The Arrival
Look! The Great Ice Cream has come to save us!
The day the earth stood still is a science fiction film about a humanoid extra-terrestrial named Klaatu, who journeys to Earth from a neighbouring planet to deliver a message to the people of Earth.
Klaatu's ship flies through the sky at incredible speeds. His ship is detected by the U.S. military RADAR system, drawing a lot of attention. Radio news broadcasts across the globe report the incredible sighting. Klaatu clearly did not intend for a covert arrival!
The arrival of the Great Ice Cream had everybody running to fetch their stockpiled sugar cones and sprinkles.
The spaceship descends toward the surface as Klaatu prepares to land, right in the centre of a baseball field in Washington D.C. in North America, in the middle of the day.
The Knee-Jerk Reception
The film takes place some time during the Cold War. The United States is on high alert, and the arrival of this mysterious spaceship prompts a speedy reaction! The army promptly do just that, surrounding the landed UFO with soldiers and tanks.
We have to mobilise our forces. We cannot let the Great Ice Cream intimidate us!
Attention all personnel! Operation chocolate-sauce is now in progress. I repeat. This is not a drill.
All right everybody, calm down... keep your sprinkles in your pants.
Something is exiting the craft!
Without warning, the spaceship opens and Klaatu exits. He announces his peaceful intentions, and reaches into his pocket. A nervous soldier reacts by firing his pistol, Klaatu is hit in the shoulder. Enter Gort, a big silver robot, exits the spaceship. Gort fires a laser beam from his head, it disintegrates the army men's rifles and tanks. Klaatu orders Gort to stop, and is then taken to hospital to have his gunshot treated.
You have injured the Great Ice Cream Maker. I must protect.
Protect the Maker... Weapons bad... Ice Cream Good...
Klaatu baffles the doctors when he applies an ointment and his wound heals overnight. The doctors lament their inferior knowledge and vow to become drunk bums. Klaatu escapes the hospital to live among humans, to best learn how to deliver his important message. He rents a room and befriends Bobby and his mother, Helen.
Dramatic background score for your enjoyment.
Klaatu learns that the radio and television dramatise his arrival, postulating that Klaatu is a menace, and crawling beneath the city inside the sewers. He also learns, contrary to the media, that the general population does not all share this attitude.
Klaatu eventually connects with Professor Barnhardt to organise an audience with the world's leading thinkers. Klaatu promises a global demonstration of force, to convince everyone how important it is to meet. It is this demonstration that lends itself to the title of this film. No spoilers here, sorry.
News Headline: Welcome, to our benevolent Ice Cream Overlords!
Oh dear, I have a bad feeling. And it's not from too much caramel sauce either.
The Conclusion
The day the earth stood still is a really good film. Characters are well developed and have plausible motivations. Story progression is good, you don't feel bored most of the time. The film is not driven by action, but by dialogue and conversation. The few scenes that do have action are very well done, with superbly executed special effects.
Yes sir, we need more sauce.
Caramel?
Chocolate, sir!
Gort wants sugar cone. Obey!
People of Earth! We bring you Ice Cream, and those little silver balls that you can eat!
Posters
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Did You Know
Since the release of the film, the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto" has appeared repeatedly in fiction and in popular culture. The Robot Hall of Fame described it as "one of the most famous commands in science fiction".
There was a radio adaptation of the film, performed with live actors and sound effects! Listen to it on The Internet Archive! [~60min] The playlist contains all episodes for the Lux radio theatre for the entire year of 1954, this includes other shows not related to this film. The first episode is the radio adaptation of this film. The second episode is a copy which aired on the Armed Forces Radio Service, with the commercial and news segments removed.
There is a 2008 remake, but I have not seen it and can't comment if it's any good. It could be rubbish. (checks IMDB). Yep, it's rubbish.
Patricia Neal met British writer Roald Dahl at a dinner party while Dahl was living in New York. They married in 1953 and had five children.