From: ggggg9271@gmail.com   
      
   On Sunday, October 31, 2021 at 7:33:43 AM UTC-7, Mark Leeper wrote:   
   > I saw that TCM is going to show one of the great and iconic science   
   > fiction films of all time. As I have never written my comments on   
   > this film, it is about time.   
   >   
   > Turner Classic Movies has shown the visionary FORBIDDEN PLANET, one   
   > of the most imaginative and influential science fiction films ever   
   > made, but I had never actually made it my pick of the month. I   
   > guess that was on the theory that everyone already knew about it.   
   > It has been (inaccurately) claimed to be the first science fiction   
   > film to ever take place entirely in space. No scenes of this film   
   > take place on earth or even in our solar system, though the   
   > characters are all humans or one of a couple of zoo animals. Well   
   > ... that is if we disqualify a robot from being a character. And   
   > sadly it does not even hold the distinction of being the first   
   > truly space-bound film. That distinction probably goes to CAT   
   > WOMEN OF THE MOON.   
   >   
   > FORBIDDEN PLANET is probably the best science fiction film of the   
   > 1950s. It is the closest to the quality of contemporaneous written   
   > science fiction, a genuine scientific puzzle with a sophisticated   
   > problem solution. Along the way we really are given all the clues   
   > necessary to solve the murder. Visually the film probably shows   
   > the greatest imagination of any Fifties film (in any genre) and   
   > when seen in its widescreen format, much of it still looks very   
   > good sixty-five years later. The beautiful planet-scapes and   
   > space-scapes would not be surpassed until STAR WARS. For the pre-   
   > digital age, the effects are very impressive. And the scenes are   
   > all the more impressive in widescreen format. And this in spite of   
   > the fact that what was released was only a rough-cut of the film   
   > with what we shall see are plenty of errors. Not that it is so   
   > much a tribute to this film, but when Gene Roddenberry was planning   
   > the original "Star Trek" series, he pitched it as being "'Wagon   
   > Train' to the stars," but what he was really planning was   
   > "FORBIDDEN PLANET: The TV Series." The film is almost a template   
   > for the original "Star Trek." Bits of the ideas show up throughout   
   > science fiction to come like bits of the props showed up in   
   > "Twilight Zone" episodes.   
   >   
   > The characters are a little stereotypical and 1950s-ish in their   
   > sensibilities and their morality. Much has been made of the idea   
   > that the story was built around the plot of Shakespeare's TEMPEST.   
   > That may be true, but little more than the basic situation and some   
   > of the characters are taken from the Shakespeare. The murder   
   > mystery, which is the main thrust of the plot, and the character's   
   > motivations, are entirely different from the Shakespeare. For   
   > those who have not seen it, the story, in short, deals with a   
   > rescue mission to the planet Altair IV. An expedition to the   
   > planet two decades before had disappeared without a sign. From   
   > Earth United Planets Cruiser C-57D captained by Commander Adams   
   > (played by Leslie Nielsen) comes to investigate and discovers the   
   > sole survivor living on the planet with his daughter. Nearly   
   > everyone else from the expedition had been killed under very   
   > mysterious circumstances, ripped apart by an unseen force. Only   
   > Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his wife survived, and the wife   
   > died of what we are told were natural causes a year or so later.   
   > (In the light of the denouement one wonders if that is actually   
   > true.) Morbius's only company is his daughter Altaira (Anne   
   > Francis) who was born on this planet and Robbie, a fascinating   
   > robot who talks but prefixes every speech with the sound of an old-   
   > fashioned mechanical adding machine.   
   >   
   > Connected with the mystery of what happened to the original   
   > expedition is the fact that the planet was at one time millions of   
   > years earlier inhabited by a super-scientific civilization that   
   > were called the Krell. One of the points of the story was to show   
   > the immense power that the Krell had, and for once, what we see   
   > really seems to confirm the fact. The great set piece of the film   
   > is a visit to one of four hundred Krell power shafts. We see four   
   > or five levels of what we are told are 7800 levels. So what we are   
   > seeing is a tiny fraction of what the film claims the Krell had,   
   > but what we do see is dumbfoundingly immense. This is a film that   
   > really dwarfs the human and overwhelms the viewer with the   
   > magnitude of what is possible.   
   >   
   > This is a film with beautiful effects that rely in large part on   
   > matte paintings and not models. That approach gave the effects   
   > department much more artistic freedom in the images it could   
   > create. Mostly the effect was used for planet-scapes and space-   
   > scapes, but they are impressive. Then there is Robby, the most   
   > famous film robot outside of the "Star Wars" universe. Over the   
   > years the suit became almost a star in itself. The design is   
   > incredibly creative, a flurry of moving parts and flashing neon to   
   > make it look more a mechanical device than man in a robot suit.   
   > Each time the robot speaks it is prefaced by the noise of a cash   
   > register as if it is computing mechanically. The voice is Marvin   
   > Miller, a familiar voice often used for narration and dubbing at   
   > the time. And those who remember 1950s television may remember him   
   > as Michael Anthony in the television series "The Millionaire."   
   >   
   > Special mention should be made of the electronic music by Louis and   
   > Beebe Barron. It was the first totally electronic score in a   
   > feature film and the MGM music department would not even allow it   
   > to be called a score. They were somewhat disappointed that there   
   > was not more interest in their new musical form, "electronic   
   > tonalities." In 1976 Louis Barron decided that there might be a   
   > market for the soundtrack on record. He still had LPs so packed   
   > some cases at his own expense. He brought a case to MidAmeriCon,   
   > the World Science Fiction Convention, in the hopes that there might   
   > be some interest in the record. He told himself that some people   
   > might still be interested in the unusual score after twenty-one   
   > years. After selling in the huckster room for an hour he put in an   
   > emergency call home to Beebe saying to ship him the all rest of the   
   > cases as quickly as possible. He had no idea the demand that there   
   > would be either for the record or for himself. He suddenly found   
   > himself to be a celebrity. For years I remember seeing copies of   
      
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