Sunday, July 3, 2022
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
“Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!”
Movie Review
The Day the Earth Stood Still
(1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still
(1951)
By Dan - August 9, 2013
The Second World War ended six years ago, but tension is growing around the world as the forces of Communism are growing stronger by the day. A new war, a Cold War, has begun, and there are fears that this could easily escalate into a full blown nuclear war, a war that can kill every single person on the planet.
And then one day a flying saucer lands in Washington, D.C. The spacecraft’s humanoid occupant brings peace but insists on meeting all of the world’s leaders. If such an assembly can happen, then the alien visitor will deliver his message, a message that concerns the future existence of the planet Earth.
Directed by Robert Wise, The Day the Earth Stood Still is based on Harry Bates‘ short science-fiction story, Farewell to the Master. The 1950s sci-fi film stars Michael Rennie in the role of Klaatu, an alien who visits planet Earth. Patricia Neal plays the role of Helen Benson, a woman who encounters Klaatu and eventually learns his secret. Billy Gray plays Bobby Benson, a young boy who becomes friends with Klaatu while he’s in disguise as Mr. Carpenter.
So is The Day the Earth Stood Still (TDTESS) a good movie?
For many people, TDTESS is considered to be one of the finest science-fiction films ever created. While the film itself is fairly simple, the message that it delivers leaves a powerful impact. This is especially true for 1951 and the early days of the Cold War and threat of nuclear holocaust.
Klaatu is a peaceful man from another world. He’s a very intelligent person who speaks his knowledge from years of experience. His planet’s ability to listen to Earth’s broadcasts have allowed him to learn English as well as many of our customs. His companion, Gort, is an incredibly strong and powerful robot. It’s capable of destroying anything that it perceives as a threat. Together, Klaatu and Gort represent an all-knowing and unstoppable force from another world.
TDTESS has the appearance of an anti-war film. Bobby lost his father in World War 2, and he’d like to live in a world without wars. Klaatu warns against the continued usage of atomic weapons and the consequences they will cause in space. He also speaks against fear and stupidity that leads to war.
Klaatu’s message at the end of the film talks about an unstoppable police force of robots that eliminate aggressors, thus eliminating the concept of war or a military. Oddly enough, this is the same concept behind the Strategic Air Command (1944-1992) with the United States Air Force. The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was the command and control of the Air Force’s (originally the US Army Air Corps) strategic bombers and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). SAC’s motto was “Peace is our profession.” In other words, if you’re going to cause trouble, then we’re going to blast you back to the stone age. It’s brutal but effective when used correctly. That’s part of the same message delivered by Klaatu at the end of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
For Klaatu’s organization of planets, the end result of this philosophy is an incredibly advanced race of alien species. Not only do they have incredibly long life spans and a great amount of knowledge, but they’ve also increased their technology to the levels of unstoppable robot warriors and space travel. Who wouldn’t want to join their organization and share those advancements?
As a whole, The Day the Earth Stood Still is a rather simple but powerful film. It’s easy to follow the story and the messages delivered in it make a serious impact. This classic work of science-fiction can be enjoyed by not only sci-fi lovers, but those people who enjoy good films as well.
Trivia
- The role of Gort was played by Lock Martin, the doorman from Grauman's Chinese Theater, because he was extremely tall. However, he was unable to pick up Helen because he was so weak and had to be aided by wires (in shots from the back where he's carrying her, it's actually a lightweight dummy in his arms). He also had difficulty with the heavy Gort suit and could only stay in it for about a half-hour at a time.
- There were two Gort suits: one that laced up down the back for when he had his front to the camera, another that laced up in the front for the shots of his back.
- Bernard Herrmann used two Theremins to create his creepy score, one pitched higher, the other lower, making this one of the first films to feature a largely electronic score.
- To give the appearance of seamlessness to the space ship, the crack around the door was filled with putty, then painted over. When the door opened the putty was torn apart, making the door seem to simply appear.
- In the original story, the robot, Gort, was the master - Klaatu was merely one of a series of doubles, or maybe clones, that died after a short time.
- As an homage to this film, George Lucas named two of the alien bounty hunters in his Star Wars trilogy "Klaatu" and "Barada Nikto".
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