The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still (working titles: Farewell to the Master and Journey to the World) is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, Frances Bavier and Lock Martin. The screenplay was written by Edmund H. North, based on the 1940 science fiction short story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates. The film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.[4] Set in the Cold War during the early stages of the nuclear arms race, the storyline involves a humanoid alien visitor who comes to Earth, accompanied by a powerful robot, to deliver an important message that will affect the entire human race. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[5][6]
For the remake, see The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film). For the 2021 Willie Nile album, see The Day the Earth Stood Still (Willie Nile album).The Day the Earth Stood Still
"Farewell to the Master"
1940 story in Astounding Science-Fiction Magazine
by Harry Bates
- September 18, 1951
92 minutes[1]
United States
English
$995,000[2]
$1.85 million (US theatrical rentals)[3]
Plot[edit]
After a flying saucer lands in Washington, D.C., the United States Army quickly surrounds it. A humanoid emerges and announces that he comes "in peace and with good will". When he unexpectedly opens a small device, he is shot and wounded by a nervous soldier. A tall robot emerges from the saucer and quickly disintegrates the soldiers' weapons. The alien orders the robot, Gort, to desist. He explains that the now-broken device was a gift for the President of the United States that would have enabled him "to study life on the other planets".
The alien, Klaatu, is taken to Walter Reed Army Hospital. After surgery, he uses a salve to quickly heal his wound. The Army is unable to enter the saucer. Gort stands outside, silent and unmoving.
Klaatu tells the President's secretary, Mr. Harley, that he has a message that must be delivered to all the world's leaders simultaneously. Harley tells him that in the current world situation, this is impossible. Klaatu proposes that he spend time among ordinary humans to better understand their "unreasoning suspicions and attitudes". Harley rejects the proposal, and Klaatu remains locked in his hospital room.
Klaatu escapes and stays in a boarding house using the name Mr. Carpenter, adopted from a dry cleaner's suit tag. Among the residents are young widow Helen Benson and her son Bobby. Helen's boyfriend, Tom Stevens, becomes jealous of the stranger.
Bobby takes Klaatu on a tour of the city, including a visit to his father's grave in Arlington National Cemetery; Klaatu learns that most of the dead are soldiers killed in wars. They also visit the Lincoln Memorial. When Klaatu asks Bobby, "Who is the greatest living person?", Bobby suggests Professor Barnhardt. They visit the scientist's home, but he is out; Klaatu sees that Barnhardt's blackboard is covered with equations (an attempt to solve the three-body problem). Klaatu adds to them and, after being discovered by the housekeeper, leaves his contact information.
That evening, a government agent escorts Klaatu to Barnhardt. Klaatu tells Barnhardt that the people of other planets are concerned about Earth's possible aggression, now that humanity has developed rockets and rudimentary atomic power. He states that if his message is ignored, Earth could be "eliminated". Barnhardt agrees to gather scientists from around the world at the saucer; he also suggests that Klaatu peacefully demonstrate the power he possesses beforehand.
Klaatu returns to his spaceship, unaware that Bobby is following him. Bobby watches as Gort knocks out two soldiers so Klaatu can reenter the saucer. Bobby runs home and tells Helen. She does not believe him, but Tom is suspicious.
The next day, for half an hour, starting at 12 noon east coast time, all electrical equipment on Earth ceases to function,[7] except for essential services, such as hospitals and aircraft in flight.
Klaatu learns that Bobby watched him the previous night. He visits Helen at work, reveals his mission, and asks that she not betray him. Helen asks Tom to keep Klaatu's identity secret, but he refuses to listen, already in the process of alerting the military.
Helen and Klaatu rush to Barnhardt's home. They hope that Barnhardt can hide Klaatu until the meeting that evening. Klaatu tells Helen that if anything should happen to him, she must go to Gort and say, "Klaatu barada nikto."
The Army tracks them in their taxi. Klaatu is shot and killed, and his body is moved to a nearby police station cell. Helen rushes to the saucer and says Klaatu's phrase to Gort. Gort retrieves Klaatu's body, and revives him inside the saucer, though Klaatu tells Helen that his revival is only temporary.
Helen departs the spaceship with Klaatu and Gort, joining Dr. Barnhart among the gathered scientists. Klaatu tells the scientists gathered outside that an interplanetary organization has created a police force of invincible robots like Gort. "In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us". Klaatu concludes, "Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer." Klaatu and Gort depart in the saucer.
Top broadcast journalists of their time, Elmer Davis, H.V. Kaltenborn, Drew Pearson, and Gabriel Heatter, had cameo roles. Spencer Tracy and Claude Rains originally were considered for the part of Klaatu.[9][10]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Producer Julian Blaustein originally set out to make a film under the working titles of Farewell to the Master and Journey to the World which illustrated the fear and suspicion that characterized the early Cold War and Atomic Age. He reviewed more than two hundred science fiction short stories and novels in search of a storyline that could be used because 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 1940 short story "Farewell to the Master". The revised final screenplay was completed on February 21, 1951. Science fiction writer Raymond F. Jones worked as an uncredited adviser.[15]
Pre-production[edit]
The set was designed by Thomas Little and Claude Carpenter. They collaborated with the 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."[16]
Filming[edit]
Principal outdoor photography was shot on the 20th Century Fox sound stages and on its studio back lot (now located in Century City, California), with a second unit shooting background and other scenes in Washington, D.C., and at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. The shooting schedule was from April 9 to May 23, 1951, and the primary actors never traveled to Washington to make the film. Director Robert Wise indicated in the DVD commentary that the United States Department of Defense refused participation in the film based on a reading of the script. The military equipment shown, however, came from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment then stationed at Fort Meade which supplied the vehicles, equipment, and soldiers for the segments depicting Army operations.[17] One of the film's tanks bears the "Brave Rifles" insignia of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.[18]
The robot Gort was played by Lock Martin, who worked as an usher at Grauman's Chinese Theatre and stood seven feet and seven inches tall. Not accustomed to a confining, heat-inducing costume, he worked carefully while wearing the two oversized, laced up, foamed neoprene suits for the illusion of a seamless metallic Gort. Wise decided Martin's on-screen shooting time would be limited to half-hour intervals, so Martin, with his generally weak constitution, would face no more than minor discomfort. These segments, in turn, were then edited together into the film's final print.[19]
In a commentary track on DVD, interviewed by fellow director Nicholas Meyer, Wise said he wanted the film to appear as realistic and believable as possible, to push the core message against armed conflict in the real world. The original title is "The Day the World Stops". Blaustein said his aim was to promote a "strong United Nations".[20]
Herrmann's score[edit]
The music score was composed by Bernard Herrmann in August 1951, and is the first film score he composed after moving from New York to Hollywood. Herrmann chose unusual instrumentation for the film: violin, cello, and bass (all three electric), two theremin electronic instruments (played by Dr. Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure), two Hammond organs, Fox studio's Wurlitzer organ, three vibraphones, two glockenspiels, marimba, tam-tam, two bass drums, three sets of timpani, two pianos, celesta, two harps, one horn, three trumpets, three trombones, and four tubas.[21] Herrmann's advances in film scoring included Unison organs, tubas, piano, and bass drum, staggered tritone movement, and glissando in theremins, as well as exploitation of the dissonance between D and E-flat and experimentation with unusual overdubbing and tape-reversal techniques. In using the theremin, Herrmann made an early foray into electronic music, one year before Karlheinz Stockhausen and three years before Edgard Varèse.[22]
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Critical reception[edit]
Variety praised the documentary style: "the yarn is told interestingly enough and imbued with sufficient science-fiction lures and suspense so that only seldom does its moralistic wordiness get in the way ... Cast, although secondary to the story, works well".[20][24] Harrison's Reports wrote: "Very good! It is by far the best of the science-fiction pictures yet produced. It holds one's interest undiminished from start to finish and, although the theme is admittedly fantastic, one is made to feel as if he is seeing a real-life occurrence because of the expert handling of the subject matter and the extremely fine special effects work."[25] The Los Angeles Times praised the film's seriousness, though it also found "certain subversive elements".[20] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times dismissed the film as "tepid entertainment" and described Gort as "oddly unmenacing".[26]
The Day the Earth Stood Still was moderately successful when released, accruing US$1,850,000 in distributors' U.S. and Canadian rentals, making it the year's 52nd biggest earner.[27] "Rentals" refers to the distributor/studio's share of the box office gross, which, according to Gebert, is roughly half of the money generated by ticket sales.[27]
The Day the Earth Stood Still earned more plaudits in other countries: 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.[28] The French magazine Cahiers du cinéma was impressed, its contributor Pierre Kast called it "almost literally stunning" and praised its "moral relativism".[20]