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The Day the Earth Stood Still
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Synopsis
All of Washington DC is thrown into a panic when an extraterrestrial spacecraft lands near the White House. Out steps Klaatu (Michael Rennie, in a role intended for Claude Rains), a handsome and soft-spoken interplanetary traveller, whose "bodyguard" is Gort (Lock Martin), a huge robot who spews forth laser-like death rays when danger threatens. After being wounded by an over-zealous soldier, Klaatu announces that he has a message of the gravest importance for all Mankind, which he will deliver only when all the leaders of all nations will agree to meet with him. World politics being what they are in 1951, Klaatu's demands are turned down and he is ordered to remain in the hospital where his wounds are being tended. Klaatu escapes, taking refuge in a boarding house, where he poses as one "Mr. Carpenter" (one of the film's many parallels between Klaatu and Christ). Here the benign alien gains the confidence of a lovely widow (Patricia Neal) and her son (Billy Gray), neither of whom tumble to his other-worldly origins, and seeks out the gentleman whom Billy regards as "the smartest man in the world"--an Einstein-like scientist, Dr. Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe). The next day, at precisely 12 o'clock, Klaatu arranges for the world to "stand still"--he shuts down all electrical power in the world, with the exception of essentials like hospitals and planes in flight. Directed by Robert Wise, who edited Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) for director Orson Welles before going on to direct such major 1960s musicals as West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965), The Day the Earth Stood Still was based on the story Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Frances Bavier Mrs. Barley
Billy Gray Bobby Benson
H.V. Kaltenborn Himself
Hugh Marlowe Tom Stevens
Lock Martin Gort
Patricia Neal Helen Benson
Drew Pearson Himself
Michael Rennie Klaatu
Sam Jaffe Dr. Barnhardt

Production Crew

Addison Hehr Art Director
Lyle Wheeler Art Director
Leo Tover Cinematographer
Bernard Herrmann Composer (Music Score)
William Travilla Costume Designer
Robert Wise Director
William H. Reynolds Editor
Darryl F. Zanuck Executive Producer
Ben Nye, Sr. Makeup
Julian Blaustein Producer
Edmund H. North Screenwriter
Claude E. Carpenter Set Designer
Thomas K. Little Set Designer
Harry Bates Short Story Author
Harry Bates Short Story Author
Arthur L. Kirbach Sound/Sound Designer
Harry M. Leonard Sound/Sound Designer
Fred Sersen Special Effects
Year: 1951
Runtime: 92
Country: USA
MPAA Rating: G
Category: Feature


Produced by
20th Century Fox

Awards
1951 - Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding - Golden Globe
1951 - Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding - Golden Globe
1951 - Motion Picture Promoting International Understanding - Hollywood Foreign Press Association
1994 - U.S. National Film Registry - Library of Congress