1956
DIRECTOR: FRED M. WILCOX PRODUCER: NICHOLAS NAYFACK SCREENPLAY: CYRIL HUME, BASED ON A STORY BY IRVING BLOCK AND ALLEN ADLER STARRING: WALTER PIDGEON (DR. EDWARD MORBIUS), ANNE FRANCIS (ALTAIRA MORBIUS), LESLIE NIELSEN (COMMANDER ADAMS), WARREN STEVENS (LIEUTENANT “DOC” OSTROW), JACK KELLY (LIEUTENANT FARMAN), RICHARD ANDERSON (CHIEF QUINN), EARL HOLLIMAN (COOK), MARVIN MILLER (NARRATOR/VOICE OF ROBBY THE ROBOT)
Forbidden Planet
MGM • COLOR, 98 MINUTES
In the twenty-third century, a crew sent to investigate a colonized planet finds only three inhabitants: a reclusive doctor with a dark secret, his beautiful daughter, and their servile robot.
“We ’re all part monsters in our subconscious.” This statement, spoken by Leslie Nielsen as Commander J. J. Adams, is the truth behind Forbidden Planet’s deadly secret, and the heart of its brilliance. Of all the space monsters in science-fiction cinema, perhaps none is more horrifying than the invisible, nameless force that wreaks havoc in Forbidden Planet—the repressed primitive beast buried within each person’s mind. MGM took this weighty concept and dressed it in charming, fanciful wrappings. Lavishly designed sets, an otherworldly electronic score, clever comic touches, and a dash of sex appeal are the brightly colored ribbons that make the film a wholly satisfying package.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was never a studio that blindly seized on the latest trends. Proud of its Latin motto Ars gratia artis (Art for art’s sake), MGM took a careful approach to its first major science-fiction offering, sparing no expense to craft it with the sparkle and sheen the studio was famous for. The use of vivid Eastmancolor and CinemaScope raised the bar for 1950s sci-fi, a genre that consisted of mostly black-and-white B movies before Forbidden Planet. The sheer scale of the sets was extraordinary in its day. The scene in which Morbius, the commander, and Dr. Ostrow are shuttled deep within the cavernous Krell underground both recalls the grandeur of Metropolis (1927) and anticipates the spectacle of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); the blue neon orbs forming a tunnel of light, the pulsating whirr of synthesized tones, and the mind-boggling system of ventilator shafts generate an almost hypnotic effect.
The script began as Fatal Planet, a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, set on the planet Mercury. Screenwriter Cyril Hume later decided on a more distant, exotic locale: the fictional world of Altair-4 in the farthest reaches of deep space. There, amid aquamarine skies, two moons, and a desert-oasis landscape resembling an undeveloped Palm Springs resort, the crew of the C-57D space cruiser finds the isolated Dr. Morbius, played to the hilt by Walter Pidgeon, and his innocent daughter, Altaira (Anne Francis in her defining screen role). If Shakespeare provided the scenario, Sigmund Freud—along with a few concepts swiped from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—inspired the rest of the premise. The Krell, an extinct race of beings on Altair-4 who destroyed themselves with too much knowledge (including the power of 9,200 thermonuclear reactors at their fingertips), serve as a sly comment on humanity’s then-new acquisition of the nuclear bomb.
Robby the Robot, Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, and Anne Francis
Despite its cerebral themes, Forbidden Planet has more fun with science fiction than any other space opera of its time. The film is filled with tongue-in-cheek humor, like Altaira asking “What’s a bathing suit?” when Commander Adams finds her swimming in a pond, and Robby the Robot producing a truckload of bourbon on demand. Robby also shoots laser beams at mischievous monkeys and constructs elegant gowns for Altaira in his spare time. These whimsical details enrich the world of Altair-4 and nicely counterbalance the film’s dark psychological undertones.
Helen Rose ingeniously designed Anne Francis’s wardrobe, including what may have been the first ever mini-dresses. As the forthright and completely guileless Altaira, Francis adds an element of glamour to the often unglamorous world of science fiction. She sizzles with romantic innuendo as the only young woman on a planet surrounded by her choice of attractive men. Barefoot and bare-legged in micro-minis with strings of beads around her neck, Altaira’s look truly forecasts the future; a decade after the film was released, this style would go mainstream.
Forbidden Planet’s soundtrack also predicted the near future. Instead of music, the entire film is scored by electronic bleeps and gurgles from the homemade synthesizers of Louis and Bebe Barron. The Barrons were hired to provide sound effects, but MGM made the bold choice to use their “electronic tonalities” as the actual musical score—or more accurately, the first non-musical movie score. Fifteen years before the electronic soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange (1971) would inspire a wave of synthesizer-based pop music, the Barrons created what they called “a new art form, completely electronic.”
From the score to the set design, Forbidden Planet was given a full A-picture treatment. The result is not only a timeless classic, but one that elevated science fiction to a new level, encouraging other major studios to delve into the realm of big-budget sci-fi. The film’s influence can be detected in the Star Wars franchise, and it served as Gene Roddenberry’s inspiration for the original Star Trek TV series.
FAR-OUT FACTS
MIND-BLOWING MOMENT
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