| Tobor The Great | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Lee Sholem |
| Written by | Carl Dudley Philip MacDonald |
| Starring | Charles Drake Karin Booth Billy Chapin |
| Release date(s) | September 1, 1954 |
| Running time | 77 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Tobor the Great is a 1954 science fiction film, written by Carl Dudley & Philip MacDonald, and directed by Lee Sholem. It stars Charles Drake, Karin Booth, and Billy Chapin. The film was released on DVD on May 13, 2008 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
Dr. Ralph Harrison, a member of the new government-appointed Civil Interplanetary Flight Commission, resigns in protest against the inhumane treatment being inflicted upon spaceship pilots. His colleague Professor Nordstrom develops an alternative robot spaceman, "Tobor" (the reverse anagram of "robot"), which is stolen by enemy agents. Only the scientists' psychic link with the robot can save it from being reprogrammed for evil purposes.
Tobor's design was the brainchild of Robert Kinoshita, television and film effects man and prop designer who would later go on to design Robby the Robot from the 1956 film Forbidden Planet, as well as the B9 environmental control robot from the 1960's hit sci-fi series Lost In Space.
A sequel to the film was announced by Diamond World Pictures, a new film company and division. It will feature Patrick Dempsey and Christopher Plummer, use the classic combination of live-action and stop-motion animation, and be released as the first film from Diamond World Pictures in the summer of 2011.