The Day the Earth Stood Still is an exemplary example of Cold War jitters. Made in 1951, based on the story "Farewell to the Master" (the particulars of which I can remember very little about at this point), it begins with a glowing "flying saucer" with a classic look, landing on the Washington Mall. A ramp cooly slides from the surface, as the military and curious onlookers surround the alien craft. A being in a weird silver suit and a helmet covering its face points a weird object with a springy antenna at the crowd, but is promptly shot by some Army grunt and falls to the ground. His robot, Gort, a hulking mass of Fifties sci-fi aluminum comes to life, and strides like Karloff's Creature down the ramp. A visor slides back, and a ray beam melts the grunts' rifles.
So it begins.
In the hospital (where no one thought for an instant that they should bother taking the aliens' picture WITHOUT his helmet), he reveals he is Klatuu (actor Michael Rennie) a mild-mannered if rather a cadaverous representative of a galactic federation that is going to "reduce our planet to a burned-out cinder" for extending our nuclear warlike ways out into the cosmos.
Mr. Kalatu then escapes. He goes on the lam as a "Mr. Carpenter" (an oddly Christ-like reference considering he's threatening genocide if we don't manage to get our act together), and boards at a rooming house run by Frances Bavier (here. "Mrs. Barley") from the old "Andy Griffith Show." Also living there is Patricia Neal (or rather, her character, Helen Benson) and young Bobbie, her son (Billy Gray). Her boyfriend, reporter Tom Stevens (Hugh Marlowe) is suspicious of "Mr. Carpenter" right off the bat (in those Cold War days of Reds under every bed, who wouldn't be?), but Carpenter takes to Bobby well enough. Bobby gives him a tour of Arlington National Cemetery, and Carpenter expresses his shock at our warlike ways. There's a tad of moralizing, then Carpenter trades some earth money for some glittering space jewels.
Tom soon realizes that Carpenter is actually Klaatu, and Klaatu arranges with the supers-scientist genius Professor Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe) for a demonstration of alien power that includes shutting down all non-essential electrical power all over the planet. (Hence, the title of the picture.) He explains things (while stranded in a stalled elevator) to Helen, but her boyfriend Tom (and, apparently, the entire U.S. Government) is determined to capture Klaatu--DEAD OR ALIVE. Curious.
The scenes inside the spaceship are very effective: noir lighting from beneath reveals a cagelike shadow in the halls, and a beautiful, "control room", with a TV-like device that spins a golden light. Klaatu is shot, again, but it's not the end of him or the picture. Of course, there is also the classic close-up of Patricia Neal, halting the killer robot Gort (Lock Martin) in his world-destroying rampage by saying the mysterious phrase: "Klaatu Barada. Nikto."
And there you have it. What the subtext of this film could be, in 1951, I'm only too eager to guess. Subversive, humanistic--some might even have thought it "commie propaganda." After all, who is going to give up their atomic bombs first? The US or the Russians? It's an anti-war film, at a time when anti-war sentiment was not sympathized with, by and large, by most of the cinema-going public. It seems problematic in that it is infused with leftist ideals about men "getting along like brothers."
But Klaatu is no Christ-like figure: no "Mr. Carpenter." He's here to warn us. Or, rather, threaten us with annihilation if we don't quit producing bombs or going out into space to try and extend our "petty squabbles" there. He's basically a fascist threatening GENOCIDE if we don't comply. (And, apparently, his galaxy is presided over by a bunch of killer GORTS that will exterminate errant races for being "too aggressively warlike.")
I'm, not sure what message they were trying to convey if any (besides the message of, "Come see our movie, eat popcorn, and drink lemonade"), but it is a morally ambiguous subtext, a film that seems paranoid, confused, absurd, and excellent all at the same time. If you haven't seen it yet, you really should. It's a cornerstone of science fiction history. Do it, at least before the world and everything in it is reduced to a "burned-out cinder."
About the Creator
Tom Baker
Author of Haunted Indianapolis, Indiana Ghost Folklore, Midwest Maniacs, Midwest UFOs and Beyond, Scary Urban Legends, 50 Famous Fables and Folk Tales, and Notorious Crimes of the Upper Midwest.: http://tombakerbooks.weebly.com
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.