THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
75TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION
Seventy-five years ago, an alien from Great Britain delivered a message of peace and hope as a visitor from another planet. Executives at 20th Century-Fox originally considered Spencer Tracy or Claude Rains to star as Klaatu before deciding the role needed a less familiar face. With his cultured diction and tall, slender frame, Michael Rennie fit the bill perfectly. The project was designed to take advantage of the UFO scare and the rising popularity of science fiction in the 1950s. Thanks to an intelligent script, Robert Wise’s taut direction, Bernard Herrmann’s imaginative score and a strong cast including Patricia Neal and Sam Jaffe, the film has become iconic, often hailed as one of the best science fiction pictures ever made. In recognition of its continuing legacy, Wise ended his thank you speech on receiving the AFI Life Achievement Award with its most famous line: “Klaatu barada nikto.”
d. Robert Wise, 93m, DCP
DCP courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.