The Day the Earth Stood Still

A flying saucer lands in Washington. Out of it come a visitor named Klaatu and a robot called Gort. Klaatu has brought humanity a message; he is shot first, then escapes military custody to live as an ordinary man and tries to gather the world's scientists. Robert Wise directed. Edmund H. North adapted the screenplay from Harry Bates's 1940 short story. Michael Rennie plays Klaatu and Patricia Neal plays Helen Benson. Bernard Herrmann wrote the score with an unusual set of instruments; the sound of the theremin became the film's lasting signature. The line Klaatu barada nikto turned into one of the most quoted phrases in science fiction. The film deliberately used science fiction as a metaphor for Cold War anxiety and ran into censorship pressure over its religious imagery. In 1995 it entered the National Film Registry as culturally, historically and aesthetically significant. The American Film Institute placed it fifth among science fiction films in its 2008 assessment. Who it is for: viewers who like classic science fiction and fifties American cinema. Who it is not for: anyone wanting effects. Gort looks like a costume now, and the film's power is entirely in its ideas.