This summer, I am taking a film critique class, focusing on Alien Invasion Films. (I am so unbelievable excited about this. It's the perfect class for me, watching movies and ranting about them- is my favorite!) So here is my first response post, for the film War of the Worlds, 1953.
The film “War of the Worlds” (1953) demonstrates the fears of the United States about the Cold War, threats from the Soviet Union and nuclear war as well as their moral belief that God would be on the side of America in any future conflict. In this depiction, Orson Wells' novel and radio show have been updated to an early 1950s southern California setting, complete with square dancing and Coca-Cola in a glass jar. Dr. Clayton Forrester, the main protagonist, is a scientist with the Manhattan Project, another reference to the Cold War with it’s focus and fears about the atomic bomb.
The film demonstrates the Cold War theme more than the novel or radio show adaptations, with its use of the Atomic Bomb against the Martians and the potential mass-destruction that such a global war would inflict on mankind. In the film, there is a scene where the military commander comments that they had tried to avoid using the atomic bomb, but they are simply out of other options to defeat the Martians.
Despite this comment, it is interesting to note the results of the dropping of the atom bomb in the film. The war machines, manned by the Martians are totally unaffected, because of their protective force fields, and there is no mention of any type of nuclear fallout on the human residents of southern California. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed in 1945, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission was established in 1948 by President Truman to conduct investigations of the late effects of radiation among the survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So the makers of this film, in 1953, should have been more aware of the post-attack casualties and dangers that would occur to Americans if California was bombed. The audience doesn't see any of those effects in this film, perhaps purposefully not showing the potential injuries and deaths of Americans that would be caused, in order to again emphasis the underlying reassurance of the film in the face of the Cold War.
Another interesting theme or dimension of this film is the recurring mention of God and religion as the ultimate protection against this other-worldly attack. The character Sylvia’s uncle, Dr. Matthew Collins, is a minister, and in a dramatic moment, he approaches the alien machines, holding his Bible and reciting Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd….”, before being obliterated by the alien lasers. And again at the climactic moment, when all hope is lost, Forrester finds Sylvia in a church and they cling to each other as the alien machines destroy the city and building around them. But suddenly, the barrage ceases, and they come to realize that the aliens have been exterminated by Earth's viruses and bacteria that humanity has long since become immune to. The narrator ends with the solemn statement, “After all that men could do had failed, the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth.”
This substantiated reliance on God, is very indicative of the American mindset during the Cold War. Throughout history, from the American Revolution to World War II, Americans have maintained that they had the religious and moral high ground, that the God of the Earth supported their cause, over that of their enemy. In the terror and unknowable distress of the Cold War the assurance that even if human means were unsuccessful, that their God would save innocent humanity (or in this case, America) from being dominated by their enemies would be emotionally and mentally important to the American people. This film demonstrates that assurance, reminding Americans that “In God We Trust”, even in the event of an attack from Mars.
