The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
A flying saucer lands in Washington D.C. The extraterrestrial traveler, Klaatu, wants to arrange a meeting to promote world peace, in the hope that humans will evolve beyond their violent tendencies. When Klaatu exits his spaceship, a nervous soldier shoots him. In order to better understand Earthlings, Klaatu leaves his 8-foot robot Gort in charge of their saucer and poses as a human. Known only as "Carpenter," Klaatu rents a room in a boarding house and befriends a compassionate woman and her teenage son, and also meets a scientist named Barnhardt. As government agents try to locate Klaatu, he waits for a crucial moment when the Earth will come to a standstill, and all electrical energy will be frozen for 30 minutes, as per the instructions of the higher powers that sent him.
Books with substantial mentioning of The Day the Earth Stood Still
| Peter Biskind Seeing Is Believing, How Hollywood Taught Us to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties New York, 1983 |
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Douglas Brode The Films of the Fifties Secaucus, NJ, 1976 |
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Books with an entry on The Day the Earth Stood Still
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Alan G. Fetrow Feature Films, 1950 - 1959, a United States Filmography Jefferson, NC, 1999 |
Articles with an entry on The Day the Earth Stood Still
| John Caps, Soundtracks 101, Essential movie music: a listener's guide, in: Filmcomment, nr. 6 (Nov/Dec), 2003 pp. 31-49 |
