The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

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The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Topic Started: Nov 23 2008, 10:08 AM (97 Views)
Laughing Gravy	Nov 23 2008, 10:08 AM Post #1
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	A man who calls himself Carpenter ascends from the heavens to deliver a chance at salvation but he's killed by authorities. Revived, he delivers his message and then ascends again. Hmmmm. Okay, seriously, I've never been a big fan of this movie but it does grow on me. Michael Rennie is of course Klaatu the Carpenter, and his stoicness kinda seems more like technique and less like just being boring as the film goes on; I like that he DOES have a sense of humor (he actually smiles a couple of times) and a genuine affection for Bobby; one wonders what relationship they have to the hatchlings on their planet. Robert Wise directed this, one of the great sci-fi pictures. Because it was made in 1951 let's forgive how phony that spaceship looks and all those wires (seemingly 2 or 3 dozen!) that hold up Patricia Neal when Gort "lifts" her. It's amazing how few guards the military uses in this film (2 on the spaceship, 0 on Klaatu in the hospital), but then, I guess they were all busy in Korea. I love the Cold War attitude displayed throughout, and the "we have to overcome our differences or mutual destruction is assured" message of that era was powerful. Plus, how many movies are there that I can say I like better every time I see them? (Well, there's this, Citizen Kane, and Vertigo, and that's pretty damn good company). The Fox DVD is outstanding, the film's been beautifully restored and when my FNF gang comments on things like that, you know it's outstanding. We also watched the 49th greatest cartoon ever made (according to Jerry Beck), The Dover Boys, which was quite enjoyable (altho as one of the FNFkateers said, "It's more weird than funny"), a color 1970 short that featured a very creepy brother-sister combo (they held hands seemingly from the time they woke up 'til the time they went to bed) learning not to take puppies from strangers, a Cold War era newsreel (made fun of the Russkies, basically), our Rock Video of the Week, which was Weezer doing "Undone (The Sweater Song)" which was excellent, and some trailers. A fine night's entertainment.



Laughing Gravy	Nov 23 2008, 10:38 AM Post #2
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	P.S. I KNEW I was forgetting something. Cap'n Marbles, episode 7, "Hooman Targets". Billy is gagged and Betty is tied up and the evil miscreants are dropping bombs on their cabin. I hate when that happens. Afterwards, I told the gang that I hadn't decided what our next serial would be. They want a Dick Tracy serial, but I'm thinkin' it's time to see a Columbia, maybe Cap'n Midnight...


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