Review of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) by Bradley P — 25 Mar 2012

1951 was a time of political suspicion with the war between Communism and Capitalism reaching its apex. Governments fueled fear and tension by reminding citizens that the infiltrator could be your neighbour and the threat of nuclear war hung just on the other side of the Iron Curtain - irrelevant of which side you were on.

And neither side willing to reach a settlement. Robert Wise taps into this fear with this blending of sci-fi and sobering anti-war film based on Harry Bates' classic novel. In the film, Klaatu (Michael Rennie) offers us a way out - either learn to live in peace or be annihilated, the choice is ours.

Or is it? In some ways, Gort is no different than Big Brother - granted he targets aggression and nothing else... for now.Underlining the film's dark message is composer Bernard Herman's eerie score made with an early electronic instrument called the Theremin, while great visual effects are used sparingly to ensure the film's believability.

Patricia Neal's portrayal of Helen is one of the more realistic heroines of the 1950's: she's smart, ferociously independent, and it is she who ultimately saves mankind from Gort by reprogramming him with the mysterious words, 'Gort, Klaatu berada niktoh.

' Fitting as, in art, women often represent the future of humanity, and with Klaatu's final farewell wave to Helen, we understand that hope is not lost.