From: psperson1@ix.netcom.invalid   
      
   On Sun, 31 Oct 2021 07:34:59 -0700 (PDT), 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.   
      
   He also uses "monitored" a lot.   
      
   But that, apparently, is what a robot was supposed to be like ... in   
   the early 50s.   
      
   Robbie returned in (and was used to attract customers to) /The   
   Invisible Boy/, which, when I saw it, turned out to have rather too   
   much boy, who was visible rather too much of the time.   
      
   So, yes, I suggest that Robbie /is/ a character in his own right.   
   After all, Gort certainly is, and /he/ never appeared in any other   
   movie (except the remake).   
      
   >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   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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