The Day the Earth Stood Still

Old science fiction movies can be iffy. They are often overrun by cheesy special effects, and the acting can come across as (by today’s standards, anyway) awfully hammy.

In those regards, I found this to be wholly refreshing. It’s set during the cold war paranoia in America, and tells the story of an alien called Klaatu (Michael Rennie), who arrives on Earth to deliver a message, and an ultimatum. He is accompanied by a robot called Gort, and Klaatu’s arrival causes panic and confusion all over Earth.

I think the reason this has stood the test of time is that the story rings true even today: stop this pointless fighting, or it’ll be the end of you. No doubt this message would have been very powerful in post-war America, but it’s no less relevant today.

The story in itself is simple enough. Klaatu escapes from the military who are holding him, and since he looks like any normal human being, he blends in with other people, and stays at a boarding house where he befriends a young boy (Billy Gray). Most of the movie then plays out as the two explore the city (Washington D.C.) and Klaatu learns more about the human race. When world leaders fail to hear his warning, he must come up with means of convincing them he’s serious.

As I mentioned before, there are hardly any of those cheesy special effects here, which is nice to see. The acting is solid, especially by the two leads, Rennie and Gray. Bernard Herrmann, who created a number of memorable scores for Hitchcock, has composed the score for this, and it’s excellent. Likewise, Wise’s direction is never on the nose, but rather just follows Klaatu around, not drawing attention to itself.

All in all, this is a very solid movie, which is made even more remarkable by the simple fact that it manages to stay relevant even today, 57 years after it was made.