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Master Shots,
Robert Wise and The Day the Earth Stood Still
by Victoria Panzarella
photos by Robert Hale
Arthur Hiller, Robert Wise, DGA President Jack Shea and John Rich.
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A flying saucer landing in Washington, D.C., an 8-foot robot, an underlying message of humanity and an extraordinary director ... all the makings of a classic science fiction movie. These are all the elements of Robert Wise's 1951 film, The Day the Earth Stood Still.
On January 23 the DGA presented the inaugural screening of Special Projects' Master Shot Series, a screening of Wise's film followed by a Q&A with the legendary director.
Director Barry Levinson, in a two-minute taped introduction for the event, told about the two impressions that he had of The Day the Earth Stood Still. First, as a young boy going to the movies on Saturday: "It had everything a 7 year old wanted to see in a sci-fi movie, a robot from outer space. I remember that we were impressed about the robot being one piece of metal. It seemed very special to us, we were very taken by it."
Then as an adult, he felt that this film was "a very vivid and interesting sci-fi movie, in some ways one that stands alone. It was an amazingly brave film. It stripped away the idea that there are always creatures out there coming to kill us when in fact we are far more dangerous then they are. It was a sophisticated idea for its time and a very sophisticated idea for today."
After the screening, director and former DGA President Arthur Hiller (The Americanization of Emily, Love Story) began the Q&A segment by stating that he had seen the film in 1951 and felt that it was just as meaningful in 2001. "The biggest message you gave to me with the film is that one can make a film that's vastly entertaining and has something worthwhile to say."
Wise agreed, "There is no reason why that can't be done today. I think it holds up very well considering that it is 50 years old. It was a good message." Wise told the audience that he liked all his movies to have a message between the lines and how in this movie the message was the ending.
Wise knew the minute that he read the script that was given to him by producer Julian Blaustein that he wanted to make this movie. "This was for me, the idea, the story and also what it had to say." He noted that a good script is the foundation of a successful film.
From reading the script came the casting. Patricia Neal as Helen Benson, Hugh Marlowe as Tom Stevens, Sam Jaffe as Professor Barnhardt and Billy Gray as Bobby Benson. As for Klaatu, the main character, Claude Rains was considered but was unavailable due to a play performance in New York City. Wise had just seen a theater actor, Michael Rennie, and gave him the role. "He had never been seen before on the big screen and that was a plus for us. It made it more believable and incredible."
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Another casting challenge for Wise was Gort, Klaatu's robot companion. "Where do you get an 8-foot actor? This was before the days of tall football or basketball players. Finding someone that was tall enough to wear this foam rubber suit was difficult until someone mentioned a 7-foot 7-inch doorman at Grauman's Chinese Theater, named Lock Martin." Two suites were created so that the costume of the robot would be seamless. One suit had the zipper in the back and the other suite had a zipper in the front. Depending on the angle of the shot, Martin wore the appropriate suite."
This low-budget film was shot on location in Washington as well as on the lot of 20th Century Fox studios. The production schedule consisted of 12 to 14 hours a day for about 45 days. The only problem that the production faced was getting military approval from the Department of Defense. They would not authorize the use of the Army's equipment. To solve the problem, Wise's team went to the National Guard. All the shots in Washington contained the District of Columbia's National Guard's equipment and troops instead of the regular Army.
Wise and Hiller next talked about the parallels to our society as it is today. For example, power going out and everything stopping. Today with electrical power shortages, we can all understand the panic that would be felt and how our daily lives would halt if power were just shut off.
The Day the Earth Stood Still is just one of the many films directed by Robert Wise. His career began when he came to Los Angeles from Indiana during the Depression where he worked in the film-editing department at RKO. As a young editor he worked on movies such as Stage Door and Citizen Kane. His directorial credits consist of more than 40 films including The Curse of the Cat People; The Body Snatcher; Somebody Up There Likes Me; Run Silent, Run Deep; West Side Story; The Sand Pebbles and The Sound of Music.
His filmmaking career has rewarded him with many honors such as 67 Academy Award nominations, 19 Oscars, two DGA awards for Best Director for Sound of Music and West Side Story as well as the DGA's D.W. Griffith Award. He was also honored with the National Medal of Art by President George Bush and received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Robert Wise resided as the Directors Guild of America's president from 1971 until 1975. He was the founder and longtime chairman of the Guild's Special Projects Committee and served on the Guild's Western Directors Council. This year Wise will be presented with the DGA's Presidents Award (see related story).
The DGA's Special Projects Committee, which coordinated the event, announced additional Master Shot screenings coming up over the next three months.
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