An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination
Patrick Aherne
- General at Pentagon
- (uncredited)
Larry Arnold
- Scientific Delegate
- (uncredited)
Walter Bacon
- Sightseer at Spaceship
- (uncredited)
Rama Bai
- Scientific Delegate
- (uncredited)
Oscar Blank
- Peddler
- (uncredited)
Marshall Bradford
- Chief of Staff
- (uncredited)
Chet Brandenburg
- Farmer
- (uncredited)
John Brown
- George Barley
- (uncredited)
John Burton
- British Radio Announcer
- (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers
- Mr. Bleeker
- (uncredited)
Spencer Chan
- Scientific Delegate
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaLock Martin, the doorman at Grauman's Chinese Theater, was cast because of his nearly seven-foot height; however, he was not a physically strong man and could not actually carry Patricia Neal, so he had to be aided by wires (in shots from the back where he's carrying her (actually a lightweight dummy in his arms). He also had difficulty with the heavy Gort suit and could only stay in it for about a half hour at a time.
- GoofsKlaatu arranges to have the electromagnetic fields neutralized from 12.00 pm to 12:30 pm EST, yet it is clearly broad daylight in every country in which people are struggling with inoperative devices. In Asia and the Middle East, it should've been nightfall during this time frame.
- Crazy creditsElmer Davis, H.V. Kaltenborn, and Drew Pearson identify themselves when they appear on screen. Radio personality Gabriel Heatter is identified by an announcer.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Giant Claw (1957)
Featured review
Up-front: anyone who low-rated this does not understand what science fiction is about, at all. To those who judged this harshly: You can go back to watching Transformers; you're in the wrong theater. Such people should be tied to the back side of a Bantha with tummy problems. ;D
Okay, on to the serious review: Who doesn't recognize the term "Gort, Klaatu barada nicto"? This film set the bar for so many films to come, in an age when monsters were a guy in a gorilla suit and a space helmet, giant ants were terrorizing a city, and another guy in a rubber suit was stomping on a miniature Tokyo. Among that, we suddenly find a movie with actual meaning, a moral, a great plot and story-line, decent acting, an honest-to-goodness valid warning-- and one of the best robot presentations EVER.
Was it perfect? No. I don't know as I've ever seen a perfect film. Were there flaws? Sure. What do people expect? It's the overall cinematic presentation that is the thing here-- the experience of a movie capturing the audience and making them say, "Wow". Relatively few films have accomplished that over the decades. This film did.
The special effects for that day were superb. The modern-day remake didn't come close to the quality of this 1951 film. The story has stood the test of time and is even more applicable today that it was back then (only now we can add the destruction of our own world to the mix).
This movie is as close to pristine as a movie can get (for that day) , and proudly takes its place among non-sci-fi classics-- and even sci fi classics that came later. Had the HUGO awards existed in '51 I have no doubt this film would have taken top slot.
Okay, on to the serious review: Who doesn't recognize the term "Gort, Klaatu barada nicto"? This film set the bar for so many films to come, in an age when monsters were a guy in a gorilla suit and a space helmet, giant ants were terrorizing a city, and another guy in a rubber suit was stomping on a miniature Tokyo. Among that, we suddenly find a movie with actual meaning, a moral, a great plot and story-line, decent acting, an honest-to-goodness valid warning-- and one of the best robot presentations EVER.
Was it perfect? No. I don't know as I've ever seen a perfect film. Were there flaws? Sure. What do people expect? It's the overall cinematic presentation that is the thing here-- the experience of a movie capturing the audience and making them say, "Wow". Relatively few films have accomplished that over the decades. This film did.
The special effects for that day were superb. The modern-day remake didn't come close to the quality of this 1951 film. The story has stood the test of time and is even more applicable today that it was back then (only now we can add the destruction of our own world to the mix).
This movie is as close to pristine as a movie can get (for that day) , and proudly takes its place among non-sci-fi classics-- and even sci fi classics that came later. Had the HUGO awards existed in '51 I have no doubt this film would have taken top slot.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- El día que paralizaron la Tierra
- Filming locations
- The Ellipse, National Mall, Washington, District of Columbia, USA(landing of the flying suacer on the oval)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,200,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $651
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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