Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

"Brilliantly acted... more timely than ever.  Leonard Maltin
"...a superbly crafted, landmark film which invested a much-derided -- and frequently ludicrous -- genre with a welcome degree of dignity and respectability.  Angie Errigo, Empire
"...its timeless warnings about violence, nuclear confrontation and the difficulties of policing the planet have made it an enduring cultural classic.  Michael Booth, Denver Post
"A first-rate science fiction classic.  Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium
"Absolutely among the top 5 sci-fi films ever. Keep going, Gort!  Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
"Superb performances...restrained direction...just as relevant today as it was the day it was released.  TV Guide

Editor's Note Beginning with a documentary style that immediately hooks the viewer, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, based on the Harry Bates short story "Farewell to the Master," becomes as much a human interest story as it does a sci-fi B-movie classic. The film soberly depicts the arrival of an alien dignitary, Klaatu (Michael Rennie), who has come to earth with his deadly robot, Gort (Lock Martin), to deliver the message that earthlings must stop warring among themselves--or else. After being shot at by ignorant, panicky military guards, Klaatu is brought to a Washington, D.C., hospital, where he begs a sympathetic but frank Major White (Robert Osterloh) to gather all the world's leaders so he can tell them more specifically what he has come 250 million miles to warn them about. Losing patience, Klaatu slips into the human world, adapting a false identity and living at a boarding house where he meets a smart woman with a conscience, Helen Benson (Patricia Neal), and her inquisitive son, Bobby (Billy Gray). Both mother and son soon find themselves embroiled in the complex mystery of Klaatu, his message, and the government's witch hunt for the alien. Made during the cold war--when Americans were obsessed with the destructive capabilities of the atomic bomb--THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, thanks to its beautiful pacing, excellent dialogue, and haunting score by Bernard Herrmann, is still a treat for contemporary audiences.

	Billy Gray
	Michael Rennie
	Tyler McVey
	Hugh Marlowe
	Frank Conroy
	Frances Bavier
	Drew Pearson
	Sam Jaffe
	Edith Evanson
	Patricia Neal
	Lock Martin
	Edmund H. North - Screenwriter
	Bernard Herrmann - Composer
	Leo Tover - Director of Photography
	Julian C. Blaustein - Producer
	Addison Hehr - Production Designer
	Lyle Wheeler - Production Designer
	William H. Reynolds - Editor
	Robert Wise - Director

"Klaatu Barada Nikto"----Alien (Michael Rennie) to his robot guard, Gort (Lock Martin)

Entertainment Weekly
Rating: B 07/28/1995 p.71

Entertainment Weekly
"...Today's sci-fi filmmakers could learn a thing or two from an old black-and-white gem that has the here and now written all over it..." 04/11/2003 p.61

USA Today
"...One of the classiest sci-fi staples ever..." 07/28/1995 p.14D

Uncut
"Outstanding for its religious symbolism, overt anti-war message, and one of the coolest robots in cinema history..." 05/01/2005 p.139

The Onion A.V. Club 8 of 10
In the foreground of the original poster for 1951's science-fiction favorite The Day The Earth Stood Still, a menacing robot disintegrates an army while clutching a screaming, scantily clad woman. In the background, a massive, almost simian hand grips the planet Earth like a softball. The images are in line with the fantasy pulp magazines of the late '40s, and seem to set the film up as an epic interstellar battle between good and evil. Then the movie starts, and out comes a slow, talky story ostensibly about the need for a strong United Nations. There's some bait-and-switch going on, but the sucker job serves a purpose: The Day The Earth Stood Still is actually about misperceptions...Adapting a Harry Bates short story for their Cold War purposes, producer Julian Blaustein, screenwriter Edmund North, and director Robert Wise developed a semi-realistic fantasy about an alien visitor (Michael Rennie) who comes to warn Earth's leaders to cease warmongering, lest an interstellar peacekeeping organization be forced to put down the Earthling menace...As the movie idles toward a heavy-handed finale, the lack of gooey, It Came From Outer Space-style monster attacks is missed, but the pointed Christian allegory (Rennie's character goes by the name "Carpenter" while on Earth) and the careful pacing create the intended "thinking man's sci-fi" effect even today. - Noel Murray

Reel.com 8 of 10
Oscar-winning director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music), who died on September 15, 2005, at the age of 91, was arguably more of a talented craftsman than a genuine artist...Based on Harry Bates' short story "Farewell to the Master," The Day the Earth Stood Still is often seen as a religious allegory, with Klaatu as the Christ-like figure. It's also sharply critical of Cold War-era politics and the "shoot first, ask questions later" tactics of the military. Given that 20th Century Fox's head honcho Darryl F. Zanuck was a staunch conservative and unabashed "hawk," the film's negative portrayal of the American military is especially surprising. Yet it was Zanuck who greenlit the film and plucked Rennie from the London stage to play the aristocratic alien spreading the gospel of disarmament--or else...While The Day the Earth Stood Still is strikingly somber and literate, at least by the drive-in standards of most '50s-era sci-fi flicks, it's also a good, old-fashioned popcorn film that's greatly enhanced by Bernard Herrmann's classic theremin score. And then there's hulking robot Gort, who's become part of the pop culture pantheon, due largely to the following line of dialogue: "Klaatu borada nikto" (Translation: "Don't blow us to kingdom come"). Admittedly, The Day the Earth Stood Still is often didactic, and the production values look hokey, but otherwise it holds up incredibly well. - Tim Knight