The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

When approaching the film, I was unsure what I was in for, and I walked away with much more then I had anticipated. This is the ultimate alien invasion/meeting film there is, and has been parodied numerous times (Mars Attacks). This sci-fi film, #5 on AFI's top sci-fi films, still resonates today. It has messages of anti-war, anti-violence, although some of it is rooted in the Cold War/Atomic Age, it still carries the same weight today.

You have the classic woman in the arms of a robot, a well designed space-craft, special effects that still hold up today, along with Bernard Herrmann's magnificent score, this film has classic written all over it. Here is the trailer:



Story
The film begins with a flying saucer that lands in Washington D.C. Out steps the pilot, Klaatu, who brings a message of goodwill to the people of Earth. He is surrounded by bystanders and the Army. Klaatu pulls out a gift, and one of the nervous soldiers shoots him. In response this awakens a large robot, Gort, from within the spaceship, and he disintegrates all weapons near him using a beam from his head. After this Klaatu is brought to the hospital where he heals quickly and tells the secretary under the President that he wants to meet with all world leaders. He has a message for the world and needs to speak to them immediately, for the Earth is at stake. The secretary tries to explain that that will not be as easy as it sounds and that Klaatu should stay in protective custody until they can work something out. Klaatu breaks out from his cell to try and integrate with the people of Earth, to better understand them.

Klaatu assumes the name, Mr. Carpenter, and rents a room at a boarding house. There he befriends a boy and his mother. Carpenter takes the boy to various historical sites around Washington to try and better understand human beings. Since world leaders won't meet with him, he tries to meet with the "smartest man in the world," a scientist named Bernhardt. He is able to meet with the scientist and tells him that he is the man from the spacecraft and that he must arrange a meeting with the worlds leading minds, who can then bring the message to their leaders. He warns that the development of atomic weapons is concerning to other planets, since human beings may use this against them, and if so the planet will be eliminated. Bernhardt assures him that he can get the worlds leading minds to meet, but Carpenter must try and do something dramatic but not destructive, to grab their attention.

Carpenter/Klaatu shuts down the worlds electricity for 30 minutes. This sends the world in a panic, and makes the worlds leading minds interesting in meeting "the spaceman." This intensifies the government search for him and he is found and shot by the Army. Soon after Gort awakens with the help of a friend of Carpenters, and he brings Klaatu back to the life. Klaatu steps out of the spacecraft and addresses the worlds leading minds in front of him. He warns that if Earth decides to bring their aggression and war into space, the other worlds will have the planet eliminated, since such a threat is not tolerable. He enters the spaceship and they fly off into space.

The strongest part of the story is the clear anti-war sentiment. Klaatu travels 250 million miles to bring a message of peace, and is met with hostility. He tells the people of Earth that they can have their wars on their own planet, and that is no concern of his, but if they bring it into space they will be met with a wall of destruction. He tells them that his supieror race has moved on from war. As I've stated before, the best parts of science fiction is when it holds a mirror up to ourselves and makes it peer into our own views and our own planet. This film does exactly that. In the time of the Cold War this resonated with audiences, and it did with me today as well. In a country that is currently in two wars, and has been for 7 & 8 years, the message of anti-war is as strong today as it was right after World War II. Overall the story accomplishes many feats of not being cheesy, and not being cheap, but still holding a strong message of peace and anti-war. That's what science fiction should be doing.

Direction
Robert Wise is not an unknown in Hollywood. The man directed the classics West Side Story (which he won an Oscar for Best Director), Andromeda Strain, The Sound of Music (another Best Director Oscar), Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and this film. He was also the editor on Citizen Kane, which he was nominated for an Oscar. So pretty much, he's a down-right great director and I give Mr. Wise all the credit on this film. With the script and story it could have easily turned into another generic 50's alien movie that no one remembers, but it didn't, and I give him the credit. And honestly I don't like many (if any) movies from the 1950's. I feel they are melodramatic, cheesy, and usually over the top. But this film, although you can tell it is from 1951, is none of those things. The acting is fairly good, the production design is top notch, the shot composition is beautiful at times, and the score is superb. All of these elements lead straight back to the director. And with 2 Best Director Oscars, he clearly has talent.

The film has a wonderful pace as well. It isn't rushed, you have enough time to fall for some of the characters, and the story line is completely believable. And since the production design still holds up today (the spaceship was designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright), you are able to fall into the story and not laugh at shoddy effects. According to research, Wise said that he wanted the film to appear as realistic as possible, in order to drive home the work's core message against armed conflict in the world. Which completely pays off and is nearly flawless. I would say without Wise, this film would have been forgotten because I don't think another director would have made so many right choices with this subject matter.

Acting
Let me start by saying I can't stand 1950's acting. I always find it over the top, melodramatic, and ghastly. But this film is an exception, due to the superb work of Robert Wise. Although I am not in line to hand over the actors an Oscar for their work, for the 1950's I think it is great. I wasn't ever distracted by the acting, like with Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but never really through twice about it. My favorite actor in the film was Michael Rennie, who played Klaatu. I am unsure if it was the writing or his acting, but I completely fell for him as a character. I was rooting for him and wanted him to get any meeting he wanted. I found him charming, understanding, and empathetic. But as for the other actors, they were over shadowed by Klaatu and his mission.


Overall the film has many elements that still remain classic. So much so that to celebrate their 75th anniversary, 20th Century Fox is releasing some commemorative posters of their most classic/memorable films. One of them being The Day the Earth Stood Still. If after 59 years, the studio that made it, find it to be one of their best, I think that is recognition of a classic.