Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay Of the seemingly endless list of the films in Steven Jay Schneider’s book “1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die,” there are many that come to mind that stunned me in how much I enjoyed them. Whether it be due to how old they are, the style of filmmaking, or the genre, there are just some movies that completely subverted my expectations in the best way possible.
One of the subgenres that I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed are low-budget, science-fiction B-movies from the 1950s that are now considered genre classics. From Invasion of the Body Snatchers to The Blob, I’ve consistently found myself thoroughly entertained by these old-school sci-fi flicks. So, today’s blog is about another 1950s sci-fi movie that I assumed would be boring and outdated but instead impressed me by how much I enjoyed. The film in question? Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still from 1951. [NOTE: This blog will contain spoilers for “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” You have been warned.] The History Wanting to develop a film that captured the fears and suspicions of the early Cold War era, film producer Julian Blaustein (Broken Arrow, Khartoum) read through hundreds of science-fiction short stories and novels due to the genre being well suited for a metaphorical exploration of that topic. After the project was approved by studio executive and co-founder of formerly-named 20th Century Fox Darryl F. Zanuck (The Grapes of Wrath, Gentleman’s Agreement, The Longest Day), Blaustein hired screenwriter Edmund H. North (Patton) to adapt elements of Harry Bates’s short story “Farewell to the Master,” written in 1940. In writing the screenplay, North admitted that he intended the metaphor comparing the extraterrestrial Klaatu to Jesus Christ to be subliminal; he considered it his “private little joke.” However, Blaustein was confronted by censors from the Motion Picture Associated of America (MPAA) about Klaatu’s seeming immortality and resurrection. As a result, a line was written to explain that Klaatu’s revival was only temporary. Following some uncredited input from science-fiction author Raymond F. Jones, the screenplay was completed in February of 1951. In preparation to shoot the movie, architect Frank Lloyd Wright was consulted on the design of Klaatu’s spacecraft with the vehicle’s interior being possibly inspired by Wright’s Johnson Wax Headquarters building in Racine, Wisconsin. According to architect Paul Laffoley, Wright described his consultation as attempting “to imitate an experimental substance” that “acts like living tissue” and “If cut, the rift would appear to heal like a wound.” Principal photography lasted from April 9 to May 23, 1951, occurring on the studio sound stages and back lot in California (a second unit shot background scenes in Washington D.C. and Maryland). After making two dramas in 1950, Robert Wise (West Side Story, The Sound of Music) was hired to direct the film. Despite the U.S. Department of Defense refusing to participate in production after reading the script, the military vehicles and soldiers shown in the film were provided by the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment stationed at Ford Meade. However, the principal actors never actually traveled to Washington, D.C. for filming. Lock Martin, a seven-and-a-half-foot-tall usher at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, was hired to play the robot Gort. However, due to the incredibly uncomfortable nature of the suit he wore on set, Wise minimized his on-set shooting to thirty minutes at a time to make the experience as tolerable as possible. In post-production, Wise’s team were charged with editing Martin’s shots together into a cohesive whole. Made with just under one million dollars, The Day the Earth Stood Still grossed approximately 1.85 million dollars in domestic theater rentals. Contemporary reviews were largely positive, with much of the praise going towards the story, direction, tone, and special effects. Retrospectively, critics and cinephiles have deemed it one of the best movies of the 1950s and one of the best science-fiction films of all time. More modern praise has highlighted the film’s social conscience, themes, and entertainment value. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress for its cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance. The Pros While The Day the Earth Stood Still may not have the most memorable characters, it doesn’t need that to be memorable in general. As a fan of history, I particularly enjoy when films manage to date themselves within a specific historical context without that detracting from its overall quality and potential for timelessness. And, in my humble opinion, this movie pulls that off surprisingly well. Due to the nature of its story, the film is an overt allegory for the fear and paranoia of the early Cold War. The way in which the American people respond to the arrival of an extraterrestrial traveler is highly reminiscent of the nature of our society during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s. That being said, the film’s depiction of human nature as being inherently suspicious of what we do not understand (which, in turn, transforms into fear of the unknown) is an idea that movies continue to explore to this day. Furthermore, its call for peace and understanding as a way of fighting said fear and paranoia can be applied to any time in human history as well as artistically explored within many kinds of stories. As a result, The Day the Earth Stood Still pulls off the rather difficult feat of being both an old-school hit and a timeless classic by balancing the qualities that makes it both without hindering itself in either direction. Beyond that, the movie surprisingly holds up well in terms of its production values. Specifically, the creative team working with Robert Wise seemed to recognize the limitations of their time when it came to crafting visual and special effects that keep the audience’s disbelief suspended enough to prevent them from losing interest in what they’re seeing. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of Klaatu as humanoid, which works both to enhance the metaphorical aspects of the film’s message and avoid the movie becoming overly silly or a parody of itself. Instead, its small-scale storytelling forces the relatively small special-effects budget to work for Wise’s creative goals rather than against them. Something else that makes The Day the Earth Stood Still work in spite of its obvious age is the brevity of the runtime. Like I said about Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers from 1956, directors working within the black-and-white, sci-fi genre at this time apparently understood that the primary goal of any filmmaker should be to not waste the audience’s time. Thus, they stuck more to the universally true mantra of storytelling: “less is more.” This movie is no different, as Wise and his editing team keep the film to a brisk 92 minutes that is paced well to prevent you feeling rushed or bored while watching it. Every minute of screentime is used to tell the story, enhance the themes, and satisfy the viewer by making them feel that all has been resolved by the final shot. What more can you really ask for? 😊 The Cons The only major criticism I have of The Day the Earth Stood Still has to do with screenwriter Edmund H. North’s “private little joke” wherein he made subtle allusions to the alien Klaatu (Michael Rennie) being a Jesus Christ-like figure. To be honest, I did not pick up on this subtext while watching the movie; I only discovered this interpretation afterwards when I read online about it. That being said, I can see how other viewers could be easily distracted from what is (in my humble opinion) the filmmakers’ primary social commentary by focusing too much on this. Honestly, it’s a matter North’s inside humor that he may not have wanted audiences to focus on so intently this many years later. Nevertheless, it remains a valid interpretation of the film despite this understanding not coming out very strongly in the writing aside from a few subliminal hints to the prophet figure of Christianity. In the end, I wish most of these were edited out in favor of the film investing its 92 minutes on what it ultimately was trying to say. So, what are my final impressions of The Day the Earth Stood Still? Simply put, any criticisms I have of the movie are not enough to undo my generally favorable impressions of it. If you’re a fan of old-school sci-fi flicks or movies with timely and timeless sociopolitical allegories, then I definitely think you’ll enjoy it. But if you just want a watch a short and entertaining alien story that doesn’t rely on action, I assure that you’ll appreciate it on that level, too. What are your thoughts on Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still? What other old-school sci-fi movies do you recommend? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|