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Day
The Earth Stood Still
- Beginning with a documentary
style that immediately hooks the
viewer, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD
STILL, based on the Harry Bates
short story "Farewell to
the Master," becomes as
much a human interest story as
it does a sci-fi B-movie
classic. The film soberly
depicts the arrival of an alien
dignitary, Klaatu (Michael
Rennie), who has come to earth
with his deadly robot, Gort
(Lock Martin), to deliver the
message that earthlings must
stop warring among
themselves--or else. After being
shot at by ignorant, panicky
military guards, Klaatu is
brought to a Washington, D.C.,
hospital, where he begs a
sympathetic but frank Major
White (Robert Osterloh) to
gather all the world’s leaders
so he can tell them more
specifically what he has come
250 million miles to warn them
about. Losing patience, Klaatu
slips into the human world,
adapting a false identity and
living at a boarding house where
he meets a smart woman with a
conscience, Helen Benson
(Patricia Neal), and her
inquisitive son, Bobby (Billy
Gray). Both mother and son soon
find themselves embroiled in the
complex mystery of Klaatu, his
message, and the government’s
witch hunt for the alien. Made
during the cold war--when
Americans were obsessed with the
destructive capabilities of the
atomic bomb--THE DAY THE EARTH
STOOD STILL, thanks to its
beautiful pacing, excellent
dialogue, and haunting score by
Bernard Herrmann, is still a
treat for contemporary
audiences.
- "Klaatu Barada Nikto"--Alien
(Michael Rennie) to his robot
guard, Gort (Lock Martin)
- THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
was added to the Library of
Congress National Film Registry
in 1995. Lock Martin, who plays
Gort, was discovered at
Graumann's Chinese Theater,
where he was an usher. The
filmmakers needed a tall, strong
man, so they hired
seven-foot-tall Martin. However,
the costume he had to wear was
so restraining that he was
unable to lift Patricia Neal for
an important scene, so wires had
to hold her up. The wires are
clearly visible in the final cut
of the film.
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