The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
“The Day
the Earth Stood Still” was released in 1951, and was one of the first films in
the long line of 1950s American science fiction films. It was based off
the book “Farewell to the Master,” written by Harry Bates. Fox
Productions purchased the film rights for only $1000, the film was budgeted $960,000,
and by the end of its first release, the movie racked up a worldwide gross of
$1.8 million. The movie was nominated for two Golden Globes, and won the
award for “Best Film Promoting International Understanding.”
At the
start of the film, a flying saucer is tracked flying around the Earth until it
lands in Washington D.C. An alien, Klaatu, and a very powerful robot,
Gort, occupy the ship. Klaatu informs the people of Earth that he has an
important message that he wishes to tell the representatives of all nations
simultaneously. After being informed that this request is impossible to
meet, Klaatu decides on an alternative plan. He seeks the smartest man in
Washington D.C., Professor Barnhart, and delivers the message to him with the hopes
that he will organize a meeting with the scientists of the world.
Ultimately, Klaatu is able to relay his message that if the people of Earth
threaten to extend their violence into space, robots like Gort will destroy the
Earth.
There
were a few minor filming issues associated with this movie. The producer
was initially nervous because the Korean conflict had just broken out, and
feared that Fox would nix the story’s message of peace in a time of war;
however, this did not happen. Additionally, when they submitted the first
copy of the screenplay for approval, it was denied due to the resurrection of
Klaatu because “only God can do that.” Eventually, a compromise was
reached where Klaatu is brought back to life, but only temporarily. The
final issue that arose during filming, was that Sam Jaffe, the actor portraying
Professor Barnhardt, appeared in the infamous Red Channels Pamphlet that listed
performers with supposed Communist connections. Because of this, Jaffe
was almost dismissed but the producer of the film, David Blaustein, insisted
that the actor be allowed to finish filming. After the movie, Jaffe did
not appear again in films for several years.
There were two main interpretations of The Day the Earth
Stood Still. The first attributes Klaatu to the likeness of the US. Klaatu is
a citizen of a technologically advanced society visiting a less-advanced world
to tell them that if they continue building atomic weapons, his planet will
have to annihilate them to secure their own safety. Many saw this is the
message the United States was sending other nations during the Cold War. We can
have nuclear weapons, but you can’t, and if you try to get them, we’ll use ours
on you. The second way to interpret the film is a religious allegory. Humanity
is largely portrayed as the villain throughout the film, especially when it
wounds a messenger who is trying to show it the error of its ways. The aliens
persistently try to offer humanity a chance to be saved even though humanity
continues to threaten and chase them. This opens up the plot for religious
allegory: humanity is being saved despite its guilt. There are many parallels
between Klaatu and Jesus: both were distrusted by those in power (Jesus by the
Pharisees and Klaatu by the US government), both were hunted by the
establishment and subsequently killed (Jesus is crucified, Klaatu is shot),
both are resurrected and then continue to give important teachings/warnings
afterward, and both leave the earth by rising up into the heavens.
There was
a general loss of faith and a distrust of religion after WWII for a few
different reasons: there was so much death and destruction and God never
intervened (so was he actually real) and it was now widely known that humans
are capable of created an atomic weapon that can wipe out a large area within
seconds. This newfound power gave humans a godlike quality that was unattained
until this moment in history. Along with the godlike quality that emerged
from atomic weapons was the growing interest in science and logic. The film
portrays this through Klaatu who is more advanced in both science and technology.
Klaatu also has to count on the scientific leaders of the world rather than the
political to deliver his message because the political leaders are too
emotional to put aside differences for logic.
Klaatu instills
fear in the humans of the film because they do not understand who/what he is.
It relates to McCarthyism during the time the film was made when mass paranoia
and hysteria were both very present among the American population. There is a
fear of the unknown both in the film and in the society of the audience because
many were unsure of who was a Communist and whether or not anyone could be
trusted.
The Day the Earth Stood Still focuses on the effect that the use of
nuclear weapons could possibly have and the threat if poses to the entire
world. After WWII, it is well known by all countries that the use of nuclear
weapons could eventually mean the end of the world, but because the United
States had already developed and used them to end a war, other countries now
sought to develop and control a stock of their own. Klaatu’s threat in the film
to destroy the Earth because the use of nuclear weapons threatened other worlds
and had to be stopped, reflects cold war tactics between the US and the Soviet
Union, where mutually assured destruction was being employed to deter the use
of these weapons. This film contrasts with the film Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, in that while both movies are about
aliens visiting earth, Bodysnatchers is
about the people of earth all conforming to the same behavior (Communism) and
the fear of the people from this happening (McCarthyism), rather than forces of
power bringing about our own destruction. This film also contrasts with the
2008 remake of the same name in that the remake threatens the destruction of
only the human race as a result of their destructive tendencies, to save the
other creatures of earth.
We
posed the question “in our current era, how does the presence of nuclear
weapons affect our approach to diplomacy and war in general?” The responses
that we got were along the same lines as how I felt. The class generally felt
that although the Cold War is over, the threat of mutually assured destruction
and the overall affect of the use of nuclear weapons weighs heavily on the way
we approach diplomacy and war with other countries.
By: Clarissa Graziani, Noah Rabin, Taylor Thomas, and Kelly Wingen
Sources:
By: Clarissa Graziani, Noah Rabin, Taylor Thomas, and Kelly Wingen
Sources:
1. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/
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