NFR Project: 'Forbidden Planet' (1956)

 

NFR Project: “Forbidden Planet”

Dir: Fred M. Wilcox

Scr: Cyril Hume

Pho: George J. Folsey

Ed: Ferris Webster

Premiere: March 2, 1956

98 min.

This is the first epic science-fiction film to be made since Things to Come in 1936, the first in color, the first in CinemaScope – one of the first in the genre to really to be conceived of as an A-list picture.

Read Ian Olney’s excellent essay on this film at the National Film Registry here.

No expense was spared to tell this outer-space tale. The sets were designed by Cedric Gibbons and Arthur Lonergan, who created a vast alien world for our protagonists to explore. A key character is Robby the Robot, who was created by industrial designer Robert Kintoshita at a then-astronomical cost of $125,000. Disney animator Joshua Meador created the at-times invisible monster of the film. All in all, every effort was expended to make this film look convincing.

It’s the story of a United Planets space expedition to the distant planet Altair IV, on which a ship crashed 20 years before. The crew seeks the survivors. There they find only a scientist, Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his grown daughter Altaira (Anne Francis). Morbius warns that an unknown power slaughtered everyone in his expedition save himself, his late wife, and his daughter. Soon an immense, invisible creature starts attacking the crew, killing them off one by one and damaging their spaceship.

Morbius explains to the ship’s captain (Leslie Nielsen) that the planet was the home of the late Krell, a civilization wiped out in one night 200,000 years ago. The Krell were incredibly advanced, and eventually they figured out how to make any thought in their minds real using their superior technology.

It turns out that the Krells, in creating their mind machines, unleashed the contents of their subconscious minds. These “monsters of the id” wrought havoc, destroying everything. Morbius had tinkered with the Krell’s technology, and Morbius’s subconscious created a monster that destroyed everyone around him save his daughter. Now the monster is out to kill off the rescue mission, and even Altaira, who falls for the captain and plans on leaving the planet with him.

Horribly, inexorably, the monster advances on the remaining individuals. Only the collapse of Morbius, who finally realizes it is he himself who is the monster, makes the monster disappear. Knowing that the power the Krells wielded is deadly, Morbius sets off a self-destruction device and urges the survivors to flee. They escape, and the planet is vaporized.

It’s intelligent and interesting stuff, to be sure, well thought out – not the usual juvenile content of most sci-fi films of the era. The top-notch production values sell the film, taking us into outer space and onto Altair IV. The suspense and thrills of the story are intense, leading to a satisfying conclusion. Forbidden Planet set the bar for the science-fiction genre, and was not equaled for many years.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Giant.

NFR Project: 'Disneyland Dream'

 

NFR Project: “Disneyland Dream”

Dir: Robbins Barstow

Scr: Robbins Barstow

Pho: Robbins Barstow

Ed: Robbins Barstow

Premiere: 1956

35 min.

The home movie is one of the most common means of self-expression in America. As early as 1898, people were beginning to record their significant events and family portraits on film. It’s an amateur art form that almost anyone in America can find the resources to practice. (I used to work on a local broadcast TV show, “Homemovies,” that highlighted the artistic efforts of aspiring rookie filmmakers. The efforts ranged from fascinating to awful.)

One of the more extraordinary home movie efforts is highlighted here. Disneyland Dream is the brainchild of the enthusiastic dilettante Robbins Barstow, who plied his hobby in his off hours. In 1956, he and his family won a contest sponsored by the Scotch adhesive tape company, which awarded 25 families with a trip to the then-new Disneyland amusement park in Anaheim, California.

Read Liz Coffey’s excellent summation of this entry at the National Film Registry here.

The Robbins family were an extroverted bunch, unafraid to stage antics for the camera. This 35-minute epic covers everything from their entry into the contest to the trip itself. Their exuberant behavior is charming in a hokey kind of way; they react to winning the contest in slapstick manner. The film then shows them leaving for the flight to California, then traveling via plane.

Their vacation lasted almost a week; they document their trips to other Los Angeles-area attractions and then segue into their adventures in the Magic Kingdom. They visit Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, and Frontierland. This documentation of what was then considered the premier family vacation experience is a remarkable, giving us a slice-of-life record of an average American middle-class family at play in mid-century.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Forbidden Planet.

NFR Project: 'The Court Jester' (1955)

 

NFR Project: “The Court Jester”

Dir: Norman Panama, Melvin Frank

Scr: Norman Panama, Melvin Frank

Pho: Ray June

Ed: Tom McAdoo

Premiere: Dec. 24, 1955

101 min.

“The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!”

Norman Panama and Melvin Frank got their start as gag writers in 1935. Gradually, they worked their way up the food chain, becoming screenwriters – and finally getting a contract to write and direct films in tandem. Their third film in this collaboration was The Court Jester.

It is an amusing starring outing for Danny Kaye (1911-1987), a multitalented comedic presence in the American culture in the mid-20^th Century. Kaye was renowned for his tongue-twisting Tverbal acrobatics and his ability to improvise using all manner of accents. He got his start in clubs in the Catskills and rapidly moved into stage work, more club work, radio, and finally film. Much of his material was written by his brilliant wife, Sylvia Fine.

This film is a vehicle for Kaye, who plays Hubert, a noodnik in medieval England. A follower of a Robin Hood-style crusader named the Black Fox, he is ordered to safeguard the travel of a baby who is the rightful King of England. By way of various machinations, Hubert takes on the identity of Giacomo, a jester who is also a secret assassin. Hubert must negotiate his way between the forces of the usurper (Cecil Parker), a haughty princess (Angela Lansbury), an evil lord (Basil Rathbone), and a witch (Mildred Natwick).

This he does with his usual Kaye goofiness – stuttering, double-taking, gasping, and gulping. Naturally a coward, he is hypnotized by the witch into thinking of himself as a great lover and swordsman. Her spell can be broken and re-applied through the snapping of fingers; needless to say, there is a lot of amusing back and forth on this premise.

Is it a classic? It’s OK.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Disneyland Dream.