The Day the Earth Stood Still
Encyclopedia
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 American science fiction film
directed by Robert Wise
and written by Edmund H. North
based on the short story "Farewell to the Master
" (1940) by Harry Bates
. The film stars Michael Rennie
, Patricia Neal
, Sam Jaffe
, and Hugh Marlowe
. In the film, a humanoid
alien visitor
comes to Earth with a warning, accompanied by the powerful robot
, "Gort
".
flying saucer
is tracked streaking about the Earth until it gently lands on the President's Park
Ellipse in Washington, D.C.
Klaatu
(Michael Rennie
) emerges, announcing that he has come from outer space
on a goodwill mission
. Upon opening a small, suspicious-looking device, he is wounded by a nervous soldier and the device is destroyed. In response, Gort
, a large humanoid robot
emerges from the ship and disintegrates all weapons present with a ray emanating from his head. Klaatu orders him to stop and explains that the ruined object was a viewing device, a gift for the President
.
Klaatu is taken to an army hospital, where he is found to be physically human-like, but stuns the doctors with the quickness of his healing. Meanwhile the military attempts to enter Klaatu's ship, but finds it impregnable. Gort stands by, mute and unmoving.
Klaatu reveals to the President's secretary, Harley (Frank Conroy), that he bears a message so momentous and urgent that it can and must be revealed to all the world's leaders simultaneously. However Harley tells him that it would be impossible to get the squabbling world leaders to agree to meet. Klaatu wants to get to know the ordinary people. Harley forbids it and leaves Klaatu locked up under guard.
Klaatu escapes and lodges at a boarding house
, assuming the alias "Mr. Carpenter". Among the residents are Helen Benson (Patricia Neal
), a World War II
widow, and her son Bobby (Billy Gray
). At breakfast the next morning, during alarming radio reports, Klaatu takes in the unknowing fellow boarders' suspicions and speculations about the purpose of the alien's visit.
While Helen and her boyfriend Tom Stephens (Hugh Marlowe
) go on a day trip, Klaatu babysits Bobby. The boy takes Klaatu on a tour of the city, including a visit to his father's grave in Arlington National Cemetery
, where Klaatu is dismayed to learn that most of those buried there were killed in wars. The two visit the heavily guarded spaceship and the Lincoln Memorial
. Klaatu, impressed by the Gettysburg Address
inscription, queries Bobby for the greatest person living in the world. Bobby suggests a leading American scientist, Professor Jacob Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe
), who lives in Washington, D.C. Bobby takes Klaatu to Barnhardt's home, but the professor is absent. Klaatu enters and adds a key mathematical equation to an advanced problem on the professor's blackboard, and then leaves his contact information with the suspicious housekeeper.
Later, government agents escort Klaatu to see Barnhardt. Klaatu introduces himself and warns the professor that the people of the other planets have become concerned for their own safety after human beings developed atomic power
. Klaatu declares that if his message goes unheeded, "Planet Earth will be eliminated." Barnhardt agrees to arrange a meeting of scientists at Klaatu's ship and suggests that Klaatu give a demonstration of his power. Klaatu returns to his spaceship the next evening to implement the idea, unaware that Bobby has followed him.
Bobby tells the unbelieving Helen and Tom what has transpired, but not until Tom finds a diamond on the floor of Klaatu's room do they begin to accept his story. When Tom takes the diamond for appraisal, the jeweler informs him it is unlike any other on Earth.
Klaatu finds Helen at her workplace. She leads him to an unoccupied elevator which mysteriously stops at noon, trapping them together. Klaatu admits he is responsible, tells Helen his true identity, and asks for her help. A montage sequence shows that Klaatu has neutralized all electric power
everywhere around the planet except in situations that would compromise human safety, such as hospitals and airplanes.
After the thirty-minute blackout ends, the manhunt for Klaatu intensifies and Tom informs authorities of his suspicions. Helen is very upset by Tom's betrayal of Klaatu and breaks off their relationship. Helen and Klaatu take a taxi to Barnhardt's home; en route, Klaatu instructs Helen that, should anything happen to him, she must tell Gort "Klaatu barada nikto
". When they are spotted, Klaatu is shot by military personnel. Helen heads to the spaceship. Gort awakens and kills two guards before Helen can relay Klaatu's message. Gort gently deposits her in the spaceship, then goes to fetch Klaatu's corpse. Gort then revives Klaatu while the amazed Helen watches on. Klaatu explains that his revival is only temporary; even with their advanced technology, they cannot truly overcome death, that power being reserved for the "Almighty Spirit."
Klaatu steps out of the spaceship and addresses the assembled scientists, explaining that humanity's penchant for violence and first steps into space have caused concern among other inhabitants of the universe who have created and empowered a race of robot enforcers including Gort to deter such aggression. He warns that if the people of Earth threaten to extend their violence into space, the robots will destroy Earth, adding, "The decision rests with you." He enters the spaceship and departs.
Well-known broadcast journalists of their time, H. V. Kaltenborn
, Elmer Davis
, Drew Pearson
and Gabriel Heatter
, appeared and/or were heard as themselves.
Spencer Tracy
and Claude Rains
were originally considered for the part of Klaatu.
, the film censor
installed by the Motion Picture Association of America
at the Twentieth Century Fox studios, balked at the portrayal of Klaatu's resurrection
and limitless power. At the behest of the MPAA
, a line was inserted into the film; when Helen asks Klaatu whether Gort has unlimited power over life and death, Klaatu explains that he has only been revived temporarily and "that power is reserved to the Almighty Spirit."
Of the elements that he added to Klaatu's character, screenwriter Edmund North said, "It was my private little joke. I never discussed this angle with Blaustein or Wise because I didn't want it expressed. I had originally hoped that the Christ comparison would be subliminal."
The fact that the question even came up in an interview is proof enough that such comparisons did not remain subliminal, but they are subtle enough that it is not immediately obvious to all viewers which elements were intended to compare Klaatu to Christ.
For example, when Klaatu escapes from the hospital, he steals the clothing of a "Maj. Carpenter," carpentry being the profession of Jesus
' father Joseph.
set out to make a film that illustrated the fear and suspicion that characterized the early Cold War
and Atomic Age
. He reviewed over 200 science fiction short stories
and novel
s in search of a storyline that could be used, since this film genre was well suited for a metaphorical discussion of such grave issues. Studio head Darryl F. Zanuck
gave the go-ahead for this project, and Blaustein hired Edmund North to write the screenplay based on elements from Harry Bates's short story Farewell to the Master. The revised final screenplay was completed on February 21, 1951.
and Claude Carpenter. They collaborated with the noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright
for the design of the spacecraft. Paul Laffoley
has suggested that the futuristic interior was inspired by Wright's Johnson Wax Headquarters
, completed in 1936. Laffoley quotes Wright and his attempt in designing the exterior: "... to imitate an experimental substance that I have heard about which acts like living tissue. If cut, the rift would appear to heal like a wound, leaving a continuous surface with no scar."
s and on its studio back lot (now located in Century City, California
), with a second unit shooting background plates and other scenes in Washington. The primary actors never traveled to Washington for the making of the film.
The robot Gort, who serves Klaatu, was played by the naturally tall Lock Martin
, who worked as an usher at Graumann's Chinese Theater and stood seven feet tall. He worked carefully with the metallic suit, for he was not used to being in such a costume. The costume also had wires for the robot's other parts. Wise decided that Martin's segments would be filmed at half hour intervals, so Martin would not face discomfort. The segments, in turn, went into the film's final print.
In a commentary track on DVD
, interviewed by fellow director Nicholas Meyer
, the director Robert Wise
stated that he wanted the film to appear as realistic and believable as possible, in order to drive home the motion picture's core message against armed conflict in the real world. Also mentioned in the DVD's documentary interview was the original title for the movie, "The Day the World Stops." Blaustein said his aim with the film was to promote a "strong United Nations
."
in August 1951, and was his first score after he moved from New York to Hollywood
. Herrmann chose unusual instrumentation for the film: violins, cellos, and basses (all three electric), two theremin
electronic instruments (played by Dr. Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure), two Hammond organ
s, a large studio electric organ, three vibraphone
s, two glockenspiel
s, marimba, tam-tam, 2 bass drums, 3 sets of timpani, two pianos, celesta, two harps, 1 horn, three trumpets, three trombones, and four tubas. Unusual overdubbing and tape-reversal techniques were used, as well.
. The film was moderately successful when released, accruing US$1,850,000 in distributors'
domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals, making it the year's 52nd biggest earner. Variety
praised the film's documentary style and the Los Angeles Times
praised its seriousness, though it also found "certain subversive elements." Bosley Crowther
of The New York Times
called it "tepid entertainment." The film earned more plaudits overseas: the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
gave the filmmakers a special Golden Globe Award
for "promoting international understanding." Bernard Herrmann
's score also received a nomination at the Golden Globes. The French magazine Cahiers du cinéma
was also impressed, with Pierre Kast calling it "almost literally stunning" and praising its "moral relativism".
The movie is ranked seventh in Arthur C. Clarke
's list of the best Science-Fiction films of all time, just above Stanley Kubrick
's 2001: A Space Odyssey
, which Clarke himself co-wrote.
has appeared repeatedly in fiction and in popular culture.
No translation of the phrase was stated in the film. Philosophy professor Aeon J. Skoble speculates the famous phrase is a "safe-word" that is part of a fail-safe
feature used during the diplomatic missions such as the one Klaatu and Gort make to Earth. With the use of the safe-word, Gort's deadly force can be deactivated in the event the robot is mistakenly triggered into a defensive posture. Skoble observes that the theme has evolved into a "staple of science fiction that the machines charged with protecting us from ourselves will misuse or abuse their power."
In this interpretation, the phrase apparently tells Gort that Klaatu considers escalation unnecessary.
The Robot Hall of Fame
describes the phrase as "one of the most famous commands in science fiction"
and Frederick S. Clarke of Cinefantastique
called it "the most famous phrase ever spoken by an extraterrestrial."
as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film also received recognition from the American Film Institute
. In 2001, it was ranked number 82 on 100 Years…100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding films. It placed number 67 on a similar list 100 Years…100 Cheers, a list of America's most inspiring films. In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten
" — the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres — after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The Day the Earth Stood Still was acknowledged as the fifth best film in the science fiction genre. The film was also on the ballot for AFI's other lists including 100 Years…100 Movies
, 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains
for Klaatu
in the heroes category, 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes
for the famous line "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!
", and AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
. In 2004, the film was selected by The New York Times
as one of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made.
Lou Cannon
and Colin Powell
believed the film inspired Ronald Reagan
to discuss uniting against an alien invasion when meeting Mikhail Gorbachev
in 1985. Two years later, Reagan told the United Nations, "I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world".
's 1965 TV series Lost in Space
. Danny Elfman
noted The Day the Earth Stood Stills score inspired his interest in film composing, and made him a fan of Herrmann.
- with Michael Rennie performing his lead role with actress Jean Peters
.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
directed by Robert Wise
Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director...
and written by Edmund H. North
Edmund H. North
Edmund Hall North , was an American screenwriter who shared an Academy Award for "Best Original Screenplay" with Francis Ford Coppola in 1970 for their script for Patton....
based on the short story "Farewell to the Master
Farewell to the Master
"Farewell to the Master" is a science fiction short story written by Harry Bates. It was first published in the October 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It provided the basis of the noted 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake...
" (1940) by Harry Bates
Harry Bates (author)
Harry Bates was an American science fiction editor and writer. His 1940 short story "Farewell to the Master" was the basis of the well-known 1951 science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.-Biography:Harry Bates was born Hiram Gilmore Bates III on October 9, 1900 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
. The film stars Michael Rennie
Michael Rennie
Michael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
, Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her film roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still , wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's , middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud , for which she won...
, Sam Jaffe
Sam Jaffe (actor)
Sam Jaffe was an American actor, teacher, musician and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
, and Hugh Marlowe
Hugh Marlowe
Hugh Marlowe was an American film, television, stage and radio actor.Marlowe was born Hugh Herbert Hipple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began his stage career in the 1930s at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Marlowe was usually a secondary lead or supporting actor in the films he...
. In the film, a humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
alien visitor
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
comes to Earth with a warning, accompanied by the powerful robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
, "Gort
Gort (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Gort is a fictional humanoid robot in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake.In the original short story "Farewell to the Master", on which the two films are based, the character was called Gnut.- 1951 depiction :...
".
Plot
An extraterrestrialExtraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
is tracked streaking about the Earth until it gently lands on the President's Park
President's Park
President's Park, located in Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House, a visitor center, Lafayette Square, and The Ellipse. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Square. The current President's Park is administered by the National Park Service.-White House:Washington, D.C...
Ellipse in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Klaatu
Klaatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Klaatu is the humanoid alien protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Klaatu is famous in part because of the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well...
(Michael Rennie
Michael Rennie
Michael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
) emerges, announcing that he has come from outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
on a goodwill mission
Goodwill Ambassador
Goodwill Ambassador is a collective term sometimes used as a substitute honorific title or a title of honor for an Ambassador of Goodwill; but, most appropriately for a generic recognition, it is a job position or description that is usually indicated following the name of the individual recognized...
. Upon opening a small, suspicious-looking device, he is wounded by a nervous soldier and the device is destroyed. In response, Gort
Gort (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Gort is a fictional humanoid robot in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake.In the original short story "Farewell to the Master", on which the two films are based, the character was called Gnut.- 1951 depiction :...
, a large humanoid robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
emerges from the ship and disintegrates all weapons present with a ray emanating from his head. Klaatu orders him to stop and explains that the ruined object was a viewing device, a gift for the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
Klaatu is taken to an army hospital, where he is found to be physically human-like, but stuns the doctors with the quickness of his healing. Meanwhile the military attempts to enter Klaatu's ship, but finds it impregnable. Gort stands by, mute and unmoving.
Klaatu reveals to the President's secretary, Harley (Frank Conroy), that he bears a message so momentous and urgent that it can and must be revealed to all the world's leaders simultaneously. However Harley tells him that it would be impossible to get the squabbling world leaders to agree to meet. Klaatu wants to get to know the ordinary people. Harley forbids it and leaves Klaatu locked up under guard.
Klaatu escapes and lodges at a boarding house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
, assuming the alias "Mr. Carpenter". Among the residents are Helen Benson (Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her film roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still , wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's , middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud , for which she won...
), a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
widow, and her son Bobby (Billy Gray
Billy Gray (actor)
William Thomas "Billy" Gray , is a former American actor known primarily for his role as James "Bud" Anderson, Jr., in 193 episodes of the NBC and CBS situation comedy, Father Knows Best, which aired between 1954 and 1960. Gray's fellow cast members were Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue,...
). At breakfast the next morning, during alarming radio reports, Klaatu takes in the unknowing fellow boarders' suspicions and speculations about the purpose of the alien's visit.
While Helen and her boyfriend Tom Stephens (Hugh Marlowe
Hugh Marlowe
Hugh Marlowe was an American film, television, stage and radio actor.Marlowe was born Hugh Herbert Hipple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began his stage career in the 1930s at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Marlowe was usually a secondary lead or supporting actor in the films he...
) go on a day trip, Klaatu babysits Bobby. The boy takes Klaatu on a tour of the city, including a visit to his father's grave in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
, where Klaatu is dismayed to learn that most of those buried there were killed in wars. The two visit the heavily guarded spaceship and the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
. Klaatu, impressed by the Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
inscription, queries Bobby for the greatest person living in the world. Bobby suggests a leading American scientist, Professor Jacob Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe
Sam Jaffe (actor)
Sam Jaffe was an American actor, teacher, musician and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
), who lives in Washington, D.C. Bobby takes Klaatu to Barnhardt's home, but the professor is absent. Klaatu enters and adds a key mathematical equation to an advanced problem on the professor's blackboard, and then leaves his contact information with the suspicious housekeeper.
Later, government agents escort Klaatu to see Barnhardt. Klaatu introduces himself and warns the professor that the people of the other planets have become concerned for their own safety after human beings developed atomic power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
. Klaatu declares that if his message goes unheeded, "Planet Earth will be eliminated." Barnhardt agrees to arrange a meeting of scientists at Klaatu's ship and suggests that Klaatu give a demonstration of his power. Klaatu returns to his spaceship the next evening to implement the idea, unaware that Bobby has followed him.
Bobby tells the unbelieving Helen and Tom what has transpired, but not until Tom finds a diamond on the floor of Klaatu's room do they begin to accept his story. When Tom takes the diamond for appraisal, the jeweler informs him it is unlike any other on Earth.
Klaatu finds Helen at her workplace. She leads him to an unoccupied elevator which mysteriously stops at noon, trapping them together. Klaatu admits he is responsible, tells Helen his true identity, and asks for her help. A montage sequence shows that Klaatu has neutralized all electric power
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
everywhere around the planet except in situations that would compromise human safety, such as hospitals and airplanes.
After the thirty-minute blackout ends, the manhunt for Klaatu intensifies and Tom informs authorities of his suspicions. Helen is very upset by Tom's betrayal of Klaatu and breaks off their relationship. Helen and Klaatu take a taxi to Barnhardt's home; en route, Klaatu instructs Helen that, should anything happen to him, she must tell Gort "Klaatu barada nikto
Klaatu barada nikto
"Klaatu barada nikto" is a phrase originating from the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. "Klaatu" is the name of the humanoid alien protagonist in the film. Klaatu commanded Helen Benson that, were anything to happen to him, she must utter the phrase to the robot Gort...
". When they are spotted, Klaatu is shot by military personnel. Helen heads to the spaceship. Gort awakens and kills two guards before Helen can relay Klaatu's message. Gort gently deposits her in the spaceship, then goes to fetch Klaatu's corpse. Gort then revives Klaatu while the amazed Helen watches on. Klaatu explains that his revival is only temporary; even with their advanced technology, they cannot truly overcome death, that power being reserved for the "Almighty Spirit."
Klaatu steps out of the spaceship and addresses the assembled scientists, explaining that humanity's penchant for violence and first steps into space have caused concern among other inhabitants of the universe who have created and empowered a race of robot enforcers including Gort to deter such aggression. He warns that if the people of Earth threaten to extend their violence into space, the robots will destroy Earth, adding, "The decision rests with you." He enters the spaceship and departs.
Cast
- Michael RennieMichael RennieMichael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
as Klaatu - Patricia NealPatricia NealPatricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her film roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still , wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's , middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud , for which she won...
as Helen Benson - Billy GrayBilly Gray (actor)William Thomas "Billy" Gray , is a former American actor known primarily for his role as James "Bud" Anderson, Jr., in 193 episodes of the NBC and CBS situation comedy, Father Knows Best, which aired between 1954 and 1960. Gray's fellow cast members were Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue,...
as Bobby Benson - Hugh MarloweHugh MarloweHugh Marlowe was an American film, television, stage and radio actor.Marlowe was born Hugh Herbert Hipple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began his stage career in the 1930s at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Marlowe was usually a secondary lead or supporting actor in the films he...
as Tom Stevens - Sam JaffeSam Jaffe (actor)Sam Jaffe was an American actor, teacher, musician and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
as Professor Jacob Barnhardt - Frances BavierFrances BavierFrances Elizabeth Bavier was an American stage and television actress. Originally from the New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s...
as Mrs. Barley - Lock MartinLock MartinLock Martin was the stage name of American actor Joseph Lockard Martin, Jr. He is best remembered for playing the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still ....
as Gort - Frank ConroyFrank Conroy (actor)Frank Parish Conroy was a British film and stage actor who appeared in many movies, notably The Little Minister, The Ox-Bow Incident, All My Sons, The Threat, The Royal Family of Broadway, The Young Philadelphians and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
as Mr. Harley - Tyler McVeyTyler McVeyTyler McVey was an American character actor.-Early life and career:McVey was born in Bay City on Saginaw Bay in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. His first screen role, uncredited, came at the age of 39 in 1951, when he portrayed Brady in the The Day the Earth Stood Still...
as Brady (uncredited)
Well-known broadcast journalists of their time, H. V. Kaltenborn
Hans von Kaltenborn
Hans von Kaltenborn , generally known as H. V. Kaltenborn, was an American radio commentator. He was heard regularly on the radio for over 30 years, beginning with CBS in 1928...
, Elmer Davis
Elmer Davis
Elmer Davis was a well-known news reporter, author, the Director of the United States Office of War Information during World War II and a Peabody Award recipient.-Education and early career:...
, Drew Pearson
Drew Pearson (journalist)
Andrew Russell Pearson , known professionally as Drew Pearson, was one of the best-known American columnists of his day, noted for his muckraking syndicated newspaper column "Washington Merry-Go-Round," in which he attacked various public persons, sometimes with little or no objective proof for his...
and Gabriel Heatter
Gabriel Heatter
Gabriel Heatter was an American radio commentator whose World War II-era sign-on became both his catchphrase and his caricature...
, appeared and/or were heard as themselves.
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
were originally considered for the part of Klaatu.
Themes
In a 1995 interview, producer Julian Blaustein explained that Joseph BreenJoseph Breen
Joseph Breen is an American soap opera actor.He played contract parts on both Guiding Light and Loving before being offered his most front-burner role to date: that of Lisa’s long-lost son, Scott Eldridge, on As the World Turns...
, the film censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
installed by the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
at the Twentieth Century Fox studios, balked at the portrayal of Klaatu's resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
and limitless power. At the behest of the MPAA
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
, a line was inserted into the film; when Helen asks Klaatu whether Gort has unlimited power over life and death, Klaatu explains that he has only been revived temporarily and "that power is reserved to the Almighty Spirit."
Of the elements that he added to Klaatu's character, screenwriter Edmund North said, "It was my private little joke. I never discussed this angle with Blaustein or Wise because I didn't want it expressed. I had originally hoped that the Christ comparison would be subliminal."
The fact that the question even came up in an interview is proof enough that such comparisons did not remain subliminal, but they are subtle enough that it is not immediately obvious to all viewers which elements were intended to compare Klaatu to Christ.
For example, when Klaatu escapes from the hospital, he steals the clothing of a "Maj. Carpenter," carpentry being the profession of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' father Joseph.
Development
Producer Julian BlausteinJulian Blaustein
Julian Blaustein was an American film producer.Born in New York City, Blaustein graduated from Harvard University in 1933. He spent a year in flight training at the Randolph Air Force Base before heading to Hollywood, where he became a reader in the story department at Universal Pictures. He...
set out to make a film that illustrated the fear and suspicion that characterized the early Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and Atomic Age
Atomic Age
The Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is a phrase typically used to delineate the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear bomb Trinity on July 16, 1945...
. He reviewed over 200 science fiction short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
and novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s in search of a storyline that could be used, since this film genre was well suited for a metaphorical discussion of such grave issues. Studio head Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
gave the go-ahead for this project, and Blaustein hired Edmund North to write the screenplay based on elements from Harry Bates's short story Farewell to the Master. The revised final screenplay was completed on February 21, 1951.
Pre-production
The set was designed by Thomas LittleThomas Little
Thomas Little was a United States set decorator on more than 450 Hollywood movies between 1932 and 1953. He won a total of 6 Oscars for art direction and received 21 nominations in the same category...
and Claude Carpenter. They collaborated with the noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
for the design of the spacecraft. Paul Laffoley
Paul Laffoley
Paul Laffoley is a U.S. artist and architect. As an architect working for Emery Roth & Sons, Laffoley worked for 18 months on design for the World Trade Center Tower II. As a painter, his work is usually classified as visionary art or outsider art...
has suggested that the futuristic interior was inspired by Wright's Johnson Wax Headquarters
Johnson Wax Headquarters
Johnson Wax Headquarters is the world headquarters and administration building of S. C. Johnson & Son in Racine, Wisconsin. Designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the company's president, Herbert F. "Hib" Johnson, the building was constructed from 1936 to 1939...
, completed in 1936. Laffoley quotes Wright and his attempt in designing the exterior: "... to imitate an experimental substance that I have heard about which acts like living tissue. If cut, the rift would appear to heal like a wound, leaving a continuous surface with no scar."
Filming
Principal outdoor photography for The Day the Earth Stood Still was shot on the 20th Century Fox sound stageSound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
s and on its studio back lot (now located in Century City, California
Century City, Los Angeles, California
Century City is a 176-acre commercial and residential district on the Westside of the city of Los Angeles. It is bounded by Westwood on the west, Rancho Park on the southwest, Cheviot Hills and Beverlywood on the southeast, and the city of Beverly Hills on the northeast...
), with a second unit shooting background plates and other scenes in Washington. The primary actors never traveled to Washington for the making of the film.
The robot Gort, who serves Klaatu, was played by the naturally tall Lock Martin
Lock Martin
Lock Martin was the stage name of American actor Joseph Lockard Martin, Jr. He is best remembered for playing the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still ....
, who worked as an usher at Graumann's Chinese Theater and stood seven feet tall. He worked carefully with the metallic suit, for he was not used to being in such a costume. The costume also had wires for the robot's other parts. Wise decided that Martin's segments would be filmed at half hour intervals, so Martin would not face discomfort. The segments, in turn, went into the film's final print.
In a commentary track on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, interviewed by fellow director Nicholas Meyer
Nicholas Meyer
Nicholas Meyer is an American screenwriter, producer, director and novelist, known best for his best-selling novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, and for directing the films Time After Time, two of the Star Trek feature film series, and the 1983 television movie The Day After.Meyer graduated from...
, the director Robert Wise
Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director...
stated that he wanted the film to appear as realistic and believable as possible, in order to drive home the motion picture's core message against armed conflict in the real world. Also mentioned in the DVD's documentary interview was the original title for the movie, "The Day the World Stops." Blaustein said his aim with the film was to promote a "strong United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
."
Post-production
The music score was composed by Bernard HerrmannBernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
in August 1951, and was his first score after he moved from New York to Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
. Herrmann chose unusual instrumentation for the film: violins, cellos, and basses (all three electric), two theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
electronic instruments (played by Dr. Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure), two Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
s, a large studio electric organ, three vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
s, two glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
s, marimba, tam-tam, 2 bass drums, 3 sets of timpani, two pianos, celesta, two harps, 1 horn, three trumpets, three trombones, and four tubas. Unusual overdubbing and tape-reversal techniques were used, as well.
Critical response
The Day the Earth Stood Still was well received by critics and is widely regarded as one of the best films of 1951. It holds a 94% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. The film was moderately successful when released, accruing US$1,850,000 in distributors'
Film distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals, making it the year's 52nd biggest earner. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
praised the film's documentary style and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
praised its seriousness, though it also found "certain subversive elements." Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called it "tepid entertainment." The film earned more plaudits overseas: the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an organization composed of working journalists who cover the United States film industry for a variety of outlets, including newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Today, the 90 members of the HFPA represent at least 55...
gave the filmmakers a special Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for "promoting international understanding." Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
's score also received a nomination at the Golden Globes. The French magazine Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
was also impressed, with Pierre Kast calling it "almost literally stunning" and praising its "moral relativism".
The movie is ranked seventh in Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's list of the best Science-Fiction films of all time, just above Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
, which Clarke himself co-wrote.
Cultural influence
Since the release of the movie, the phrase Klaatu barada niktoKlaatu barada nikto
"Klaatu barada nikto" is a phrase originating from the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. "Klaatu" is the name of the humanoid alien protagonist in the film. Klaatu commanded Helen Benson that, were anything to happen to him, she must utter the phrase to the robot Gort...
has appeared repeatedly in fiction and in popular culture.
No translation of the phrase was stated in the film. Philosophy professor Aeon J. Skoble speculates the famous phrase is a "safe-word" that is part of a fail-safe
Fail-safe
A fail-safe or fail-secure device is one that, in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices or danger to personnel....
feature used during the diplomatic missions such as the one Klaatu and Gort make to Earth. With the use of the safe-word, Gort's deadly force can be deactivated in the event the robot is mistakenly triggered into a defensive posture. Skoble observes that the theme has evolved into a "staple of science fiction that the machines charged with protecting us from ourselves will misuse or abuse their power."
In this interpretation, the phrase apparently tells Gort that Klaatu considers escalation unnecessary.
The Robot Hall of Fame
Robot Hall of Fame
The Robot Hall of Fame was established in 2003 by the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is designed to honor both achievements in robotics technology and robots from science fiction that have served as creative inspiration in robotics...
describes the phrase as "one of the most famous commands in science fiction"
and Frederick S. Clarke of Cinefantastique
Cinefantastique
Cinefantastique was a horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor Frederick S. Clarke...
called it "the most famous phrase ever spoken by an extraterrestrial."
Legacy
In 1995, The Day the Earth Stood Still was selected for preservation in the United States National Film RegistryNational Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film also received recognition from the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
. In 2001, it was ranked number 82 on 100 Years…100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding films. It placed number 67 on a similar list 100 Years…100 Cheers, a list of America's most inspiring films. In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten
AFI's 10 Top 10
AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
" — the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres — after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The Day the Earth Stood Still was acknowledged as the fifth best film in the science fiction genre. The film was also on the ballot for AFI's other lists including 100 Years…100 Movies
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
The first of the AFI 100 Years… series of cinematic milestones, AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies is a list of the 100 best American movies, as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in the film industry who chose from a list of 400 nominated movies...
, 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains is a list of the 100 greatest screen characters chosen by American Film Institute in June 2003. It is part of the AFI 100 Years… series. The series was first presented in a CBS special hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger...
for Klaatu
Klaatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Klaatu is the humanoid alien protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Klaatu is famous in part because of the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well...
in the heroes category, 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes is a list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema. The American Film Institute revealed the list on June 21, 2005, in a three-hour television program on CBS...
for the famous line "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!
Klaatu barada nikto
"Klaatu barada nikto" is a phrase originating from the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. "Klaatu" is the name of the humanoid alien protagonist in the film. Klaatu commanded Helen Benson that, were anything to happen to him, she must utter the phrase to the robot Gort...
", and AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores is a list of the top 25 film scores in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute in 2005.-The List:-External links:**...
. In 2004, the film was selected by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as one of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made.
Lou Cannon
Lou Cannon
Louis Cannon is an American journalist, non-fiction author, and biographer. He was state bureau chief for the San Jose Mercury News in the late 1960s, and later senior White House correspondent of the Washington Post during the Reagan administration...
and Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
believed the film inspired Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
to discuss uniting against an alien invasion when meeting Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
in 1985. Two years later, Reagan told the United Nations, "I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world".
Music and soundtrack
20th Century Fox later reused the Herrmann title theme in the original pilot episode for Irwin AllenIrwin Allen
Irwin Allen was a television and film director and producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. He was also notable for creating a number of television series.- Biography :...
's 1965 TV series Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
. Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
noted The Day the Earth Stood Stills score inspired his interest in film composing, and made him a fan of Herrmann.
- "Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare" – 0:12
- "Prelude/Outer Space/Radar" – 3:45
- "Danger" – 0:24
- "Klaatu" – 2:15
- "Gort/The Visor/The Telescope" – 2:23
- "Escape" – 0:55
- "Solar Diamonds" – 1:04
- "Arlington" – 1:08
- "Lincoln Memorial" – 1:27
- "Nocturne/The Flashlight/The Robot/Space Control" – 5:58
- "The Elevator/Magnetic Pull/The Study/The Conference/The Jewelry Store" – 4:32
- "Panic" – 0:42
- "The Glowing/Alone/Gort's Rage/Nikto/The Captive/Terror" – 5:11
- "The Prison" – 1:42
- "Rebirth" – 1:38
- "Departure" – 0:52
- "Farewell" – 0:32
- "Finale" – 0:30
Adaptations
The film was dramatized as a radio play on January 4, 1954, which was broadcast on the Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
- with Michael Rennie performing his lead role with actress Jean Peters
Jean Peters
Jean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
.
See also
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film)The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film)The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 2008 science fiction film, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. The screenplay is based on the 1940 classic science fiction short story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates, and the 1951 screenplay adaptation by Edmund H...
- Culture during the Cold WarCulture during the Cold WarThe Cold War was reflected in culture through music, movies, books, and other media. One element of the Cold War often seen relates directly or indirectly to the threat of a nuclear war. Another is the conflict between the superpowers in terms of espionage. Many works use the Cold War as a...
External links
- The Day the Earth Stood Still at the Internet Movie Script Database