The War of the Worlds (1953)

In southern California, Dr. Clayton Forrester, a well-known atomic scientist, is fishing with colleagues when a large object crashes near the town of Linda Rosa. At the impact site, he meets USC library science instructor Sylvia Van Buren and her uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins. Later that night, a round hatch on the object unscrews and opens. As the three men standing guard at the site attempt to make contact while waving a white flag, a Martian heat ray weapon obliterates them. The United States Marine Corps later surround the crash site, as reports pour in of identical cylinders landing all over the world and destroying cities. Three Martian war machines emerge from the cylinder. Pastor Collins attempts to make contact with the Martians, but he is disintegrated. The Marines open fire, but nothing can penetrate the Martians’ force field. The Martians counterattack with their Heat-Ray and skeleton-beam weapons, sending the military into full retreat.

Attempting to escape in a military spotter plane, Forrester and Sylvia crash land and hide in an abandoned farmhouse. They begin to develop closer feelings for each other just before the house is buried by yet another crashing cylinder. A long cable with an electronic eye explores the house and eventually spots them, but Forrester cuts it off using an axe. Later, when a Martian enters the house and approaches Sylvia, Forrester injures it with the axe and collects a Martian blood sample on a cloth. They escape just before the farmhouse is obliterated. Forrester takes the electronic eye and blood sample to his team at Pacific Tech in the hope of finding a way to defeat the invaders. The scientists discover how the eye works and also note that the Martian blood is extremely anemic.