''Tobor the Great'' (a.k.a. ''Tobor'') is a 1954
independently made American
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
science fiction film, produced by
Richard Goldstone
Richard Joseph Goldstone (born 26 October 1938) is a South African former judge. After working for 17 years as a commercial lawyer, he was appointed by the South African government to serve on the Transvaal Supreme Court from 1980 to 1989 and ...
, directed by
Lee Sholem
Lee Tabor Sholem (May 25, 1913 in Paris, Illinois, – August 19, 2000 in Los Angeles, California) was an American television and film director.
Nicknamed ""Roll 'Em" Sholem", he is identified more than anyone else in the industry with speed a ...
, and starring
Charles Drake,
Karin Booth
Karin Booth (born June Francis Hoffman, June 19, 1916 – July 27, 2003) was an American film and TV actress of the 1940s to 1960s.
Life and career
She was born June Francis Hoffman on June 19, 1916, in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Francis T. and ...
, and
Billy Chapin. The film was written by
Carl Dudley and
Philip MacDonald
Philip MacDonald (5 November 1900 – 10 December 1980) was a British-born writer of fiction and screenplays, best known for thrillers.
Life and work
MacDonald was born in London, the son of author Ronald MacDonald and actress Constance Roberts ...
and was distributed by
Republic Pictures.
The film's storyline involves Dr. Ralph Harrison, who resigns his government post in protest against the inhumane treatment being inflicted upon spaceship pilots. His colleague, Professor Nordstrom, develops an alternative: a robot that he names "
Tobor" (the reverse anagram of "robot"), which soon becomes a friend and playmate to Harrison's young son, "Gadge". Tobor is stolen by enemy agents, and only the two scientists' and Gadge's psychic link with the robot can save it from being reprogrammed and used for evil purposes against the United States.
Plot
At his underground laboratory in Los Angeles, Professor Nordstrom (
Taylor Holmes
Taylor Holmes (May 16, 1878 – September 30, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 Broadway plays in his five-decade career. However, he is probably best remembered for his screen performances, which he began in silent films in ...
), worried that manned space exploration is too dangerous, enlists the help of Dr. Ralph Harrison (Charles Drake), who recently left the new government-appointed Civil Interplanetary Flight Commission. The two scientists embark on a research project to create a robot that can replace humans for space flight. Nordstrom's daughter, Janice Roberts (Karin Booth), and her 11-year-old son Brian (Billy Chapin), nicknamed “Gadge”, become very interested in the project.
When a press conference is called to announce the creation of "Tobor", reporters, such as the inquisitive journalist Gilligan (Alan Reynolds), are invited to Professor's Harrison's home to see the remarkable invention. In order to undertake space travel, the remote-controlled robot has been given some human capabilities, including the ability to "feel" emotions and react via a telepathic device built into his robotic brain. Under the watchful eyes of Harrison's trusted assistant Karl (Franz Roehn), the giant robot Tobor is unveiled and then demonstrated. Unknown to the scientists, a foreign spy chief (
Steven Geray) has quietly joined the group of reporters; he quickly draws up a plan to steal the robot.
While trying to perfect the robot's control systems, an inadvertent episode involving Gadge, who sneaks into the laboratory and turns on Tobor, shows that the robot can make emotional connections with people. Gadge not only controls the robot, but when he is accidentally tossed about, Tobor appears to comfort him, as if he is sorry for hurting the boy. After cleaning up, the scientists realize that an additional chair was brought to the news conference, leading them to believe that someone has infiltrated the closely guarded laboratory. Aware that their robot could fall into the wrong hands, they construct a small transmitter in a
fountain pen
A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an in ...
that is able to communicate with Tobor.
An organized attack by the foreign agents is thwarted by the defensive devices at the Nordstrom's home, so the spies devise another scheme. Sending Gadge and his grandfather an invitation to a space flight presentation at the
Griffith Park Planetarium, they intend to hold them hostage. When Gadge and Nordstrom show up, the spies kidnap them. Dr. Gustav (Peter Brocco) tries to force Nordstrom to provide the crucial information needed to control Tobor.
When Nordstrom and Gadge do not return for the military demonstration of Tobor's abilities, Dr. Harrison contacts the local sheriff with his concerns that something dire has happened to them. Tobor is suddenly activated, reacting to messages sent by Nordstrom, and storms out of the house, driving away in a military Jeep. Nordstrom is actually controlling the robot remotely with the pen transmitter, while trying to fool Dr. Gustav. One of the spies realizes that the pen is important and snatches it away, breaking it.
Guessing that Tobor is going to rescue the professor and Gadge, Harrison and the military follow. At the agents' lair, when the transmissions stop, Tobor comes to an abrupt halt, but Harrison successfully re-activates the robot using telepathic commands. The spies threaten to hurt Gadge, who instinctively reacts and uses his mind to call out to Tobor. Nordstrom relents, writing out the control formula. With Harrison and the military, the robot breaks down the lair's door and attacks the enemy agents, rescuing the professor and Gadge. When one of the spies attempts to drive away with the coerced information, Tobor yanks him out of his car. Gadge is then gently carried out by the robot.
Later, when Tobor has been successfully reprogrammed, a spacecraft is launched with the robot in full control of the mission.
Cast
*
Charles Drake as Dr. Ralph Harrison
*
Karin Booth
Karin Booth (born June Francis Hoffman, June 19, 1916 – July 27, 2003) was an American film and TV actress of the 1940s to 1960s.
Life and career
She was born June Francis Hoffman on June 19, 1916, in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Francis T. and ...
as Janice Roberts
*
Billy Chapin as Brian “Gadge” Roberts
*
Taylor Holmes
Taylor Holmes (May 16, 1878 – September 30, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 Broadway plays in his five-decade career. However, he is probably best remembered for his screen performances, which he began in silent films in ...
as Professor Arnold Nordstrom
* Alan Reynolds as Gilligan, Reporter
*
Steven Geray as Foreign spy chief
*
Henry Kulky as Paul, spy henchman
* Franz Roehn as Karl
*
Hal Baylor
Hal Harvey Fieberling (born Hal David Britton); December 10, 1918 – January 15, 1998 known professionally as Hal Baylor, was an American actor, probably best known for his role as Pvt. 'Sky' Choynski in the film ''Sands of Iwo Jima''.
In 1 ...
as Max, spy henchman
* Peter Brocco as Dr. Gustav
* Norman Field as Commissioner
* Robert Shayne as General
*
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Florenz Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on ...
as Admiral
* Emmett Vogan as Congressman
*
William Schallert
William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on '' Richard Diamond, Privat ...
as Johnston
* Helen Winston as Secretary
* Lew Smith as Tobor
* Jack Daly as Scientist
* Maury Hill as Scientist
Production
Principal photography for ''Tobor the Great'' took place from early to mid-January 1954 on location at the
Iverson Movie Ranch Iverson may refer to:
Computing
* Iverson Award, an ACM honour for APL contributions
* Iverson bracket, a mathematical notation
* Iverson Notation, the syntactic basis of APL (programming language)
Other uses
* Iverson Movie Ranch, Chatsworth, Ca ...
in Chatsworth, California.
Contrary to popular belief, the robot was not designed by Robert Kinoshita, creator of Robby the Robot. According to both production sketches and "movie robot" authority Fred Barton, Tobor was designed by Gabriel Scognamillo and built by Mel Arnold, who also worked on Gort for The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The original Tobor prop and remote control device is still in existence, having been stored away safely in a private collection for more than 50 years.
[Jensen, Bob]
"Tobor the Great."
''Robot Hut''. Retrieved: January 8, 2015.
There is an on-line company, Fred Barton Productions, that sells screen-accurate, full-size replicas of Tobor as seen in the film.
Reception
In a review in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' ''Tobor the Great'' is characterized as "This children's sci-fi adventure (that) chronicles the friendship between an 11-year-old and his grandfather's robot Tobor, who was designed to explore deep space." In ''DVD Savant'' film reviewer Glenn Erickson called it, "Like other low budget Republic shows of its day, the film is sturdy, slow and straightforward, taking little advantage of the ideas in its script. Yet it was a kiddie favorite simply because it was about a boy who shared an adventure with a massive metal man." In an appraisal of ''Tobor the Great'' film historian and reviewer
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...
noted "the film missed out on becoming an important sci-fi classic ... terrible acting and dialogue. A botched attempt at a heartwarming sci-fi comedy-thriller".
Legacy
The film inspired a ''Tobor the Great'' comic book story series, written by
Denis Gifford
Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...
and with artwork by James Bleach; it appeared in ''Star Comics'' #1-2 (1954), from D Publications.
''
Here Comes Tobor'' was a proposed
American science-fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
TV series. Produced for the 1956–1957 season, the project was never picked up and only a
pilot episode was filmed but never aired.
[Terrac]
2002, p. 79.
/ref>
A new film company, Diamond World Pictures, announced in 2011 that a sequel to ''Tobor the Great'' was to be the first film from the company. Plans were to star Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fi ...
and Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...
, and use the classic combination of live-action and stop-motion animation. To date, no film has been released.
Home video
''Tobor the Great'' was released on DVD on May 13, 2008 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
. The standard DVD, containing the film only, used an incorrect open matte
Open matte is a filming technique that involves matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector (known as a ''soft matte'') for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte (at Academy rati ...
transfer; it was originally shot for theatrical exhibition in the 1.66:1 widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
aspect ratio.
In December 2016, the film was announced for both DVD and Blu-ray reissue by Kino Lorber
Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...
.
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Ichbiah, Daniel. ''Robots: From Science Fiction to Technological Revolution''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005. .
* Maltin, Leonard. ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2009''. New York: New American Library, 2009 (originally published as ''TV Movies'', then ''Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide''), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. .
* Terrace, Vincent. ''Crime Fighting Heroes of Television: Over 10,000 Facts from 151 Shows, 1949-2001''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2002. .
* Warren, Bill. ''Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties'', 21st Century Edition (revised and expanded). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009. .
* Weaver, Tom. ''Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Heroes: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2000. .
External links
*
*
*
* {{Internet Archive film, id=ttg4353451103
1954 films
1950s science fiction films
American robot films
American black-and-white films
American science fiction films
Republic Pictures films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films