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WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE – Leith Stevens
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1933 Paramount Pictures purchased the film rights of the novel “When Worlds Collide” by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer. Director Cecil B. DeMille intended to move the project into production after filming wrapped on “This Day and Age,”but lack of a script and funding caused the studio scrap the project. In 1949 producer George Pal envisioned the story as a big-budget science fiction movie. His proposal was initially turned down by studio executive Barney Balaban, but following the success of his film Destination Moon in 1951, Balaban had a change of heart and gave a green light to the project. Pal was assigned production with a budget of $936,000 – much less than he believed was necessary to implement his vision. Rudolph Maté was tasked with directing, and Sidney Boehm would write the screenplay. Given budgetary constraints, Pal opted to go with a cast of unknowns, including Richard Derr as Dave Randall, Barbara Rush as Joyce Hendron, Peter Hansen as Dr. Tony Drake, Larry Keating as Dr. Cole Hendron, and John Hoyt as Sydney Stanton. Read more…
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS – Leith Stevens
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In 1925 Paramount Pictures purchased the film rights to the 1897 H. G. Wells novel “War of the Worlds”. For twenty-six years the studio struggled due to technical challenges to bring the film into production under several producers – Cecil B. DeMille, Arzén Cserépy, Sergei Eisenstein, Alexander Korda, Watterson Rothacker and Alfred Hitchcock. Finally, in 1951, George Pal, who had gained success in the emerging science fiction genre with Destination Moon in 1950 and When Worlds Collide in 1951, was assigned production with a $2 million budget. Byron Haskin was tasked with directing, and Barré Lyndon would write the screenplay. Fort the cast, Pal once again went with lesser known actors, opting to maximize his budget for special effects. Gene Barry would star as Dr. Clayton Forrester, joined by Ann Robinson as Sylvia van Buren, Les Tremayne as Major General Mann, Bob Cornthwaite as Dr. Pryor, and Lewis Martin as Reverend Dr. Matthew Collins. Read more…
DESTINATION MOON – Leith Stevens
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Producer George Pal sought to start the decade of the 1950s with a well-made outer space drama. He adapted “Rocket Ship Galileo”, a novel by Robert Heinlein, for his project and installed Irving Pichel to direct. The story reveals humanity’s first effort to fly a spaceship to the Moon. Dr. Charles Cargraves and space exploration enthusiast General Thayer solicit aircraft executive Jim Barnes to join them in a collective effort to build Earth’s first nuclear powered spacecraft. Politics, public hysteria and regulations threaten to shutdown the project but are circumvented by a decision to pre-empt impending interference by launching early. They successfully launch and begin the epic trek, but are forced to make emergency repairs mid flight that includes a dramatic rescue of an un-tethered crewman. As they initiate lunar descent, miscalculation causes them to consume too much fuel during the landing. System check calculations indicate that they now have insufficient fuel reserves to successfully blast off and achieve lunar orbit with the full crew. They make desperate efforts to lighten the ship yet come up short by 110 pounds; meaning one of the crew must remain. With their launch window closing and crew anxiety building, they resolve to not only jettison the ship’s radio equipment, there-by losing contact with Earth, but also their sole remaining space suit. With time almost out the Luna safely blasts off from the Moon with all aboard and completes its epic voyage by returning to Earth. The film was a modest commercial success and earned two Academy Award nominations, winning one for Visual Effects. Read more…
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