Like many other European filmmakers of his generation, Hungarian-born George Pal made his way to America after the Nazis came to power in Germany. By then, still in his early 30s, he'd already patented an animation technique using puppets instead of inked celluloid frames, called Puppetoons in the US; he won an honorary Oscar for the process in 1943, as well as being nominated for best short animation seven years in a row.
But Pal's greatest contribution to cinema were the 14 films he made, almost all sci-fi or fantasy, as producer or producer and director, including such classics as The War of the Worlds, Destination Moon and The Time Machine. In his own way, he was as important to the development of special effects and story-telling in sci-fi cinema as Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien.
10 'Destination Moon' (1950)
IMDb rating: 6.3/10
A tad slow and crusty by today's sci-fi standards, Destination Moon nonetheless still manages to hold its own with a story about American industry backing the first manned mission to the Moon.
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Pal's first science fiction film, and arguably cinema's first hard sci-fi film, employed sci-fi doyen Robert Heinlein as technological adviser and astronomical artists Chesley Bonestell for the moonscapes. A paean to space exploration driven by private enterprise, the storyline from this 1950 film produced by George Pal has more in common with the 21st century than the 20th.
9 'The Great Rupert' (1950)
IMDb rating: 6.4/10
The Great Rupert (aka A Christmas Wish) was produced by George Pal in 1950, the same year as Destination Moon. Rupert is a squirrel whose antics help out two families undergoing hard times. The stop-motion special effects used to bring Rupert to life reportedly convinced some viewers it was a real-life trained squirrel.
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Although made in 1950, the film has an older feel about it, as if the cast, script and production values were lifted from the 1930s. Despite its charms and with the ever-watchable Jimmy Durante as its human lead, it can be hard-going for a modern audience.
8 'Tom Thumb' (1958)
IMDb rating: 6.4/10
George Pal said Tom Thumb was one of his personal favorites. Taken from a Brothers Grimm tale, it relates how a poor country couple desperate for a child - even if it was no bigger than a thumb - are granted their wish ... literally. Two thieves try taking advantage of Tom Thumb's small size in a heist, but in the end all comes good: the thieves are captured and punished, and the poor couple are able to keep their child.
A story Pal had wanted to film since the late 1940s, it wasn't until 1958 that he was able to get the money, actors and production time all lined up. Pal produced and directed the film, which proved to be popular with audiences, particularly in Britain where it was one of the year's most successful releases.
7 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
IMDb rating: 6.4/10
A fictionalized biography of the famous collectors of folk tales, 1962's The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm allowed George Pal to use stop-motion animation to interweave some of those tales into the story. Besides producing and co-directing, Pal also acted as director of animation.
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Featuring a cast that included some of the most recognizable actors at the time, such as Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Barbara Eden and Terry-Thomas, it became one of 1962's most successful films. Nominated for four Oscars, it won for best costume design.
6 When Worlds Collide (1951)
IMDb rating: 6.6/10
When scientists confirm the Earth faces imminent destruction from a collision with a wandering star called Bellus, the race is on to build a spaceship that will transport at least a handful of lucky people, chosen by lottery, to safety. Despite mass hysteria and violence, the spaceship leaves Earth just before its end and humanity survives - barely.
If Pal's Destination Moon was an early and great example of hard scif-fi cinema, 1951's When Worlds Collide is an example of silly sci-fi given a make-over to convince audiences what they were watching was actually possible. Despite a riot of plot holes, the film is in some ways better regarded now than it was back in the 1950s, and influenced the story behind Deep Impact, and - one suspects - similar disaster films like 2012.
5 The Naked Jungle (1954)
IMDB rating: 6.7/10
If Charlton Heston had the perfect role, it was as the conflicted - and sometimes confused - hero. In The Naked Jungle, produced by Pal in 1954, Heston gets to play a Brazilian landowner who is definitely conflicted - and often confused - by the arrival of his wife (Eleanor Parker), the product of an arranged marriage. Thrown into the mix is a horde of raging army ants, which besides voraciously consuming every living in its path also works as a pretty neat metaphor for Heston's raging hormones.
Like a lot of Pal's work, the film has no pretense to greatness, and while it's starting to feel a little dated, under Byron Haskin's sure direction it can still grab an audience by its braces and not let go.
4 Houdini (1953)
IMDb rating: 6.8/10
George Pal doesn't seem to have been able to make a film, even about real-life people, without adding a tincture of fantasy. In this case, an entertaining and well-acted biography about great magician and escape artist Harry Houdini (Tony Curtis) incorporates elements that never occurred, including the climax's dramatic death scene.
Pal, who co-produced Houdini, ensured a real escapologist was closely involved as technical adviser. It's intriguing to think that Pal may have been inspired to make the film because, like himself, Houdini was a Hungarian-American.
3 The War of the Worlds (1953)
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IMDb rating: 7.0/10
Producer George Pal and director Byron Haskin were the perfect combination to bring this most famous alien invasion story to the big screen. It is still, 70 years later, regarded as one of the all-time great sci-fi films. With solid and sympathetic performances from its two leads - Gene Barry and Ann Robinson - The War of the Worlds was a resounding success, critically and commercially.
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Purists may object to the story being hijacked from Edwardian Britain to the US in the 1950s, but it was the right decision for the time. Despite coming only third in the IMDb ratings, this is the film George Pal will be remembered for a century from now.
2 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
IMDb rating: 7.1/10
A stranger, Dr. Lao (Tony Randall), appears in Abalone, Arizona and advertises his traveling circus, which will open for two nights only. It turns out Lao is the circus's only performer, presenting himself through 7 'faces' such as Merlin and Pan - personalities representing different aspects of human experience like wisdom and joy. Lao offers the people of Abalone a chance for truth, reflection and an opportunity to save themselves from the avaricious plans of local rancher Clint Stark. After the second night, Lao and his circus mysteriously disappear.
This 1964 film, based on Charles G. Finney's novel The Circus of Dr. Lao, was Pal's last as director. Although the only one of his films to lose money at the box-office, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao is a clever mix of fantasy, homily and whimsy, helped by a witty script by Charles Beaumont (one of The Twilight Zone's best writers) and Ben Hecht (scriptwriter for such classics as It's a Wonderful Life).
1 The Time Machine (1960)
IMDb rating: 7.5/10
This, the first time H. G. Wells' novella of the same name was made into a film, features Rod Taylor as Edwardian inventor and explorer George (a cipher for Wells himself) who travels into the far future in a time machine of his own making. To his horror, he discovers humanity divided into the sheep-like Eloi and their predators, the underground-living and cannibalistic Morlocks.
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While the original novella was at least in part about the cultural and class divisions existing in Wells' own time, this 1960 film, produced and directed by George Pal, is primarily an adventure movie. Stylish, and with Oscar-winning special effects, the sometimes-stodgy action scenes display The Time Machine's middle-age spread. This was not only Rod Taylor's first lead role in a major film, his vehicle to stardom, but also co-star Yvette Mimieux's very first film.
