As I’ve mentioned before, I love the fifties in general and fifties sci-fi in particular. I don’t really know what exactly draws me to these films, except that they’re so fun, yet so innocent and wondrous. These are the kind of movies you would want to grow up on as a kid; not much cynicism, admirable heroes and, most of all, fantastic sights to jump-start the imagination. Plus, they're often quite good movies to boot.
There is something not often touched on with these films (generally if people feel they must see any deeper meaning in them, they just say ‘anti-communist propaganda’ and leave it at that). Despite the overwhelming number of films whose primary focus was the wonders and terrors of science, there remained in most of them a certain ambivalence about science. The films were generally not only about what science might be able to do, but also (and generally to a greater extent) what it shouldn’t do. The villains in these films were more often than not men (or aliens) who have let their lust for knowledge override their humanity. This can be presented either as a good thing taken too far (‘The Thing From Another World,’ ‘It Conquered the World,’ etc.) or as an actual loss of humanity and force of evil (‘The Brain From Planet Arous,’ etc.). Not only that, but almost always the threat in the film is either the end result or a side effect of some advancement in science. The Rhedosaur in ‘The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,’ for instance, is awakened by a nuclear test. The monster in ‘It Conquered the World’ came to Earth by riding on a man-made satellite.
This ambivalence to science is perhaps best demonstrated in two of the era’s best films; ‘The War of the Worlds’ and ‘Forbidden Planet.’ In ‘Forbidden Planet,’ the question is what happens when science goes too far; when technology outstrips the ability and worthiness of the operator. ‘The War of the Worlds,’ on the other hand, is about nothing less than the limits of what science can offer.
‘The War of the Worlds’ is a film often criticized for its strong religious themes. This is understandable, to an extent, as author H.G. Wells himself was an avowed atheist. No doubt he would have been furious at the ideas imposed on his story. The themes of the novel have been discussed and interpreted many times (my personal favorite interpretation being Isaac Asimov’s contention that it is a colonial reversal story, with England being colonized as surely and ruthlessly as it colonized other lands). However, the book is most assuredly not meant to be about turning to God to face evil (indeed, the religious characters presented in the book are ripe-picking for the Martians). On the other hand, I’m sure Wells’ close friend, G.K. Chesterton, would have appreciated the film’s themes. Indeed, the film could perhaps be summed up as Wells’ story told from Chesterton’s point of view.
The story of ‘The War of the Worlds’ is familiar to most people; war machines, supposedly from Mars, land on Earth. The forces of humanity rally against them, but prove no match for the superior alien technology. Finally, when all seems lost, the aliens are defeated by the Earth bacteria which they have no defense against.
Most of the film is seen through the eyes of Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry), a scientist who is among the first to encounter the aliens. Initially, he is fascinated by them. “This is amazing!” he says, his voice dripping with excitement, as the war machines emerge. All his excitement and scientific curiosity is soon forgotten, however, as he beholds the terrible events of the war. Like all wars, the battle with the Martians causes Forrester to re-examine what is important in his life. In the end, this great man of science is left alone, beaten and disheveled, searching a deserted, besieged city for the one he loves.
In the end of the movie, the strength that men trusted; their science, their courage, all that they could do proves not enough. The military, for all its advanced weapons, proves utterly helpless against the far superior Martian machines (indeed, calling the events of the film a ‘war’ is generous; the Martians more or less walk right over the humans). Even an atom bomb, the most terrible weapon that man’s science could ever devise, has absolutely no effect on the alien invaders. After the a-bomb fails, Forrester comments that since they can’t beat the Martians machines, they’ll “have to beat them,” meaning a biological weapon of some sort. This too fails, however, not because of the Martian’s defenses, but because of man’s failings. As the scientists evacuate Los Angeles, intending to work on their new attack elsewhere, a looting mob waylays and destroys mankind’s last hope to save itself.
I commented that the film’s ambivalence about science is a Chestertonian idea. Along with that, the film has a rather Tolkien-esque subtext in its battle scenes; namely, a lament about the horrors of machine warfare. More than once the film applauds the courage of the military, both implicitly by showing their great sacrifice and courage in battle and explicitly by having the narrator (Cedric Hardwick) praise the defenders for their strength and tenacity.
The problem is, it doesn’t matter. All the courage and skill of the soldiers of the entire world doesn’t matter because the Martians have better machines. It’s significant that the Martians have no foot soldiers; they fight entirely from their machines. To the audience, they effectively are their machines. We see the aliens themselves only twice, and briefly; once when one surprises Forrester and Sylvia (Ann Robinson), his girlfriend, while they’re hiding in an abandoned farmhouse, and again when the Martians fall and die, we see one Martian arm reaching out to touch the Earth it sought to conquer. In both instances we are not only repulsed by the aliens, but we feel sympathy for them. In the farm house, the alien seems more curious than anything and shields its eyes from the bright light of the flashlight Forrester trains on it. In this way, it seems almost like the Martians are themselves victims of their machine-dominated culture. They have sacrificed themselves entirely to their machines and not only can they do nothing without them, their machines actually separate them from the goals they use them to achieve.
Yet, the machines are ultimately controlled by the Martians, who are shown to be utterly merciless. The first casualties are three men trying to welcome the invaders with a white flag and words of friendship. Right before the first battle, Sylvia’s uncle, a local pastor, walks out with his Bible hoping to remind the invaders of their common creator, only to be annihilated in the middle of a prayer by the Martians’ heat ray. Right before this he commented that if the Martians were more advanced than us, “they should be nearer their creator for that reason.” This line calls to mind Chesterton’s comments on progress; that growing more advanced doesn’t necessarily represent real progress and to be civilized means more than technology.
So, in the end of The War of the Worlds, mankind’s science has failed in the face of the superior science of the invaders and the sinful nature of mankind itself. Man’s courage and will to live have proven no match for the soulless machines which their enemies send against them. In the end, all mankind can do is turn to God and pray for a miracle. In the end, the military flees and the men of science take refuge in a church, in the arms of those they care about.
Leading up to the end, Forrester searches for Sylvia in three churches. In each, everyone is praying on their knees for deliverance. In the Catholic church he enters, he finds two of his friends and colleagues praying together (there also is a priest highlighted leading some children in the Rosary). Finally, when he finds her, all they can do is hold each other as the implacable war machine bears down on them.
In the end, of course, the miracle comes. The soulless Martians are defeated, not by anything man can do, but by a literal act of God. They are defeated at the very gates of ‘God’s House,’ falling silently to the ground. “We were praying for a miracle…” Forrester says as he stands over the dead Martian machine. Earlier, Forrester had pointed out that as the Martians are mortal, they must have mortal weaknesses. They were, and they did, and they were struck down by the creator they had ignored or forgotten. The Martians, who seemed like gods, were destroyed by the one true God. In the end, the film says, there will be things we cannot do on our own; threats we cannot defeat with our tools; evil too strong and ruthless for us to face. In the face of these threats, all we can do is pray while holding on to what is really important.
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