Hello there and Happy New Year!
As we look towards the future of what a new year will begin, Cinema Sunday begins a series of posts on classic science fiction movies that looked at the wonders and the horrors of what science could bring, from the power unleashed by human kind from the heart of the atom to the challenges that might come from the stars above.
For today's post, we go back to 1951 for The Day the Earth Stood Still.
A flying saucer lands in Washington DC and out comes something strange and unknowable.
A moderate Republican.
No, I'm kidding. It's an alien named Klaatu and his giant robot pal, Gort.
Klaatu says he's here on a mission of peace.
So naturally the US Army shoots him.
Well, the nation is in the grip of Cold War hysteria so you can't be too careful.
Klaatu is taken to Walter Reed Army Hospital where modern human medicine extracts the bullet that modern human artillery put in him but the real recovery comes from Klaatu himself. Oh these silly humans with their modern medicine.
The Army would like to see inside that saucer; Gort standing outside, silent and unmoving, clearly sends the message that none shall pass.
Klaatu explains to Mr. Harley, an emissary from the President, that he has a message that must be delivered to all the world's leaders simultaneously. Including those punk ass communists running China and the Soviet Union.
Harley tells him that in the current world situation this is impossible what with those punk ass communists running China and the Soviet Union.
Klaatu wants to spend some time around ordinary humans to better understand their "unreasoning suspicions and attitudes." Harley thinks this is a bad idea and Klaatu is kept under guard.
Klaatu is therefore leaving anyway.
Using the alias of Mr. Carpenter, Klaatu moves into a boarding house. Among the residents are young widow Helen Benson and her son Bobby; Klaatu becomes a mentor to Bobby.
The residents of the boarding house are listening to the radio and reading newspapers about the army's efforts to find missing alien visitor who could be HIDING AMONG YOU RIGHT NOW!
Bobby takes Klaatu on a tour of Washington including a visit to his father's grave in Arlington National Cemetery.
They also visit the Lincoln Memorial which prompts Klaatu to ask Bobby, "Who is the greatest living person?" Bobby suggests Professor Barnhardt.
Klaatu leaves a message for the professor in the form of completing a formula for some modern human science problem.
Suitably impressed by Klaatu's knowledge, Barnhardt shoots the alien visitor. No, I'm kidding. He meets with Klaatu who explains what he's doing on Earth.
Other planets are worried that Earth could be a really bad neighbor what with it's rockets, atomic power and a penchant or wars like the one that killed little Bobby's dad. These other planets are willing to let Earth be if Earth can clean up it's act. If not, these other planets are prepared to eliminate Earth as a threat.
Besides, it blocks their view of Venus.
Barnhardt agrees to gather scientists from around the world at Klaatu's saucer.
But the professor suggests Klaatu show his bonafides as an alien super power, preferably something not violent. Klaatu has an idea for just such a demonstration.
Klaatu returns to his spaceship to set up this demonstration.Uh oh! Bobby's following him.
Bobby runs home and tells his mom. Helen does not believe him (he's just a kid who's tired and up way past his bedtime) but Helen's would be boyfriend Tom is suspicious.
OK, it's time to learn why this movie is called The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Klaatu learns that Bobby watched him the previous night. He visits Helen at work to reveal to her his purpose on Earth and while he's with her, his pre-arranged demonstration of power occurs.
For half an hour all electrical equipment on Earth ceases to operate, except for essential services, such as hospitals and aircraft in flight.
Klaatu shares his story with Helen and asks that she not betray him. Unfortunately, she tells Tom who immediately tattles to the army where their missing alien is.
Shit! The Army is hot on Klaatu's tail!
Klaatu tells Helen that if anything should happen to him, she must go to Gort and say, "Klaatu barada nikto."
The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department
Patricia Neal as Helen Benson was previously Marcia Jeffries in A Face In the Crowd which we covered in a previous Cinema Sunday from Sunday, February 23, 2020.
Sam Jaffe was Professor Jacob Barnhardt and the whole time I'm watching his scenes in this movie, I'm thinking I know this guy from somewhere. And I did! He co-starred as a retired doctor who is murdered by Janet Leigh in the 1975 Columbo episode "Forgotten Lady".
Mrs. Barley who runs the boarding house is Frances Bavier. Yep, that's Aunt Bee from The Andy Griffith Show.
The Day the Earth Stood Still is most assuredly a thinking person's science fiction film. Other than the flying saucer landing and taking off and the titular "Earth stands still" bit in the middle and the other worldly presence of Gort, there is very little science fiction going on in this movie.
The threat is less "what is the alien going to do to us" and more "what are we going to do to the alien". Made at the height of Cold War paranoia and the rising fear of atomic war, the message of this movie is about the threats and danger we inflict on ourselves.
As Klaatu, Michael Rennie is perfectly cast as the alien visitor, projecting a serene, almost preternatural calm even as everyone around him is losing their head over his mere presence. Patricia Neal as Helen is naturally weirded out that "Mr. Carpenter" is the alien Klaatu but with some reasonable thought and consideration recognizes he is not an immediate threat.
In 1995, The Day the Earth Stood Still was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." It is a status it definitely continues to deserve, delivering an ever timely message of the importance of not letting fear subsume us.
Next week on Cinema Sunday: ANTS!!!!!!!!
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