A telepathic robot forms a powerful bond with a boy in this Cold War sci-fi oddity.
TOBOR THE GREAT
A Man-Made Monster With Every Human Emotion
An 11-year-old becomes attached to the robot (unimaginatively named "Tobor," or robot spelled backwards) invented by his grandfather, Holmes. Most of the plot concerns the relationship between the boy, the inventor, and the robot, which has feelings. Some anticommunist propaganda seeps in when Holmes and Chapin are captured by Reds. Of course, Tobor manages to rescue them, only to be rewarded with an eternal existence in space. Aimed solely at arousing sentiment.
Tobor: proof that spelling things backwards is the height of mad science.
Tobor—yes, that's 'robot' backwards—breaks out of the tin-can mold with actual feelings and a psychic link to a precocious 10-year-old. This is Cold War sci-fi where the real threat is less space and more 'the Reds,' and the emotional climax involves a robot's existential reward: eternity among the stars.
— SassyFlix Programmer
Tobor the Great is a 1954 American science fiction film directed by Lee Sholem about a telepathic robot who forms an emotional bond with a boy and protects him from foreign agents.
- Director
- Lee Sholem
- Writers
- Philip MacDonald, Carl Dudley
- Release
- 1954
- Runtime
- 1h 17m
- Country
- United States of America
- Language
- English
- Genres
- Science Fiction
Synopsis
Why Cult
Tobor isn't just a hunk of metal—he shares a deep psychic connection with young Gadge, turning the robot-sidekick trope into something unexpectedly emotional.
Foreign spies and anti-communist intrigue inject this sci-fi with a dose of atomic age paranoia, as the threat shifts from outer space to 'the Reds.'
Meet Tobor: a robot so advanced, his name is literally 'robot' spelled backwards. Subtlety not required.
Aimed at tugging heartstrings as much as stoking sci-fi curiosity, Tobor's story is as much about human (and robot) feeling as exploration.
Trailer
Scene Gallery
Questions from the Vault
What is Tobor the Great about? +
Tobor the Great centers on a telepathic robot who develops an emotional bond with a boy and protects him from foreign agents.
Who directed Tobor the Great? +
Tobor the Great was directed by Lee Sholem.
How long is Tobor the Great? +
Tobor the Great has a runtime of 77 minutes.
What genre is Tobor the Great? +
Tobor the Great is a science fiction film.
When was Tobor the Great released? +
Tobor the Great was released in 1954.
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