There is a story, which may or may not be true, that in the 1930's Alfred Hitchcock set out to film a novel by H. G. Wells. The novel was War of the Worlds. However Mr. Hitchcock never shot it. He was dissuaded by the author. Wells said that the story was simply too dated (the subsequent versions have been so radically altered that little remains of the original tale). However, I don't think that Hitchcock ever lost his fascination with a literary output of Wells.
Hitchcock never got Wells out of his system for the big screen. Instead he turned to the small screen for this H. G. Wells story of The Magic Shop.
I've heard speculation through the years that Hitchcock filmed this under protest. The network wanted spookier fare to appeal to the teen demographic. I think that's ridiculous. The Master of Suspense knew just what he was doing and did it.
Still, it's a shame. I would loved to have seen Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart battling Martians.
Hitchcock never got Wells out of his system for the big screen. Instead he turned to the small screen for this H. G. Wells story of The Magic Shop.
I've heard speculation through the years that Hitchcock filmed this under protest. The network wanted spookier fare to appeal to the teen demographic. I think that's ridiculous. The Master of Suspense knew just what he was doing and did it.
Still, it's a shame. I would loved to have seen Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart battling Martians.