The dramatic gravitas of Taylor Holmes is dwarfed by the smiley face charm of TOBOR THE GREAT.
Tobor (Lew Smith), Gadge— whose nickname seems to have been appropriated from Elia Kazan—essentially prays to his machine pal for deliverance. The only thing that prevents this mélange of science, patriotism, family values and a mystic bond between one gadget and another from being a perfect wish-fulfill- ment fantasy is that Chapin’s performance is so shrill (“Gee willickers!”) it’s hard not to have a sneaking sympathy for the guy with the blowtorch. Directed at a clip by SUPER- MAN AND THE MOLE MEN’s Lee Sholem, TOBOR has one clunky metal foot in the serial-style walk- ing refrigerator mode of THE MONSTER AND THE APE, but its sober (if swiftly outdated) space
research milieu, and notion that a robot might be designed for more than lumbering menace, lumps it in with 1950s appliances like Gort, Robbie (who had his own junior pal in THE INVISIBLE BOY) and Gog. It’s endearing if not terribly good—Chapin gives the most enthusiastic perfor- mance (a mixed blessing), while everyone else plays buttoned- down or childish grown-ups as if they knew they’d be lucky to get attention with the gleaming metal-and-perspex Tobor in the film. Era favorites Charles Drake, Peter Brocco, Robert Shayne, Lyle Talbot and William Schallert are also featured, play- ing everything on a kid’s level, with Karin Booth (sadly not the Vargas girl carried by Tobor on
the poster) sensible but barely present as Gadge’s widowed Mom.
Lionsgate’s DVD of this mi- nor but welcome title has no extras, though there’s a nice- looking fold-out poster and optional subtitles in English and Spanish. The Republic logo ap- pears twice, once in lovely color—but the film is function- ally drab black-and-white (no expressionist shadows from Sholem) and academy ratio. Some have carped that the im- age is soft, but outside of minor print damage, TOBOR looks the way it probably always did. Through the misty eyes of 1950s boyhood, it may be ideal; others might prefer THE INVISIBLE BOY.
13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
