Monday, 5rd DECEMBER 2001 ME ROBOT!
featuring: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL The country was steeped in the Cold War and obsessed with the destructive capabilities of the atomic bomb when THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL , now considered a classic, hit the theatres. It was Robert Wise's first sci fi film, but certainly not his last. He would go on to make the classic THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, in 1971, and STAR TREK, in 1979. The film presented a very different image of space aliens than films being churned out of current Hollywood: the friendly, peace-bringing alien. Wise has stressed the importance of his films making a comment about man & society... However, the comment should be made by the story itself, the development of the plot,& the interplay of characters... "The whole purpose was for Klaatu to deliver that warning at the end. I feel very strongly in favor of what the movie says..... it shows that we must all learn to get along together."
An alien planetary federation, disapproving of Earth's policy of atom bomb testing, sends one of their number with Gort, a robot intergalactic policeman, to warn against further aggression. Klaatu lands in Washington, D.C. in a flying saucer. This handsome and literate intruder informs the populace that atomic tests must cease or the Earth will be demolished by other planets in the galaxy. The nations of the world then convene to cope with the dilemma. Klaatu, under the watchful eye of the F.B.I., is permitted to associate with earthlings and wins many friends, including Helen Benson & her son Bobby. Eventually world leaders conclude that the alien must be a hoax. As he returns to his craft, he is shot. Gort removes his body and plans to put in motion the destruction of the Earth. But Helen repeats to Gort words said to her by Klaatu ["Klaatu barada nikto"].At the finale, Klaatu is resurrected and, before returning to the outer galaxy, he offers a final warning that peace must come to the Earth - or else. Based on the story 'Farewell to the master' by Harry Bates. Gort was played by the only man in Hollywood who could fit the suit: the 7'7" tall doorman at the Grauman's Chinese Theater. The Department of Defense didn't like the film's message, so they wouldn't let Wise use their equipment,but The National Guard obliged. "He wasn't a very strong man, & that suit was heavy...He couldn't pick up Pat Neal.For the shot where she falls & he's coming toward her,I panned to let him go behind a door & stopped filming. With the help of a crane,we picked Pat up, turned him around,& put her in his arms.When we started the camera again,he walked out of the frame with Pat being carried all the way by a wire.On the reverse shot, we put a lightweight dummy in his arms.Just one of the little tricks we had to do to make the robot believeable." Prod Co: Twentieth Century Fox. Prod: Julian Blaustein. Dir: ROBERT WISE. Phot: Leo Torer. Mus: BERNARD HERRMANN. Scr: Edmund H. North. Cast: MICHAEL RENNIE, PATRICIA NEAL, HUGH MARLOWE. 92 mins. NFVL
ISAAC ASIMOV'S CLANK! CLANK! ARTIFICIAL MAN (1976) Isaac Asimov discusses future possibilities and present capabilities of robots.20 mins. NFVLS TECHNO-CRACKED (1930) Ub Iwerks' animated character Flip the Frog invents a robot to mow the lawn. Prod Co: Celebrity Productions. Prod/anim: UB IWERKS. 8 mins. NFVLS. THE MECHANICAL COW (1927) Early Disney cartoon full of zany invention and humour. With the help of his mechanical cow, Oswald the rabbit succeeds in rescuing his girlfriend. Prod Co: WALT DISNEYProductions. Prod: WALT DISNEY. 7 mins. NFVLS.
TIN TOY (1989) Tin Toy is the tale of a prickly relationship between a rambunctious diapered baby and musical clockwork toy. Prod Co: Pixar Animation Production Group. Dir: John Lasseter. 4 mins. NFVLS. 100 WATTS 120 VOLTS (1977) Accompanied by the Bach "Brandenburg Concerto" played by the Munich Bach Orchestra, and two very short segments of musique concrete, this film in great detail shows the fully automated manufacture of light bulbs. Produced for Fred A. Niles Communications. Prod Co: Texture Films. Prod/Dir: Carson Davidson. 6 mins. CAC.
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