Tobor the Great

Tobor
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLee Sholem
Written byCarl Dudley
Philip MacDonald
Produced byRichard Goldstone
StarringCharles Drake
Karin Booth
Billy Chapin
CinematographyJohn L. Russell
Edited byBasil Wrangell
Music byHoward Jackson
Production
company
Dudley Pictures Corporation
Distributed byRepublic Pictures
Release date
  • September 1, 1954 (1954-09-01) (U.S.)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tobor the Great (a.k.a. Tobor) is a 1954 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film, produced by Richard Goldstone, directed by Lee Sholem, and starring Charles Drake, Karin Booth, and Billy Chapin. The film was written by Carl Dudley and Philip MacDonald and was distributed by Republic Pictures.

The film's storyline involves Dr. Ralph Harrison, who resigns his government post in protest against the inhumane treatment being inflicted upon spaceship pilots. His colleague, Professor Nordstrom, develops an alternative: a robot that he names "Tobor" (the reverse anagram of "robot"[1]), which soon becomes a friend and playmate to Harrison's young son, "Gadge". Tobor is stolen by enemy agents, and only the two scientists' and Gadge's psychic link with the robot can save it from being reprogrammed and used for evil purposes against the United States.

  1. ^ Ichbiah 2005, p. 61.