Because I can't just nostalgically rewatch a couple of fondly remembered films from childhood without getting self-harmingly OCD about it, here are The Top 14 George Pal Films, most of which are really other people's films.
Key:
Producer
Producer and director
14. Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975)
Just about the worst thing I've ever barely watched. This level of pompous absurdity must surely be tongue-in-cheek by this point, but if it was a joke, they did a great job of hiding it.
I don't always give these my full attention if I don't think they're worth it, but I got the gist. Wee feller dances about and that. I'm 33 years old. Featuring George Pal's needlessly racist Puppetoons.
George Pal dresses and reanimates a squirrel's corpse for our delight. But since that would be too painstaking to base an entire film around, Rupert hardly shows up and it's mainly a failed attempt to make a festive classic with frequent musical interludes all handled by Jimmy Durante.
11. Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961)
I was hoping for some Harryhausen-style beasties, but instead only got a sword 'n' sandal warning from alt-history. I'm getting convinced that George picks these projects based on whether he can reuse those volcano shots.
It takes almost two thirds of the film until we venture into the jungle and even longer until we finally get around to the killer ants for what are now repetitive George Pal devastation sequences. Several thousand ants were harmed in the making of this picture. Don't think I'll bother with the Keith Chegwin remake.
9. Houdini (1953)
This unreliable biopic might make you interested in checking out the real Houdini. That's about all it has going for it. The only "George Pal film" (dir. George Marshall) where I have no idea what the puppet master brought to the table. The deliberately unconvincing séance?
This overlong anthology of non-Disney fairy tales framed by the Super Grimm Bros' own tribulations didn't end up being the beloved classic it wanted to be. But it's better than Gilliam's version, at least.
If it was the intent of the filmmakers to make us as disoriented and tormented as the protagonist, then good job! If it wasn't, you can have that excuse on me.
I can appreciate a good time-bound and charmingly dated retro sci-fi flick, but this simulated moon mission doesn't have much to offer post-'69. There are some nice matte paintings and a bit of jeopardy once we get there, but for the most part it's a dully realistic and tediously educational alternative to the camp B-movie I would have preferred.
5. Conquest of Space (1955)
Have a chuckle at the endearingly wobbly models and people smoking in spaceships, but appreciate the dedication to pulling off a '50s Mars mission as realistically as their tools and budget allowed. It also gets progressive points for featuring a Japanese crew member over a decade before Mr Sulu, and just a decade after that.
4. When Worlds Collide (1951)
Unlike Destination Moon, this armageddon tale doesn't spend as much time fretting over the plausibility of it all, being more concerned with the human reaction. As you'd expect, it's not a feel-good picture, but presumably popular with Nibiru enthusiasts.
3. 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
The Twilight Zone's Charles Beaumont makes Charles G. Finney's strange book serviceable for screen, but it's the Harryhausenesque stop-motion and Tony Randall's shapeshifting performance that make the adaptation worthwhile. What starts out quite grotesquely racist is soon revealed to be subversive and comically inconsistent. For all we know, the yellowface is part of the act.
2. The War of the Worlds (1953)
I have vivid, traumatic memories of watching this as a child, when those goosenecked Martian death machines were scarier than anything outside of Knightmare. Having read the book and listened to the definitive rock musical since, my grandad was right to complain about the Americanization, and the human scenes are hokey even for the 50s. The film belongs to the Martians. Those effects are timelessly engaging and the arcade shoot-em-up sound effects are adorable.
1. The Time Machine (1960)
A more faithful adaptation than War of the Worlds, forgivably adding some leering 60s romance and understandably lacking the giant crabs. The tale's a proper classic, but as ever it's the production design that steals the show, from the steampunk rollercoaster car to our hellish descendants.
