From: mleeper@optonline.net   
      
   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   
   the record for sale.  I believe it is even on CD.  I hope the   
   latter-day popularity of the score helped the Barrons in their   
   later years.   
      
   Leslie Nielsen plays his role straight, as he would his roles for   
   many years to come.  But it is hard to see him in this film without   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)