The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

You can't be a fan of 1950's science fiction without knowledge of The Day The Earth Stood Still. I'm not sure exactly when I first heard of the film but I became aware of the general story long before I saw it due to its unique approach to alien movies at the time: the alien in this film comes not to destroy the Earth but to help save it. My aunt's boyfriend was a big fan of it and said it actually terrified him as a kid. It wasn't until I was twenty that I finally sat down and watched the movie all the way through. My thoughts: it's good. I understand why it's so acclaimed. It may not be one of my personal favorites but I still think it's a great film. It's well made with great acting, nicely done themes and messages, a unique music score, and impressive effects.

The main reason for the film working so well is Michael Rennie as Klaatu the alien. While not malevolent or intimidating, he does make it clear that his mission is a matter of grave importance. When he's shot upon arrival and is taken to a hospital where he talks to a government official, he also makes it obvious that while he comes in peace, he's frustrated by the way the human race automatically resorts to violence when they don't understand something. He becomes even more frustrated when the official tells him that it would be impossible for the leaders of all the world's nations to meet due to the tension of the times. He says that he's frustrated by stupidity and that his people have learned to live without it. Mr. Harley, the government official, solemnly says that his people have not.

The amazing thing about Klaatu is, despite his apparent annoyance towards the way the human race is acting, he never has an outburst or even raises his voice. He's always completely calm. When he's locked inside his hospital room and sees the doorknob jiggle when the people outside secure it with a rope, he simply shakes his head at how paranoid they are, even though he's made it clear that he has no intention of harming anyone. He does, however, seem to have a slight personality change by the end of the film. At first, he's simply here to carry out his mission to deliver his message to the Earth. But after he's spent time among the people of Washington and gotten to know a young woman and her son in particular, he becomes more determined to save the planet. His final speech where he tells the scientists representing the world's nations the situation is very well delivered. His planet and the other planets have learned to live peacefully and they do not care how the people of Earth control their government. However, now that weapon development and is heading to the point where it will involve other planets, the Earth must be warned to either stop or be destroyed. It's then revealed that the robot Gort that came with Klaatu is one of many robots that act as an intergalactic police force, keeping peace in the universe. I like how Klaatu says that no action will be taken against Earth for now but the council will be waiting to see how the governments of the world act now. He said that violence seems to be the only language that the human race understands and so his people had to use a threat of violence to get their point across. A bit of a sad commentary on the human race as a whole.

The other most memorable character in the film is Gort, the enormous robot that arrives with Klaatu. Gort makes his power obvious when he appears out of the ship after Klaatu is shot. He shoots a powerful laser out of his visor that disintegrates anything instantly. After Klaatu calls him off, Gort spends most of the film simply standing in front of the spaceship. However, it's revealed that the robot is a very deadly threat to the Earth should anything happen to Klaatu. When Klaatu is fatally shot, Gort immediately goes into his destruction mode and actually disintegrates two guards who advance on him. He's only stopped when Helen, the woman who has become close to Klaatu, delivers the words to call him off. Gort's true origin as part of a police force of robots is revealed at the end of the film, making it even more clear that he's a force to be reckoned with.

The rest of the cast members are nothing special but they do their jobs admirably. Patricia Neal is fairly good as Helen Benson, the woman who, along with her young son, becomes close to Klaatu. She's a pretty typical female character of the times, even though she does eventually speak the words that save the Earth. Unfortunately before that, she does the predictable action of screaming at Gort and getting herself trapped by him as he approaches. One thing I will say about her is that she's one of the few who assumes the alien visitor is not an enemy after all and this is before she even gets to know him personally. She's not as close-minded as the people around her.

Hugh Marlowe plays Tom Stevens, Helen's boyfriend who ultimately proves to be a selfish scumbag. He's suspicious of Klaatu from the get-go and when he discovers who he is, he intends to turn him because he knows it'll get him ahead. When Helen tells him that it's important to the rest of the world that Klaatu not be turned in, he selfishly admits that he doesn't care about the rest of the world. Helen right then decides that she wants nothing more to do with him and leaves him.

One odd character is Sam Jaffe as Prof. Barnhardt, the brilliant scientist who Klaatu ultimately confides in as a last ditch effort to save the world. Being a curious scientist, Barnhardt is not at all frightened of the alien and agrees to hear him out. Once Klaatu tells him how grave the situation is, he does everything possible to ensure a meeting of all the great minds from various nations to hear Klaatu out. It is he who suggests that a demonstration of power must be made to convince the scientists that Klaatu's people have the means necessary to destroy the Earth if they must.

Billy Gray as young Bobby Benson is the typical curious young boy. He's not annoying, just very energetic and doesn't seem scared by the alien or the spacecraft. He does, however, become scared when he discovers that Klaatu is the spaceman. One thing I don't like, however, is how he's not present at the final scene and his last scene is him being slightly afraid of what he saw. For the sake of his close friendship with Klaatu, I wish he would have been at the final scene to fully understand why Klaatu was here on Earth.

The biggest theme of the movie is obvious: how mankind is afraid of the unknown and seems to know only how to react to it with violence. Included within that theme is the racial prejudice that existed at that time and still, unfortunately, does exist to some degree. The whole world goes into a panic when the flying saucer is seen circling the Earth and the military takes immediate action when Klaatu comes out of the spaceship. When he takes an odd device out of his coat, the soldiers assume it's a weapon and one even shoots Klaatu. After Klaatu escapes from the hospital, you hear many radio reports talking about how he is a hideous creature who's come to destroy the planet, which, of course, isn't true. It's pretty clear that people demonize anything they don't understand and don't wait to find out if it's malevolent for sure. Klaatu himself says that what scares him is when people substitute fear for reason. (Enough said.) There's also a staunch anti-military theme present. Throughout the film, all the military does is try to kill Klaatu, even though he said he comes in peace. They don't realize it but their action could mean the end of the world. This theme is one of the reasons Robert Wise directed the film and you can't help but wonder if the scene of tanks rolling out of a base and sliding slightly on the wet road is a more deliberate knock on them. These themes may be incorporated with the fear of the Cold War that was prevalent at the time but I do feel that they're also relevant in today's world, perhaps even more so. That's why I felt that the movie didn't need to be remade or to be updated. If the film wasn't made in the 50's but in the new millennium with the fear of terrorism incorporated, it would have exactly the same resonance. The themes, unfortunately, are timeless.

One of the film's most striking scenes is the one that the film's very title is derived from. In order to prove that his people have incredible power, Klaatu has them stop all electricity on Earth for half an hour. A montage showing people in various countries throughout the world realizing what has happened is then shown. You see people getting out of their cars that are stuck on the roads, unable to call people on the telephone, and the sense of fear this creates. At one point, Prof. Barnhardt asks his assistant if this makes her feel insecure and frightened. When she says that it does, he replies that that's good. This is exactly what the demonstration was supposed to do. However, Klaatu ensures nobody would be killed by having the electricity in hospitals and planes in the air to stay on. Still, this does frighten the scientists around the world enough to attend the meeting but it also spurs the military to take Klaatu by any means necessary.

One theme that Robert Wise said was unintentional was a Christian allegory in making Klaatu feel similar to Jesus Christ. I honestly didn't think about it when I first saw the film but when I heard about it and thought, it is quite interesting. Klaatu tries to save the people, is killed, resurrected, and ultimately ascends into the heavens. Even more to the point, the alias that Klaatu takes to blend in with the people around him is Carpenter. But one overtly Christian aspect that I don't care for in the film is when Klaatu is resurrected by Gort and Helen asks him if Gort has the power of life and death. Klaatu says that that power is reserved to the almighty spirit, an obvious reference to God. I don't like not because I have anything against Christianity but it seemed out of place for an advanced, highly intelligent and powerful alien being to believe in God. Apparently, Robert Wise and screenwriter Edmund North didn't like it either but had to put it in because the censors didn't like the idea of Gort actually having the power of life and death. Rather frivolous to get upset about if you ask me.

Bernard Herrmann's amazing score pretty much set the standard for science fiction movie music of the time. I didn't realize it at the time but his use of the theremin in the film was what I always heard when I thought about music from these types of films. Even people who don't know that the extensive use of the instrument began with this film often think about its bizarre sound when 50's alien films come to mind. For me personally, I guess I'd heard the theremin used in so many movies I'd seen before I saw this one that I immediately said, "That's the sound of classic sci-fi!"

While I personally like many other films more than The Day The Earth Stood Still, there's no denying that it is an excellent movie. Even if you don't care for deep, meaningful stuff, the cool designs of Gort, the spaceship, and the music should satisfy fans of sci-fi. It definitely deserves its place in movie history for many reasons that I've described and I do recommend it for those who haven't seen it.