The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- Director: Robert Wise
- Seen by this director: Sound of Music, The Haunting, West Side Story, I Want to Live
- Based on the story by Harry Bates
- Cast: Michal Rennie, Patricia Neal, Billy Gray, Sam Jaffe
- Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
- Michael Rennie – Third Man on the Mountain, TV series
- Patricia Neal – Hud, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- Billy Gray – TV series
- Sam Jaffe – Ben-Hur, The Asfalt Jungle, Lost Horizon, TV series
- Why? A classic.
- Seen: Once before. Now 8 April 2022
An alien spaceship lands on a baseball diamond in Washington DC. A figure emerges and speaks of peace and good will. One of the soldiers surrounding the craft shoots him. Another figure, a huge robot, emerges and destroys all the weapons.
The wounded alien Klaatu (Rennie) tells the presidential secretary
Harley (Bates) that he has a message he will impart only to gathered
representatives of all nations at the same time. Harley explains that with the
hostilities and tensions between nations, this will be impossible.
It’s a bold, intelligent and politically astute film. Not to mention entertaining. It does have a few flaws and major holes in its logic, but it was made in 1951, after all. It’s still a classic.
4* of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment