Forbidden Planet (1956)

Director:

Fred M. Wilcox

Writers:

Cyril Hume (screenplay)
Irving Block (story) ...

Release Date:

15 March 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

IT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet's colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has.

Plot Keywords:

Planet | Monster | Philologist | Space | Genius

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Walter Pidgeon	...	Dr. Edward Morbius
Anne Francis	...	Altaira 'Alta' Morbius
Leslie Nielsen	...	Commander J. J. Adams
Warren Stevens	...	Lt. 'Doc' Ostrow M.D.
Jack Kelly	...	Lt. Jerry Farman
Richard Anderson	...	Chief Quinn
Earl Holliman	...	Cook
Robby the Robot	...	Himself
George Wallace	...	Bosun
Robert Dix	...	Crewman Grey (as Bob Dix)
Jimmy Thompson	...	Crewman Youngerford
James Drury	...	Crewman Strong
Harry Harvey Jr.	...	Crewman Randall
Roger McGee	...	Crewman Lindstrom
Peter Miller	...	Crewman Moran

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (as Eastman Color)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Approved (certificate #17605) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | UK:U | Argentina:Atp | West Germany:12

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This is the first science film to succeed without having a "name" character in the cast such as Flash Gordon.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Altaira emerges from the swimming pool, the flesh-coloured suit that she is wearing to give the impression of nudity is visible.

Quotes:

Dr. Edward Morbius: One cannot behold the face of the gorgon and live!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Twilight Zone: The Rip Van Winkle Caper (#2.24)" (1961)

Gets better as it gets older

While not re-treading the comments or plot summaries of other IMDB users, I thought I'd say that this particular film does get better as it gets older. While ground-breaking on it's release in 1956, the visual "look" of this film has grown over the 46 years since it first arrived.

True to the pulp sci-fi of its day, the art direction has mellowed into an archetype that has not been bettered to this date. MGM put a surprising amount of money into the production values (similar to, but better than Universal's "This Island Earth"). This is a living "cover art". The indelible images of the saucer passing through space, landing on Altair-4, Robby, and the disintegrating tiger linger long in collective memory.

This must be seen on the big screen if possible, and in the original Cinemascope format. I've been lucky enough to see it (it was re-released in the 70's on a double bill with George Pal's "The Time Machine"), and the power it carries in scenes such as the Krell machines and the attack of the Id Monster are truly impressive. Watching it on a television just doesn't come close, although the "letterboxed" version is better than nothing. I am a poster collector, and even the advertising material for this film is exceptional. I see the one-sheet for it every day in my living room, and have never grown tired of it. "AMAZING!" is what is says, and for once they got it right. A true classic of it's type.