikes fails, and even the atomic factor fails, the earthlings have not much more to hope for. All they can do is defend themselves and pray for mercy.
Is there much to say about the acting here? I can't expect to much from a 1950s horror movie, because it's generally stock actors typed for these genres. Gene Barry plays Clayton Forrester in regular hammish mode, a very thoroughbred and intelligent man who can instantly transform his upper-class mannerisms into bravador heroism. He's every household father molded into one, including the classic Mr. Cleaver pipe. Of course, becoming a ham can lower your personality growth, so it's hard to tell when he's upset or when he's just curious. Ann Robinson is just obligatory as a love interest in 'The War of the Worlds', and doesn't do anymore than provide the scream factor for the movie. She's got quite a set of vocal chords, so her job is done when she's told to screech like there's no tomorrow. She almost deafened me the first time around.
The special effects are very impressive considering the time they were made – they almost looked identical to Spielberg's vision of the machines, and acting the exact same way. The suspense is very familiar to the kitschy jolt-horrors that plagued the box office this winter, but in a subtle fashion for me to appreciate. Like the 2005 edition, director Byron Haskin keeps the aliens in their spaceships for most of the time, and only reveals them when dire for a scare – and that's only once. This is a prime example of how a director knows how to scare an audience, which makes 'War' such a prime book to adapt for the screen. The final scene is rip-roaring, totaling the complete destruction of Los Angeles, ripping apart the building complexes with a fashionable touch. This may be the 21th century, but this movie still was a blast to watch. The metaphorical aspects to the Russians is slight but noticeable – it's never mentioned as a country being plagued by the aliens, so it's logical for us to assume they themselves could be the opposition.
'The War of the Worlds' is a classical B-list horror movie that has to be savored in little drops. To some it's just another clunky and loud horror movie with a few cool effects, but it's something larger than that to me. It's a response to the mentality of Americans in a time where World War II had finally simmered down, but new enemies were coming into view. Scary, but prophetic in some manner. It's a silly little movie that's still worth a trip to the drive-in.
