A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.
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Title: The War of the Worlds (1953)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Gene Barry | ... | Dr. Clayton Forrester | |
| Ann Robinson | ... | Sylvia Van Buren | |
| Les Tremayne | ... | Maj. Gen. Mann | |
| Robert Cornthwaite | ... | Dr. Pryor (as Bob Cornthwaite) | |
 |
Sandro Giglio | ... | Dr. Bilderbeck |
|
|
Lewis Martin | ... | Pastor Dr. Matthew Collins |
|
|
Houseley Stevenson Jr. | ... | Gen. Mann's Aide (as Housely Stevenson Jr.) |
| Paul Frees | ... | Second Radio Reporter / Opening Announcer | |
| William Phipps | ... | Wash Perry (as Bill Phipps) | |
|
|
Vernon Rich | ... | Col. Ralph Heffner |
| Henry Brandon | ... | Cop at Crash Site | |
| Jack Kruschen | ... | Salvatore | |
| Cedric Hardwicke | ... | Commentary (voice) (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke) | |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Cliff Clark | ... | Australian Policeman (scenes deleted) | |
|
|
Rudy Lee | ... | Boy (scenes deleted) |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
H.G. Wells' classic novel is brought to life in this tale of alien invasion. The residents of a small town in California are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills. Their joy is tempered somewhat when they discover that it has passengers who are not very friendly. Written by KC Hunt <khunt@eng.morgan.edu>
Taglines:
Mighty panorama of Earth-shaking fury as an army from Mars invades! See more »Parents Guide:
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See more on IMDbPro »
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
26 August 1953 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Kampf der Welten See more »Filming Locations:
Westminster Presbyterian Church - 1757 North Lake Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$2,000,000 (estimated)Gross USA:
$4,360,000Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
3 Channel Stereo (Western Electric Recording) (5.0) (L-R)Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1
Edit
Radio Reporter: [voiceover] In the First World War, and for the first time in the history of man, nations combined to fight against nations using the crude weapons of those days. The Second World War involved every continent on the globe, and men turned to science for new devices of warfare, which reached an unparalleled peak in their capacity for destruction. And now, fought with the terrible weapons of super-science, menacing all mankind and every creature on the Earth comes the War of the Worlds.
See more »
(uncredited)
Written by Elsie Janis and Jack King
Played over the opening logo
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Gene Barry later admitted that acting in the film was was very trying, since he never saw the Martian ships while filming his scenes and had to react blindly to special effects shots that were added later. See more »Goofs
When Clayton's plane crashes, a rope can be seen pulling the tail of the plane to the side. See more »Quotes
[first lines]Radio Reporter: [voiceover] In the First World War, and for the first time in the history of man, nations combined to fight against nations using the crude weapons of those days. The Second World War involved every continent on the globe, and men turned to science for new devices of warfare, which reached an unparalleled peak in their capacity for destruction. And now, fought with the terrible weapons of super-science, menacing all mankind and every creature on the Earth comes the War of the Worlds.
See more »
Soundtracks
Paramount on Parade(uncredited)
Written by Elsie Janis and Jack King
Played over the opening logo
See more »
Frequently Asked Questions
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Before Independence Day there was THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, based on the classic book by H.G. Wells and motivated by the mass hysteria created by the 1939 radio broadcast. Intense special effects for it's day and featuring a realistic approach to how to handle an alien invasion. The writers of ID4 must have been influenced by this one.
This movie moves fast as US military forces quickly realize their obselecence vs the superior Martian technology. Humans begin giving up the fight and are all but ready to surrender to the onslaught. Then, the suprise ending ID4 chose to modify for todays standards.
The movie keeps well inline with the book, I think the only major discrepency is that the Aliens didn't use Chemical weapons in the movie. (maybe a wise choice by Hollywood)