s The Day the Earth Stood Still begins, a unidentified object approaches the Earth
and starts to zoom around it, creating a worldwide climate of anxious curiosity. Landing
quietly in Washington, D.C., under the shadow of the Capitol, the sleek ship is
soon ringed by troops and artillery. A space-suited figure emerges,
promising peace, but a nervous soldier shoots him. As the figure crumples, a
monstrous robot appears and vaporizes the soldiers' weapons--even the
tanks.
Rushed to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the alien, Klaatu (Rennie), tells the president's
advisor he must announce a message to all nations. The advisor agrees to
arrange a summit meeting but accurately predicts international tensions will
prevent it from taking place. Impatient, Klaatu slips his guard to pursue his
mission among the people. The media responds with escalating hysteria.
Klaatu finds lodging with Helen (Neal) and her son Bobby (Gray). Bobby quickly
befriends "Mister Carpenter," but that night he follows Klaatu to his ship
and learns the truth. Running home, he tells Helen and her hard-boiled
fiance, Tom (Marlowe), what he's discovered.
Meanwhile, Klaatu has revealed his mission to a leading scientist, Prof.
Barnhardt (Jaffe): If humans bring their violence into space, neighboring
worlds will destroy them. Barnhardt has agreed to arrange a meeting of
Earth's top scientists; they decide Klaatu must demonstrate his power. The
next day he stops all electricity around the world for half an hour.
Unfortunately, this scares the Army into a dead-or-alive manhunt. Klaatu
rushes with Helen to make the meeting, but Tom has already alerted the authorities to his presence. Klaatu
is shot. Helen, following Klaatu's instructions, goes to the robot and,
overcoming her own terror, parrots Klaatu's command: Klaatu barada
nikto. No one knows what will happen next...
The alien is the message
It's easy to sensationalize a mysterious alien, distorting him into a
monster. In fact, the media portrayed in The Day the Earth Stood Still show how
it's done. These shenanigans are in stark contrast to the film's own
treatment of Klaatu. One of its more striking scenes finds the boarders at
Mrs. Crockett's house anxiously listening to radio reports about the
escaped "Martian," startled by a shadowy figure in the hall. After a tense
moment, the stranger steps into the light: a simple man looking for a room.
Everyone sighs in relief and welcomes the visitor into the house. The
film's subtext, a warning about projecting our fears onto the unknown, is
encapsulated in this moment. Klaatu's inability to bring together the
world's leaders, who are afraid of each other, completes the unsubtle but
powerful message.
The film further demythologizes Klaatu by removing the barriers between him
and the sensible Helen. Benevolent-alien films generally pair the heroine
with a square-jawed hero, neutering the alien and setting him apart (This
Island Earth, for example). Here, Klaatu relates directly to Helen (and
her son), and the audience is invited to identify with him.
At his core Klaatu is not an alien but an advanced human--featuring the best parts of
humanity--and Rennie conveys this perfectly. Neal's Helen Benson is nicely
understated, displaying both warmth and caution. Several members of the
talented supporting cast went on to create memorable TV characters,
including Marlowe (Ellery Queen), Gray (Father Knows Best), and
boarder Frances Bavier (Eve Arden and Andy Griffifth).
The excellent cast and compelling story combine to make The Day the Earth Stood Still a
"message" SF movie of the highest order, offering provocative social commentary under the guise of a peril
from outer space.
