Cardboard Science: If God's a-comin', He ought to make it by then

THE TIME MACHINE

George Pal comes back to Hollywood, to the science fiction genre, and to H.G. Wells, all at once, with his second directorial feature.  Happily, Pal's The Time Machine is a true classic of the genre, at turns almost hypnotic in its proto-psychedelic visuals—and, in that grand Wellsian tradition, possessed of an unsubtle but well-taken point about the era its creators happened to live in, too.

1960

Directed by George Pal

Written by David Duncan (based on the novella by H.G. Wells)

With Rod Taylor (H. George Wells, the Time Traveller), Alan Young (David Filby and James Filby), and Yvette Mimeux (Weena)

Spoiler alert: the Morlocks are eating them

Cardboard Science: The wheel in the sky keeps on turning

CONQUEST OF SPACE

George Pal returns to outer space, but we don't much like what he brings back.

1955

Directed by Byron Haskin

Written by James O'Hanlon, Phillip Yordan, Barre Lyndon, and George Worthing Yates (vaguely inspired by the book The Conquest of Space by Willy Ley and Chesley Bonestell)

With Eric Fleming (Capt. Barney Merritt), Phil Foster (Sgt. Jackie "Brooklyn" Seigel), Benson Fong (Sgt. Imoto), Ross Martin (Sgt. Andre Fodor), and William Redfield (Roy Cooper), Mickey Shaughnessy (Sgt. Mahoney), and Walter Brooke (Gen. Samuel T. Merritt)

Spoiler alert: moderate

Cardboard Science: I married Colonel Kurtz!

THE NAKED JUNGLE

A throwback even for 1954, this romantic creature-feature does the romance better than just about any "proper" sci-fi film, and does its creatures fair justice, too.

1954

Directed by Byron Haskin

Written by Philip Yordan, Ranald MacDougall, and Ben Maddow (based on the story "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson)

With Charlton Heston (Christopher Leiningen), Eleanor Parker (Joanna Leiningen), Abraham Sofaer (Incacha), William Conrad (The Commissioner), and John Dierkes (Gruber)

Spoiler alert: moderate

Cardboard Science: "What are these Martians?" "What are we?" I answered, clearing my throat

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

One of the great science fiction novels becomes one of the most important science fiction movies—and so much is lost in the translation that what you actually wind up with is a very influential, yet (ironically) mostly sterile, genre experience.  So it goes.

1953

Directed by Byron Haskin

Written by Barre Lyndon (based on the novel by H.G. Wells)

With Gene Barry (Dr. Clayon Forrester), Ann Robinson (Sylvia van Buren), Lewis Martin (Pastor Collins), Les Tremayne (Gen. Mann), Charles Gemora (The Martian), and Sir Cedric Hardwicke (The Narrator)

Spoiler alert: they die from germs

Carboard Science: Now that's a deep impact!

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

George Pal teaches us that contemplating the destruction of all we know can actually be a pretty swell time.

1951

Directed by Rudolph Mate

Written by Sydney Boehm

With Richard Derr (David Randall), Barbara Rush (Joyce Hendron), Larry Keating (Dr. Cole Hendron), John Hoyt (Sydney Stanton), and Peter Hansen (Dr. Tony Drake)

Spoiler alert: moderate

Cardboard Science: Do you wanna go to lunch, or do you wanna go to the moon?

DESTINATION MOON

Opening the decade with a big nuclear bang, this hyper-conservative Cold War tale of human advancement through atom-based capitalism remains influential—and pretty damned good on its merits, too, despite its frankly laughable assumptions about the way the world works.

1950

Directed by Irving Pichel

Written by Alford Van Ronkel, Robert Heinlein, and James O'Hanlon (based on the novel Rocketship Galileo by Robert Heinlein)

With John Archer (Jim Barnes), Warner Anderson (Dr. Charles Cargraves), Tom Powers (Gen. Thayer), and Dick Wesson (Joe Sweeney)

Spoiler alert: moderate