The 1950s' is an interesting time for film. It is the first full decade where film faced a major competitor in television. Studios were looking for ways to attract audiences back to the cinema, which led to the rise of 3D and other methods to heighten the film experience. Yeah 3D always dies out then comes back. Studios began to go bigger with their scope, leading to the rise of the classic American western and the film epic, with films like The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur. The '50s is also the decade that cemented Alfred Hitchcock as possibly the greatest director of all time. A good majority of his most classic films come from the '50s, North by Northwest, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, Dial M for Murder.
The B-movie was also brought to prominence in the '50s, especially the science fiction ones. Japan's Toho would produce monster movies like Godzilla and Gamera and Britain's Hammer Film Productions would explore the horror genre. Stateside there were films like The Thing From Another World, Forbidden Planet, Them!, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. A lot of these science fiction films were born from Cold War fear, the fear of utter nuclear annihilation. Godzilla is born from the fallout of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The giant ants in Them! come from the depths of the desert where the US military has been testing their atom bombs. So what is the Hollywood response to having the responsibility of being able to destroy an entire city? The answer is The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The Day the Earth Stood Still is not the typical kind of '50s science fiction B-movie. Most of them had Earthlings, usually Americans, of course, battling an aline nemesis and winning the day. Sometimes that works sure. But The Day The Earth Stood Still really doesn't have a menace, save for Cold War fear and American paranoia. It's not even a B-movie in my opinion. This is high brow science fiction. The alien Klaatu comes down to Earth with his giant robot Gort and warns us to stop our destructive war mongering ways or face annihilation. Of course Klaatu is answered with violence instead of being welcomed in peace. It's so fitting of the time. Even now it seems to be our answer to everything. Shoot first, ask questions later. But the film never casts the American military complex as the villain. In a way it understands. It is a scary time. As far as anyone knew back then, any second death could come from above. So there is a reason to be scared. But perhaps with that fear comes the inability to communicate peacefully.
The film is directed by Robert Wise, a man I don't think gets enough credit. He should be considered in the running for greatest directors of all time. In hindsight The Day the Earth Stood Still is his first real big achievement, a film that now helps cement his legacy. He would later go on to do films like The Sound of Music, The Sand Pebbles, West Side Story, and oh yeah, The Haunting, just the greatest ghost film ever made.
I am not going to say this is the greatest science fiction film ever made. I will say it is the best one to come out of the fifties but I won't say it's better than 2001 or even recently films like Arrival. (we'll get there) This is the pioneer of high minded science fiction. From The Day The Earth Stood Still we would later get the more meditative and quiet science fiction films like 2001 and Silent Running and the science fiction stories with a message, Twilight Zone for most of it's run. If for some reason you haven't seen it, give it watch. It still holds up, which I can't say for some of the films back then.
The B-movie was also brought to prominence in the '50s, especially the science fiction ones. Japan's Toho would produce monster movies like Godzilla and Gamera and Britain's Hammer Film Productions would explore the horror genre. Stateside there were films like The Thing From Another World, Forbidden Planet, Them!, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. A lot of these science fiction films were born from Cold War fear, the fear of utter nuclear annihilation. Godzilla is born from the fallout of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The giant ants in Them! come from the depths of the desert where the US military has been testing their atom bombs. So what is the Hollywood response to having the responsibility of being able to destroy an entire city? The answer is The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The Day the Earth Stood Still is not the typical kind of '50s science fiction B-movie. Most of them had Earthlings, usually Americans, of course, battling an aline nemesis and winning the day. Sometimes that works sure. But The Day The Earth Stood Still really doesn't have a menace, save for Cold War fear and American paranoia. It's not even a B-movie in my opinion. This is high brow science fiction. The alien Klaatu comes down to Earth with his giant robot Gort and warns us to stop our destructive war mongering ways or face annihilation. Of course Klaatu is answered with violence instead of being welcomed in peace. It's so fitting of the time. Even now it seems to be our answer to everything. Shoot first, ask questions later. But the film never casts the American military complex as the villain. In a way it understands. It is a scary time. As far as anyone knew back then, any second death could come from above. So there is a reason to be scared. But perhaps with that fear comes the inability to communicate peacefully.
The film is directed by Robert Wise, a man I don't think gets enough credit. He should be considered in the running for greatest directors of all time. In hindsight The Day the Earth Stood Still is his first real big achievement, a film that now helps cement his legacy. He would later go on to do films like The Sound of Music, The Sand Pebbles, West Side Story, and oh yeah, The Haunting, just the greatest ghost film ever made.
I am not going to say this is the greatest science fiction film ever made. I will say it is the best one to come out of the fifties but I won't say it's better than 2001 or even recently films like Arrival. (we'll get there) This is the pioneer of high minded science fiction. From The Day The Earth Stood Still we would later get the more meditative and quiet science fiction films like 2001 and Silent Running and the science fiction stories with a message, Twilight Zone for most of it's run. If for some reason you haven't seen it, give it watch. It still holds up, which I can't say for some of the films back then.
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