Dr. Ralph Harrison (Charles Drake) is concerned that the exploration of space is too dangerous to expose men to. His sentiments are echoed by Professor Nordstrom (Taylor Holmes). Harrison quits his position at the Civil Interplanetary Flight Commission and begins working with Professor Nordstrom. Nordstrom is working on a robot that he believes is the answer to exploring space safely. Nordstrom’s laboratory is underground in his fortified home. Living with the Professor is his daughter, Janice Roberts (Karin Booth) and his genius grandson, Brian “Gadge” Roberts (Billy Chapin).
Nordstrom calls his robot “Tobor” which is robot spelled backwards. Nordstrom has a press conference to announce the creation of Tobor to reporters. Tobor is controlled by Nordstrom using thought waves. Among the reporters is a foreign agent (Steven Geray). After the conference, Ralph realizes that there was one extra man in the audience that wasn’t invited. The foreign agent and his goons try to break into the professor’s home to steal the formula for the professor’s extra sensory transmission method; however, they are thwarted by the professor’s elaborate alarm system.
Unwilling to give up, the agent comes up with a plan to kidnap Gadge and Professor Nordstrom. The spies send Gadge an invitation to see a show at the planetarium. The professor takes him there only to find that there is no show, and they are met by men with guns. Their only hope is if Professor Nordstrom can communicate with Tobor and ask for help, but the long-distance remote-control communication system hasn’t yet been tested.
“Tobor the Great” AKA “Tobor” was released in 1954 and was directed by Lee Sholem. It is an independent American science fiction film.
The film is primarily a children’s science fiction movie, but I found that it wasn’t dumbed down. Well, not a lot anyway. It does stretch a little when it comes to science facts, but it is basically on par with 50’s style science fiction. It has a naïve quality that was popular in the genre at the time. Having a robot come to the rescue is the epitome of Saturday afternoon at the movies.
Who created the robot for the film is still in debate. Some attribute it to Robert Kinoshita. He was the talent behind Robby the robot from “Forbidden Planet” 1956 and B9 from the “Lost in Space” television series. Some say the artist that created Tobor was Gabriel Scognamillo. Kinoshita has stated in interviews that he had nothing to do with creating Tobor. Other evidence has pointed to Scognamillo so unless other information is presented, Scognamillo is the most likely contender.
The movie has some decent character actors such as Steven Geray and William Schallert. Billy Chapin, who plays the kid in the movie, isn’t nearly as annoying as I expected him to be. The acting in general is decent and the special effects are good for the period. It is a decent 50’s science fiction offering. I actually found the movie to be a lot more fun and interesting than I expected it to be.