Le Jour où la Terre s'arrêta...

It's not unfair initially to dismiss "The Day the Earth Stood Still" as sci-fi pulp from an era full of it, but the film's anti-war message given the Cold War context it was released in makes it nothing short of a classic. Its commercial exterior featuring posters with Gort the space robot pales in comparison to the social/diplomatic values it preaches at its core. Sure, it's not all that suspenseful or riveting for science-fiction, but it represents one of the first pop culture films to reflect important moral values.

Borrowing from the lucrative UFO alien movies before it, TDTESS begins with a flying saucer landing in the Washington mall and producing an alien with a human appearance named Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and his robot protector Gort, a goofy-looking man in a shiny suit with the ability to disintegrate anything with a beam from his eye. For starters, Klaatu is greeted by military bullets that destroy a gift he intended for the president that would give us the ability to study life on other planets. That's the example of the strict satirical tone taken by writer Edmund H. North (based on the short story by Harry Bates).

Despite humorous special effects and the cheesy running and screaming you see in pulp alien invasion movies, TDTESS manages to expose many of our flaws including our fear of the unknown and our propensity to resort to violence. It warns of the dangers of nuclear energy and outwardly scorns war. In the beginning years of the Cold War, such a message getting out to the public is an accomplishment that must be lauded.

TDTESS isn't only good for its messages, though it certainly is what makes the film stand out. Rennie is a terrific Klaatu. He's intriguing, friendly but also very frank, winning our sympathies but still convincing us of his other-worldly nature. The relationship he develops with the young Bobby Benson (Billy Gray) is the film's most interesting subplot next to Klaatu helping a scientist out with an equation that will lead to interplanetary travel.

Rarely does a film become a classic solely because of its message, but TDTESS certainly does. It's so frank, but speaks such an undeniable truth that in the form of cheaply made science- fiction, resonates in a way that straighter films can't. That's the beauty of the genre and why TDTESS is its first classic. ~Steven C

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A spacecraft makes its way towards the earth, it's like a saucer with a rounded, curving girth, when it lands, a man descends, he comes in peace, wants to make friends, and then he's shot, because of difference, we're averse. A robot then appears and shows its power, disintegrating weapons, with its glower, but the alien assailed, gets the giant to curtail, though the sentiment is clear for all to see. It's not too long before the foreigner has gone, assimilating to a world gone wrong, finding out about mankind, finding out how we're so blind, to trajectories that lead to our extinction.

I don't think the message is any different all these years later, just more pertinent.

Interesting both in itself and as a reflection of its era, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" may seem unspectacular now to those who are used to the extravagant science fiction pictures of the present time, but it deserves its place as a cinema classic. The story is worthwhile in itself, and as soon as you set aside any preconceptions about what science fiction should involve, it also builds up some pretty good drama and suspense. Its perspective is also interesting to see as a reflection of the concerns of its era, which have such obvious similarities with those of the present.

The story itself sometimes moves rather slowly, and the focus is really more on the reactions to Klaatu's arrival than on the action itself. As Klaatu, Michael Rennie stays pretty low-key, as does the rest of the cast much of the time. Although there are times when the movie might lack some energy as a result, in general it probably works better that way than it would have if there were too much forced emphasis on the urgency of Klaatu's mission, which is more than able to speak for itself. The ideas behind the story are fairly simple, but they are, of course, just as significant now (or in practically any other era) as they were in the 1950's.

A UFO lands on the Washington Mall which is quickly surrounded by the military. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) emerges and tries to make contact. A nervous soldier accidentally shoots him. His robot Gort comes out to defend him. He's brought to Walter Reed hospital and he asks to meet all of the world's representatives. International squabbling makes a meeting impossible. Klaatu escapes the hospital and goes to a boarding room where widow Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby are staying. While Helen has the day with Tom Stephens, Klaatu babysits Bobby and learns about the world. Bobby leads Klaatu to Helen's boss Professor Jacob Barnhardt. It is an iconic 50s sci-fi. The story is timeless although it doesn't have many exciting thrills. The 50s style directions are a little stiff. The staging is somewhat static but it is still quite compelling. This is more of a message movie and Gort is one of the great robots of all time.

I love a good sci-fi movie as much as the next person, and I do have some favourites of the genre, Alien, Blade Runner, Empire Strikes Back, Metropolis and 2001:A Space Odyssey are wonderful movies, and like The Day the Earth Stood Still they not only have an influence on other movies of the genre and in general but also timeless classics in many more ways than one. The Day The Earth Stood Still has been a favourite since I first saw it and I still at 18 hold it in great regard. It still looks wonderful for its time, the effects and designs are wonderfully composed if purposefully simple and the cinematography is exemplary. Bernard Hermann's score is tense and wondrous, the script is deft, Robert Wise's direction is superb and while it has some solemn philosophical aspects and some heavy-handed symbolism neither of which are flaws in any way the story is compelling from start to finish. The acting is also impressive, Lock Martin is good as giant Gort but the real revelation is Michael Rennie's authoritative, dignified and sympathetic Klatu. Overall, a sci-fi masterpiece. 10/10 Bethany Cox