spectreagent Watching this very underrated classic from producer George Pal, Which teams him again with the director of his 1953 classic The War of the Worlds, Byron Haskins, Who retired shortly afterwards.Some might say that George Hamilton, excuse me, George Hamilton-TAN, Who plays Dr. Tanner, ironically, miscast in the lead role. But, I disagree.Ironically, he was originally cast by the producer for the part that eventually went to actor Earl Holliman, Who, like several other members of the cast, appeared in the original twilight zone TV series.What a fascinating cast this film has. 50s Universal and Columbia science fiction regular, Richard Carlson (It Came From Outer Space), Yvonne deCarlo (Lily Munster herself), Aldo Ray, and several Twilight Zone veterans, in addition to Earl Holliman; Vaughn Taylor, Barbara Nichols, Gary Merrill, Nehemiah Persoff, Celia Lovsky (who's also best remembered as the Vulcan priestess in the Star Trek episode Amok Time), and the late Suzanne Pleshette, at her most attractive. And, The late Michael Rennie (The Day The Earth Stood Still) is excellent as always.Very suspenseful, well directed, well scripted, from a book by sci-fi veteran Frank M Robinson (The Glass Inferno), add to this, a magnificent score by Miklos Rozsa (Spellbound), which is what I remember the most about this film when I first viewed as a kid.In fact, I'm listening to The surviving music cues, which were partially destroyed.

a_chinn Colorful supernatural thriller from producer George Pal has George Hamilton playing a scientist who discovers someone on his team has telekinetic powers and is killing off members one by one. Police investigating the first murder believe Hamilton lied about his background and is now a suspect after no one can find any evidence of his academic records. Hamilton must then figure out and stop whoever it is is using their powers to ruin his him and who is killing off his colleagues. "The Power" features some cool 1960s psychedelic special effects, a nice score by golden age composer Miklós Rózsa, a solid mystery, and a cool psychic showdown finale. Not a classic, but pretty entertaining stuff and a bit more serious than most of producer Pal's usual output. Suzanne Pleshette also appears in the film as a fellow scientist helping Hamilton.

a666333 The positive reviews for this film at this site have me baffled. Really baffled. We see here a cast full of familiar character actors and people who were leads in some good movies. None of them comes off well here. They give Hamilton and Pleshette top billing and then list the rest alphabetically, giving you the impression that there will be an ensemble cast delivering something of significance. Unfortunately, that can be and is a danger sign. When you get middling actors at the top and an ensemble of supporters who could, when at their best, steal their scenes, it often means that the supporters are instead lowered to the level of the leads or worse. George Hamilton in particular just delivers lines and in no way gives us a character we can care about. Suzanne Pleshette is likewise flatted out and must have suffered under that hairspray and make-up (albeit that was typical of 64-66 when this was likely filmed). Earl Holliman attempts to be psycho-philosophical and it goes nowhere. (The shame is that scene could have built up the context and plot well if handled better.) Michael Rennie's character is only discovering and using his capabilities at that age??? And then we have poor Miiko Taka, wasted again trying to make something of a bit part way below her ability. I think you are getting the idea. And what is this "power" anyway? Well, we do figure it out sort-of but it is not actually developed as a concept. Instead we get vague hints and a lot of strangeness just happens. So we get no characters, acting talent wasted badly, and conceptual development that falls flat. What special effects that there are, don't add up to much. So, be prepared to be disappointed.

mrb1980 I really can't understand why "The Power" isn't more highly regarded than it is. It has a great story, is beautifully photographed and well-directed, and has one of the best casts ever assembled for a sci-fi movie.Hamilton and Pleshette are members of an academic committee. As the story develops, the committee members begin to realize that one member is an evil force who is determined to kill everyone else. Hamilton decides to solve the mystery, and is the subject of numerous attempts on his life. The final confrontation with Rennie is dynamite.All members of the cast provide great performances, though I was a little disappointed with Merrill, who I think took his "tough detective" routine a little too far. I also admit that the idea of George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette appearing in a deep, cerebral science fiction film seems a little odd, but don't be fooled, both are excellent. O'Connell, Holliman, Rennie, Carlson, Ray, De Carlo, and Persoff are all superb in their roles.The film suffers on the small screen and should only be viewed in letterbox format. Just pay attention and you'll be rewarded with a great movie.