1,001 LaserDiscs 4: The War of the Worlds (1953 film)

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc, front cover 

front cover movie still 

photo of cover by Styrous®

On August 13, 1953, one of the greatest science fiction films of all times, The War of the Worlds, was released in New York City. By today's standards the special effects for the film may be considered funky but back them they were mind-blowing!             

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc, back cover

back cover movie stills

photo of back cover by Styrous®

The story line of the film was completely different from that of the novel by H. G. Wells. The novel is set in Victorian England; the film is set in 1950's Los Angeles. Quite a shift in time and location but it worked magnificently!            

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc, front cover detail 

front cover movie still 

detail photo of cover by Styrous®

The film was directed by Byron Haskin and produced by George Pal who was also responsible for the special effects. Pal originally planned for the final third of the film to be shot in the new 3D process to visually enhance the Martian attack on Los Angeles. The plan was dropped prior to actual production of the film, presumably being deemed too expensive.   

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc, back cover detail

back cover movie stills

detail photo of back cover by Styrous®

The War of the Worlds starred Gene Barry, Ann Robinson and Les Tremayne; it was narrated by Sir Cedric Hardwicke (link to full cast and plot below).  

The Martian war machines (designed by Al Nozaki) were made to be sinister-looking machines shaped like manta rays floating above the ground. Three Martian war machine props were made out of copper for the film. The same blueprints were used a decade later to construct the alien spacecraft in the film Robinson Crusoe on Mars, also directed by Byron Haskin; that film prop was later reported melted down as part of a scrap copper recycling drive.

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc, back cover detail

back cover movie stills

detail photo of back cover by Styrous®

The California city of Corona was used as the shooting location of the fictitious town of Linda Rosa. St. Brendan's Catholic Church, located at 310 South Van Ness Avenue in Los Angeles, California, was the setting used in the climactic scene.    

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc, back cover detail

back cover movie stills

detail photo of back cover by Styrous®

The composer of the film score, Leith Stevens, also composed two other scores for Pal productions: Destination Moon and When Worlds Collide.     

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc, back cover detail

back cover movie stills

detail photo of back cover by Styrous®

The War of the Worlds won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and went on to influence other science fiction films. In 2011, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".        

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc label, side 1

photo by Styrous®

The War of the Worlds (1953 film) 

LaserDisc label, side 2

photo by Styrous®

       


Viewfinder links:       
       
The War of the Worlds ~ Worlds on Film
Jeff Wayne ~ The War of the Worlds          
Jerzy Maksymiuk & Józef Skrzek ~ The War of the Worlds        
The War of the Worlds ~ Orson Welles @ 100          
The War of the Worlds articles/mentions          
        
      
Net links:       
       
Plot     
Cast        
         
        
     
Styrous® ~ Monday, August 13, 2018       

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1,001 LaserDiscs archive
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Leith Stevens articles/mentions

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Beemer Memories Pt. 1                   

The James Dean Story 
The Wild One        
Worlds on Film           
     

Leith Stevens  ca 1939 

photographer unknown

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20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive

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20,000 Vinyl LPs 50: The James Dean Story ~ Die young, live forever

The James Dean Story soundtrack

artwork by David Stone Martin
score by Leith Stevens 

photo by Styrous®

James Byron Dean was born eighty-five years ago today, on February 8, 1931. He died in a car crash on September 30, 1955. He was only 24 years old.   

James Dean 
Publicity photo
circa 1953

photographer unknown

The James Dean Story soundtrack

vinyl LP record 
artwork by David Stone Martin
score by Leith Stevens 

photo by Styrous®

On September 30, 1955, Dean was scheduled to compete at a racing event in Salinas, California. Accompanying the actor to the occasion was stunt coordinator Bill Hickman, Collier's photographer Sanford Roth, and Rolf Wütherich, the German mechanic from the Porsche factory who maintained Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder "Little Bastard" car. Wütherich, who had encouraged Dean to drive the car from Los Angeles to Salinas to break it in, accompanied Dean in the Porsche. At 3:30 p.m. Dean was ticketed for speeding, as was Hickman who was following behind in another car.     

As the group traveled to the event via U.S. Route 466, at approximately 5:15 p.m. a 1950 Ford Tudor was passing through an intersection while turning, ahead of the Porsche. Dean, unable to stop in time, slammed into the driver's side of the Ford resulting in Dean's car bouncing across the pavement onto the side of the highway. Dean's passenger, Wütherich, was thrown from the Porsche, while Dean was trapped in the car and sustained numerous fatal injuries, including a broken neck. The driver of the Ford, Donald Turnupseed, exited his damaged vehicle with minor injuries. The accident was witnessed by a number of passersby who stopped to help. A woman with nursing experience attended to Dean and detected a weak pulse, but "death appeared to have been instantaneous". Dean was pronounced dead on arrival shortly after he arrived by ambulance at the Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital at 6:20 p.m.       

 James Dean and Porsche Speedster 23F 

Palm Springs Races March, 1955 

photographer unknown 

On February 15, 2009, all three of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers who dealt with James Dean on the day of his death—Officer Otie Hunter, who ticketed Dean for speeding, and Officers Ernie Tripke and Ronald Nelson, who investigated the fatal crash—participated and shared their memories of that fateful day in an SCVTV documentary titled The Stuff of Legend: James Dean's Final Ride, co-produced by the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society (see link below).   

James Dean Gravestone

Park Cemetery, Fairmount, Indiana

photographer unknown 

Ironically, just days before he died, in September, 1955, Dean was interviewed by actor Gig Young for a "safe driving for teenagers" public service short film which is on YouTube (link below).      

James Dean made only three films, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark, as Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rest on his performances in only these three films.

The James Dean Story soundtrack

vinyl LP record 
artwork by David Stone Martin
score by Leith Stevens 

photo by Styrous®

The James Dean Story 

movie poster 

Released two years after Dean's death, this Warner Bros. Pictures release chronicles his short life and career via black-and-white still photographs, interviews with the aunt and uncle who raised him, his paternal grandparents and outtakes from East of Eden, footage of the opening night of Giant, and Dean's PSA for safe driving from Warner Bros. Presents.  

The James Dean Story soundtrack

vinyl LP record side 1
photo by Styrous®

The  narration by Martin Gabel was written by Stewart Stern, who scripted Dean's Rebel Without a Cause, and a directing credit was shared by Robert Altman and George W. George.  

The James Dean Story soundtrack

vinyl LP record label
photo by Styrous®

The score for The James Dean Story was written by Leith Stevens. Stevens also wrote The Wild One (1953), When Worlds Collide (1951), Destination Moon (1950), The War of the Worlds (1953) and many other films (see links below).     

Destination Moon

 movie poster

Eagle-Lion Classics Inc.,

The James Dean Story soundtrack

vinyl LP record side 2
photo by Styrous®

Tommy Sands sang the song, Let Me Be Loved, featured in the film (YouTube link below).  He was born Thomas Adrian "Tommy" Sands on August 27, 1937. He is an American pop music singer and actor. He started as early as 1949 and became an overnight sensation and instant teen idol when he appeared on Kraft Television Theater in January 1957 as "The Singin' Idol." The song from the show, Teen Age Crush, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Cashbox.      

Tommy Sands

 Publicity photo

circa 1957

photographer unknown

The James Dean Story soundtrack

Side 2: Let Me Be Loved by Tommy Sands

vinyl LP record label
photo by Styrous®

The James Dean Story soundtrack   

      

Tracklist:  

Side 1:       

A1     Prelude    
A2     Boyhood    
A3     Who Am I?    
A4     Thinking Of Home    
A5     Rebel At Work    
A6     Finding His Power     

Side 2:       

B1     Hollywood    
B2     The Movie Star    
B3     Lost Love    
B4     Success And Then What?    
B5     Testing The Limits Of Life    
B6     Return Home    
B7     End Title (Theme) "Let Me Be Loved" - Vocal – Tommy Sands written by Jay Livingston, Ray Evans

Credits:

• Artwork – David Stone Martin
• Composed by – Leith Stevens
• Conductor – Leith Stevens
• Narrator – Martin Gabel
• Written by – Stewart Stern

        

Label: Capitol Records ‎– W-881

Format: Vinyl LP, Album, Mono

Country: US

Released: 1957

Genre: Stage & Screen

Style: Soundtrack

             

James Dean Interview on YouTube            
             
SCVTV.com The Stuff of Legend: James Dean's Final Ride        

        

Let Me Be Loved on YouTube                  
Tommy Sands discography                 

The Wild One ~ 1953           

        
The War of the Worlds ~ Worlds on Film               

Dean has become a legend larger than life.

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I started the Vinyl LP series because I have a collection of over 20,000 vinyl record albums I am selling; each blog entry is about an album from my collection. Inquire for information here.   

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Styrous® ~ Monday, February 8, 2016

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45 RPMs 2: The Wild One ~ 1953 12" 45 EP

The Wild One

1989 12" 45 EP

German issue

album photos by

Miriam Linna, Billy Miller & Phil Schaap

photo of album cover by Styrous®

This is an extention of my 20,000 Vinyl LPs series. I have a collection of over 20,000 LP albums I am selling; each blog entry of the series is about an album from my collection. For more info, send an email to me, not a comment.

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After I sold my 1972 BMW R 60/5 motorcycle earlier this year, I wrote about the sale and memories of my bike riding days (see: Beemer Memories Pt. 1, below). I referenced the film, The Wild One, and I used my photo of the cover of the album most people are familiar with, the American issue on Decca Records. The music on the Decca issue was performed by the Leith Stevens All Stars, led by Leith Stevens, who was the composer of the film score. However, this was not a soundtrack recording; it was a session recording. The music from The Wild One was my introduction to jazz.

 The Wild One
1956 LP

(album cover film still)

photo of album cover by Styrous®

music & personnel for the Decca recording
(click on any image to see larger size)

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I have the 1989 German pressing on Bear Family Records of the soundtrack from the film that was recorded in Hollywood in July of 1953, three years before the Stevens LP version in 1956. It is a 45 RPM EP which only has four pieces of music from the film on it. 

 The Wild One
photo by Styrous®

The performance on this version of the music was led by trumpeter Shorty Rogers not Leith Stevens, although, many of the players are on both versions. There are obvious differences in the music.

The Wild One
Shorty Rogers (1924 - 1994)

album photo by Phil Schaap

photo of album cover by Styrous®

The Wild One
personnel for the soundtrack issue

photo by Styrous®

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Some background history on the film.

The Wild One was a 1953 American outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It was based on an incident which occurred on the fourth of July in 1947 in Hollister, CA, when a motorcycle gang terrorized the town. The film was banned in Britain until 1967.

The Wild One was based on a short story, The Cyclists' Raid by Frank Rooney, in the January 1951 issue of Harper's Magazine. The story was later published in book form as part of The Best American Short Stories 1952.

The amazing part is the plot was actually based on a gross exaggeration of the truth. Although the incident happened, it was nowhere near the terrorizing event depicted in the film; it was a rowdy bunch of bikers (granted, a very BIG bunch) that got drunk, partied, made a big mess (alright, a VERY big mess), some got injured but most passed out drunk all over the place.

Johnny Strabler (Marlon Brando)

promotional photo for the film 

photographer unknown

Some background history on the event. 

The event was hyped in the July 21, 1947 issue of Life Magazine, and dubbed the Hollister riot, with staged photographs of wild motorcycle outlaw revelers, according to MCartwebzine, All About Bikes Magazine and other sources.

Eddie Davenport (on bike)

August 'Gus' Deserpa (behind)
Hollister, July 7, 1947

photo by Barney Peterson

The event was covered once again 32 years later by the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, July 4th, 1979 with a re-enactment photo; once again re-enforcing the myth of the incident. I guess they'll do anything to sell newspapers. I have the original page from the 1979 SF Chronicle tucked inside the album which I scanned.

San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, July 4th, 1979

SF Chronicle headline, July 4th, 1979

SF Chronicle photos, July 4th, 1979
original 1947 photo on the left, re-enactment photo on the right

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Album info:

Shorty Rogers and His Orchestra ‎– The Wild One - Original Soundtrack
Label: Bear Family Records ‎– BFE 15349
Format: Vinyl, 12", EP, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: 1989

Tracklist: 

side 1: 

A1  Chino        
A2  Blues For Brando 

side 2:     

B1  The Wild One        
B2  Windswept

Personnel: 

Shroty Rogers - trumpet
Conrad Gozzo - trumpet
Ray Linn - trumpet
Maynard Ferguson - trumpet
Thomas Reeves - trumpet
Harry Betts, Jr. - trombone
Bob Enevoldsen - trombone
Jimmy Knepper - trombone
Bud Shank - alto sax
Hervert Geller - alto sax
Willis Holman - tenor sax
William Perkins - tenor sax
Jimmy Giuffre - alto sax
Bob Cooper - alto sax
John Graas - French horn
Paul Sarmento - tuba
Russ Freeman - piano
Joe Mondragon - bass
Shelly Manne - drums 

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Trivia:

The Johnny Strabler (Marlon Brando) image from the The Wild One film is one of the many celebrities on The Beatles' Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. 

^{Brando's haircut inspired a craze for sideburns which was followed by James Dean, Elvis Presley, and others. James Dean bought a Triumph TR5 Trophy motorcycle to mimic Brando's own Triumph Thunderbird 6T motorcycle that he used in the film. Presley also used the Brando image as a model for his role in Jailhouse Rock.}

The rock group Black Rebel Motorcycle Club got its name from the name of Brando's gang, although in the film, the gang is referred to as "Black Rebels Motorcycle Club".

In the mid-1990s, Yamaha used lookalikes of the Mary Murphy and Marlon Brando characters to advertise their cruiser range of motorcycles. 

In the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Shia LaBeouf's character, Mutt Williams, first appears in the same outfit as Johnny Strabler (Marlon Brando).

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Links:

Beemer Memories Pt. 1 ~ the end & the beginning
Synopsis of The Wild One plot

music from The Wild One can be heard on YouTube:
The Wild One (Leith Stevens & Shorty Rogers version)
Windswept (Shorty Rogers version)
Blues for Brando (Shorty Rogers version)
Chino (Shorty Rogers version)

Scenes from The Wild One can be seen on YouTube:
Opening
The Bikers Arrive
Scene
The Fight
What are you rebelling against?

The short story, The Cycleist's Raid
can be purchased at: Harper's Magazine
a pdf version can be downloaded at: Cinemeccanica
as part of a complilation, it is available at Amazon:
The Best American Short Stories of the Century [Paperback]
Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films [Paperback]

 interesting books on the Harley-Davidson. . . 

    

Outlaw Machine: Harley-Davidson

and the Search for the American Soul

by Brock Yates is available at Amazon

and Outlaw Machine, also by Yates,

is available at Barnes & Noble

Styrous® ~ August 26, 2013

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45 RPMs Archive
20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes Archive

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Beemer Memories Pt. 1 ~ the end & the beginning

 1972 BMW R60/5 motorcycle
photo by Styrous®

I sold my BMW bike today! I watched with a pang of panic (but not sadness for some reason) as the new owner rode off down the street on it happy with his new dream, leaving me with my old memories. Yes, I sold my beautiful Beemer but not the wonderful memories of over 40 years of happy (well, sometimes not so happy) adventures.  

This is the order of the memories that popped into my brain as I watched my old buddy vanish forever into the new life that lay ahead.       

Before the helmet law went into effect I only wore mine on the freeways. On highways or back roads I strapped it to the buddy bars. I remembered riding along the roads in the Sierra foothills during fantastically hot summers with the exciting visual of the rush of the road under my feet on the foot pegs; the warm wind blowing through my hair; the strobe effect on my face and sunglasses as the sun filtered down through the trees overhanging the road, and the throbbing of my hardy steed between my legs sending pulsating rhythms from my crotch to my brain. A very erotic sensation, to be honest.

Next I remembered the year when the motorcycle helmet law went into effect. A couple of hours or so before midnight, on New Year's Eve, I rode around and around and around the figure 8 of Twin Peaks without my helmet for the last time. It was freezing cold but I was not going to pass up the last opportunity to be free of a cocooned existence on what should be a liberating, exhilarating and even ecstatic experience.   

And last, I recalled the first time I rode my Beemer. I had never driven a bike in my life. I had dreamed of having one ever since I saw the 1953 film, The Wild One, when I was thirteen.  

The Wild One movie poster

The film featured an impossibly handsome and incredibly young Marlon Brando as biker Johnny Strabler. Brando's acting and Strabler's image made cynicism, hoodlumizm (is there such a word?) and disrespect attitudes well worth emulating. 

still from the film, The Wild One

What hot-blooded, 13-year-old, American boy didn't aspire to an image like this one? The film featured a jazz score by Leith Stevens and it was my first exposure to jazz as well. 

The Wild One album cover

photographer unknown

photo of album cover by Styrous®

The film was banned in England for decades and was the first to depict teen rebellion, dissatisfaction and alienation. At one point during the film, Brando and Mary Murphy ride on his bike along the highway with the moonlight flickering through the leaves of the trees while the velvety-smooth jazz trumpet of Shorty Rogers gently serenades them as they dreamily glide along; a night-time prediction of my summer idylls to come two decades later. I would always hear that theme, Windswept, from the movie, when I rode down a road or highway with trees overhead and the strobe of the sunlight coming through them.  

(WOW)

But I digress. In case you forgot, I was talking about my first ride on my Beemer. I had never even driven a bike before (I'd ridden as a buddy on the back of one two or three times); I only knew I had to have one. The salesman at Dave Golden Motorcycles who sold it to me took me out to the parking lot, gave me a five minute lesson in how to drive it then scooted me out into the rush hour traffic of Valencia Street. I don't think I've ever been so terrified in my life. It was only seven blocks from the dealership to my studio but I thought the ride would never end. I was so frightened by my first ride it took me two or three days before I could muster up the courage to get on it again. 

My, oh my; that was over 40 years ago!

I wish the new owner a tenth of the joy I had from my old Beemer buddy. He will be deliriously happy for the rest of his life.  

Surely, to be continued . . . 

Styrous® - April 23, 2013

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Beemer Memories

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