Tobor the Great (1954)

"Tobor the Great" is lightly amusing, engaging sci-fi, which could well be described as the tale of "a boy and his robot". People such as Dr. Ralph Harrison (Charles Drake, "It Came from Outer Space") and the eminent Professor Arnold Nordstrom (Taylor Holmes, "Kiss of Death" '47) don't believe that human beings should be subjected to the unknown perils of space travel. So Nordstrom has hit upon the answer: the title robot, which has been designed to be a sentient being which people can communicate with telepathically. When enemy agents kidnap Nordstrom and his grandson "Gadge" (Billy Chapin, "The Night of the Hunter"), to force the old man to divulge his secrets, Tobor swings (so to speak) into action.There's a lot of set-up to get to the pay-off in this minor but diverting, and mostly harmless, story. Tobor may be no Robby the Robot, but "he" is a fairly cool character nonetheless. The movie is always fun when Tobor is stomping around, breaking things, offering a hand in friendship, foiling the bad guys...and, in the movies' most priceless sequence, driving a jeep.Some of the human characters take some time getting used to. Harrison comes off as a volatile jerk at first, and "Gadge" is the perfect stereotype of a kid of that era, given to proclamations such as "Gosh!" and "Gee willikers!" But the cast delivers amiable performances (they're NOT terrible). Also co-starring are Karin Booth ("Jungle Man-Eaters"), Steven Geray ("Spellbound"), Hal Baylor ("A Boy and His Dog"), Peter Brocco ("Johnny Got His Gun"), Alan Reynolds ("Cape Fear" '62), William Schallert ('The Patty Duke Show'), Robert Shayne ('Adventures of Superman'), and Lyle Talbot ("Plan 9 from Outer Space"). Holmes has a warm, wise presence as the egghead who sets the story in motion.As was said, it's not completely harmless. People may wince at the fact that the bad guys are prepared to torture young Gadge to get the old man to spill the beans.Fortunately, "Tobor the Great" never dwells too long on unpleasantness, and heads towards a rousing conclusion where our hero robot saves the day. Fans of 1950s sci-fi may find it charming.Six out of 10.

I have to admit having a soft spot for TOBOR THE GREAT, but not for the reasons one might expect. Oh sure, the robot is great, a towering behemoth of tin cans and toasters welded together into a clattering, somewhat clunky suit. He doesn't have much of a personality but he's cool. The scenes where Tobor goes postal and sets off to right wrongs are the best, especially when little Timmy is threatened by the bad Slavic accented spies who want to force his kindly scientist grandpa into spilling his state secrets for them.And it's here where my interest in the film kicks in. It's a very subtle bit of indoctrination for young viewers into the wonders of America's cold war military industrial complex disguised as a giant rampaging robot movie. The heroes are all sharply uniformed military men or scientists working to further America's dominance in the space race, and the bad guys are all thugs who work for a foreign power with a vested interest in disrupting their progress. They probably don't even celebrate Christmas.The film is rife with military lingo, helpful Air Force officers, well intentioned grandfatherly politicians who understand the need to keep secrets from the public, and little Timmy eagerly helping things along by his own deft contributions to ensuring for the common defense. It's a great little study about how national security really begins with each of us and our need for vigilance (sound familiar, War On Terror veterans?), hard work, and personal sacrifice. The biggest laugh comes in the opening monologue's passage regarding congress supposedly granting unlimited funding to the Tobor project -- those were the days!The most interesting character in the film is actually the reporter, absurdly named Gilligan. He's a hard working leathershoe journalist who is determined to break his big story but is sympathetic to the government quashing his efforts when it comes to keeping the marvel of Tobor's development a secret from our enemies, and our friends. Everybody pitches in, including the shapely mom with her fresh, clean, good looks, representing that which we fight to protect back at home, which looks like Ward Cleaver's house. And just like the Beaver's mom I bet she'd be an animal in bed.The big robot and his flashing lights & funky metallic shoes are just window dressing to keep the kids' interest -- and make no mistake, this film was aimed squarely at the bright 6 to 12 year old future defense industry workers in the audience. The lesson being that if you do well in school, mind your manners at home, and take an active role in the community you too might one day get to build friendly robotic soldiers who are immune to human weaknesses. It's a pretty fun little movie too and a harmless diversion for 9 year olds of all ages.6/10

what a great film! Its about a robot named Tobor which does some stuff in the 1950s. There's a little kid and a grandpa scientist and they do stuff, and thats pretty much the movie. I love how the evil spy gets in to the secret lab, which is simply the basement of the scientist. Very cool indeed.Yeah, a great movie I saw on AMC one afternoon with ym dad. We both feel asleep from the boredom and woke up for the end. A great film I recommend to anyone who likes to laugh at things.

True, its budget is small, its special-effects minimal, its appeal somewhat juvenile, but there's a directness and innocence about this boy-and-robot adventure which -- when seen from a modern-day perspective -- is quite appealing. I agree, however, with the author of "Keep Watching the Skies" that the ending is a curious and rather unsettling miscalculation.