![]() Barley (played by Frances Bavier well before she ![]() House include Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her young son Bobby (Billy That he can live among the people of earth and learn more about them and their He then takes up residence in a boarding house, apparently so “Carpenter,” in one of the many motifs in the film that identify him as a sort ![]() Tag identifying it as the property of a Major Carpenter, Klaatu adopts the name Having stolen a suit from the hospital that still carries a laundry Then slips out of the hospital to go among the earth’s people in pursuit of his Told that the tense geopolitical situation makes suchĪ meeting impossible, Klaatu announces that he is “impatient with stupidity,” Insisting that he wants to speak simultaneously to representatives from all of Invite Klaatu to an audience with the President, the alien visitor refuses, Klaatu’s origins predictably focuses on Mars, which is generally much closer That does not correspond well to any given planet. “Let’s just say we’re neighbors,” he says whenĪsked, though he does say that he has come from 250,000,000 miles away, aĭistance that would place Klaatu’s planet well within the solar system, but Great benefit to earth, though the xenophobic earthlings are so concerned withĭefending themselves that they never really pursue this possibility. The unspoken implication is that the knowledge of Klaatu’s people might be of He explains that, due toĪdvanced medicine, life expectancy on his planet is one hundred thirty years. Seventy-eight years old, yet looks thirty-five. That he has an entirely normal human physiology, though he claims to be That he happens to have in his possession. Hospital, where his wound heals overnight thanks to the use of a powerful salve Gort has the power to destroy the entire planet if he so chooses.Ĭhance to explain his peaceful intentions and is taken away to Walter Reed Army Note that will be dramatically reinforced later when it becomes obvious that Harmed, but his demonstration of power adds a note of suspense to the film, a Luckily, Klaatu calls him off before any humans are Weapons in the vicinity (including tanks and artillery) with a ray thatĮmanates from his visor. President of the United States, it is thought that he is pulling a weapon, andĪ trigger-happy soldier shoots him down. Peace and with good will.” However, when he attempts to offer a gift for the Klaatu immediately announces that “We come to visit you in Their weapons on the ship as Klaatu emerges to walk down a long ramp onto the Lands amid several baseball diamonds near the Washington Monument. React swiftly, mobilizing to surround the ship (a classic flying saucer) as it The approaching spacecraft is broadcast around the world. The background as the ultimate hero of the piece. International cooperation, with the recently formed United Nations looming in Rapidly accelerating Cold War arms race and applauds the notion of Hatred of anyone who appears to be different. Of events through which the film broadcasts a stern warning against automatic They are, however, greeted with violence, triggering a chain ![]() Rubber suit that makes him appear even taller) emerge from within, bearing a Robot Gort (portrayed by 7’ 7” giant Lock Martin, inside an aluminum-painted The Christlike alien Klaatu (British actor Michael Rennie) and the giant In the film, an alien flying saucer lands on the mall in Washington,ĭ.C. Sophisticated, message-laden film, keeping only a few basic elements of the Producer Julian Blaustein, eventually joined by Director Robert Wise, crafted a Simple, short story on which it was based, screenwriter Edmund North and At the same time, it also exerted a powerful influence on the look and sound of the SF films that followed it. In so doing, it paved the way for future developments in the genre, setting the stage for the explosion in SF films that marked the decade of the 1950s. A thoughtful, well-made, relatively high-budget film that was also a box-office success, The Day the Earth Stood Still demonstrated that science fiction on the screen need not be limited to low-budget B-films or films for children. The Day the Earth Stood Still, a statement in favor of international peace and cooperation at the height of the Cold War, was a courageous film that can rightly claim to be the first truly important work of American science fiction cinema. ![]()
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