The War Of The Worlds
Science Fiction
Paramount Pictures  (1953) 85 mins Approved

7.2 (9,563 votes)
Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) is a scientist spending a vacation in a small town in California when a meteor lands in the hills nearby. But this is actually the first step in an invasion of Earth by the forces of Mars, who are soon sweeping across the land in their unstoppable war machines. Dr. Forrester barely escapes the slaughter with Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson), another survivor from the town, and both make their way to Los Angeles as humanity's hopes for survival grow ever dimmer....

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Cast and Crew
Gene Barry  ......  Dr. Clayton Forrester
Robert Cornthwaite  ......  Dr. Pryor
Vittorio Cramer  ......  Narrator
Paul H. Frees  ......  Radio Announcer
Sandro Giglio  ......  Dr. Bilderbeck
Jack Kruschen  ......  Salvatore
Director  .....  Byron Haskin
Producer  .....  George Pal; Frank Freeman Jr.
Writer  .....  H.G. Wells; Barré Lyndon
Cinematography  .....  Georges Barnes
Musician  .....  Leith Stephens
Notes
Goofs:
Continuity: Just before Forrester finds the last church, the same corner of a building is sheared off twice by a Martian ship. (more)

Trivia:
The disintegration of Col. Heffner took 144 individual mattes. Earlier in the scene, the stuntman that portrayed the soldier catching on fire was badly burned from the flames getting out of control. (more)

Filming Locations:
City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA (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.
(more)

Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations (more)