In terms of ’50s, campy, sci-fi B-movies that are actually pretty good, you don’t get much better than “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
This is your pinnacle Cold War B-movie. Dozens if not hundreds were released in the ’50s, some are remembered, some are exceptionally bad, and a select few, like “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” actually have some merit.
The films played on the fears surrounding a potential Soviet attack and the many forms they could find to strike. We see such methods as toxic shrinking gas in “The Incredible Shrinking Man” and aliens embodying exact replicas of people we know and love in “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
“TDTESS” reverses the assumption that there will be an invading force aiming to destroy mankind. In this film, the enemy is blatantly mankind itself and our lust for violence amidst ignorant fear.
It shows how a spaceship lands on Earth and instantly all of Washington’s forces are assembled. This is perhaps not the first film to show the image of a UFO landing on Earth and proceeding to unleash its wonders, but it became iconic here first, and dozens of modern sci-fi’s have done so since.
Out steps Klaatu (Michael Rennie), and as soon as he claims he’s come in peace and brandished a foreign object, he’s shot, and an 8-foot-tall robot, Gort, silently appears, dissipating all of the humans’ weapons in sight. Gort’s presence is goofy yes, but the simplicity of his outfit and his attack makes him memorable.
From here, the film’s theme could not be more straight forward. Klaatu escapes from the hospital and rents a room, befriending Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray). Everything he says as the world remains vigilant and terrified in the search for him makes the fears of other characters look foolish. All the characters are one-dimensional and the dialogue allows for zero ambiguity from this theme that “The only thing your planet understands is violence” and that if we “continue on our current path, we face obliteration.”
But it’s not precisely a bad message, and the statement was so poignant at the time, if not just as poignant now. A modern remake of the film starring Keanu Reeves claimed that if we don’t save the environment we will destroy ourselves. True as that may be, that film is already considered dated.
What’s more, the film is genuinely well made. It’s no masterpiece, but it’s certainly got potential in a lot of places. Many of the laughs that come from the film are not all unintentional. Some of the lighting, cinematography and set design, particularly inside Klaatu’s ship, is actually pretty cool. It avoids modern cliches that would force Klaatu to misinterpret certain social norms and replaces them with clever ways to show Klaatu’s fascination (the music box). Even the diamonds that he gives Bobby end up serving a greater purpose to the plot than just a one-off joke.
The film is directed by Robert Wise of “The Sound of Music” and “West Side Story.” Wise directs many scenes with speed and alacrity, demonstrating a talented director on the rise from B-movie fare.
It also has a score by the legendary Bernard Hermann. In 1951, the score was after “Citizen Kane” and “The Magnificent Ambersons” but before his work with Hitchcock. Here he experiments with the then exotic electronic instrument, the theremin. Hermann’s score evoked eerie tones that pioneered the way for all sci-fi and horror movies at the very least through the ’50s. Now The Flaming Lips use one.