Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition) — page 78: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

FILMING Trle WORLD By GEORGE PAL “WAR OF c Producer of ‘‘ War of the Worlds,” a Paramount Picture See the movie—it’s a good show. But it’s also the end result of technical feats that any laboratory man can appreciate. The Special- Effects man, today, combines inspiration with perspiration—using lots of both. MY BENE VER a Hollywood pro- ducer brings out a new motion picture in which he has tampered with the plot of a well-known novel or play, he’s inviting criticism. F We took that risk when we made the H. G. Wells classic, ‘“War Of The Worlds,”’ but inasmuch as none of us connected with it have been dodging any verbal tomatoes since, I take it that the audiences approve. “War of the Worlds” was on my agenda of future projects almost since the day I arrived at Paramount Studio two and a half years ago after pro- ducing my first science-fiction venture, “Destination Moon” for Eagle-Lion release. Paramount had owned the Wells story for some twenty-six years but no producer had ever tackled it, al- though it had been discussed several times. But now with the big vogue for films of a science-fiction nature it seemed a logical choice. So it was natural that I selected it as one of my first story properties for future production. I was stimulated by the problems it posed. Although written fifty-six years ago, in many respects it had withstood the advances of time remarkably well 76 and remained today an exciting and visionary story of the future. It offered me my greatest challenge to date in figuring out how to film the Martian machines, their heat and disintegration rays and the destruction and chaos they might cause when they invade Earth. It ended up by being my most costly picture to date, $2,000,000, as contrasted with $586,000 for ‘‘Des- tination Moon,” and $936,000 for “‘When Worlds Collide.” It also took the longest period of time to make. More than six months of special-effects work plus an addi- tional two months for optical effects were needed after our regular shooting schedule with the cast was concluded; work with the cast took forty days at the studio and on location in Ari- zona. More special-effects work went into “War of the Worlds” than any of my other pictures. More than four times as many, for instance, as went into ““When Worlds Collide.” Actually one half of the final com- pleted picture which you see on the screen consists of some form of special- effects created by our exceptional EComichoo CSO) im