Sun 14 Feb 2010
An SF Movie Review by Mike Tooney: FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , SF & Fantasy films[5] Comments
FORBIDDEN PLANET. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1956. Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Richard Anderson, Earl Holliman, George Wallace, James Drury, Robby the Robot. Screenplay: Cyril Hume. Story (credited): Irving Block and Allen Adler; (uncredited): Bill Shakespeare and Arthur Conan Doyle. Director: Fred McLeod Wilcox.
As the deep space cruiser C-57D approaches the planet Altair 4, the captain, J. J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen), receives a radio message from Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) not to land; but Morbius offers no explanation valid enough for Adams to leave, so he sets his ship down.
The main reason the C-57D has come to Altair 4 is to determine the fate of another spaceship, the Bellerophon. Morbius’ account of what happened to the Bellerophon — that it was destroyed by some unknown force while attempting an ill-advised takeoff, killing everyone except Morbius, his wife (who later died), and his daughter — just doesn’t ring true to Adams’ skeptical ears, and he decides to investigate further.
It isn’t long before this “unknown force” is roaming abroad once more. It leaves deep footprints in the sand, warps thick metal steps, and makes salsa of the ship’s communications officer. Eventually it reveals itself in a frontal assault on the C-57D, “as big as a house” and able to absorb billions of volts of plasma energy from the ship’s heavy weapons.
However, as Commander Adams won’t learn until it’s almost too late, the murderous thing he has just fought against isn’t really the one who destroyed the Bellerophon. No, the killer he’s seeking is all too human ….
So much has already been written about Forbidden Planet that I won’t waste any time on the great visual effects (including Anne Francis), the mind-boggling concepts (such as the Krell and their Great Machine), the unique musical score, or the leaden direction.
Instead, let’s very briefly explore the notion that Forbidden Planet is a detective film, much like Them! (reviewed earlier here ), with Sherlockian overtones.
Not only are the wonders of the Krell civilization revealed to Adams, the ship’s doctor (Warren Stevens), and his exec (Jack Kelly), but these marvels have the practical effect of being diversions that take their attention away from the true killer.
Like Sherlock Holmes, however, Adams never loses sight of his mission: to determine what happened to the previous expedition, despite all the razzle dazzle. Much like that legendary Hound haunting the moors of western England, there is a serial killer loose on Altair 4, and Adams aims to catch him.
At every opportunity, Adams returns to the Bellerophon’s fate. Each time the monster goes on the prowl, it confirms his convictions that, despite every obvious indication, people have died due to a human agency, one that is beset by human foibles like fear and jealousy and pride — and since there are only two humans presently living on Altair 4, Adams must choose between someone he admires and someone he loves.
So what we have here — Robby the seemingly harmless robot, an analogue of a certain family retainer; a rampaging monster not dissimilar to the Hound of the Baskervilles; and a monomaniacal scientist ostensibly absorbed with his studies, the Krell this time instead of butterflies on Grimpen Mire — are all familiar elements of detective fiction that in the past usefully served a certain Scottish mystery author as both plot developments and red herrings.
Therefore, in conclusion it’s possible to view Forbidden Planet as more than a sci-fi movie. It just might be the most intellectually stimulating detective film of all time.
Or maybe not. You decide.
Note: Forbidden Planet is scheduled for broadcast on TCM Friday, February 19th.
February 14th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Saw this in the theater in ’56. Loved it. I’ve seen it several times since, but I hadn’t thought of it as a detective story. Makes sense, though.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
A wonderful film. My favorite part is the descent below the surface, where we get to see the scope of the Krell technology.
Could have done without the Earl Holliman character, though.
February 14th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
To add to the mystery/detective theme of this movie (albeit after the fact), the novelization of the movie was written by Philip MacDonald (The List of Adrian Messenger, “Our Feathered Friends”, and many others) under the pen name “W. J. Stuart.”
February 15th, 2010 at 7:26 am
I like the detective interpretation of this film, though one of it’s many virtues is there are countless ways to interpret the story.
At one level it is a warning about unbridled sexual desire (Altair is a paradise until Adams and his horny crew show up), a parable about the destructive nature of the untramled female libido (Francis ‘innocence’ wreaks havoc with Adams and his officers), and even a social comment on fifties American society with Adams and crew the man in the gray flannel space suit confronting the not so well suppressed forces that destroyed the Krell and lurk in the bland buttoned down fifties.
And of course visually and intellectually this film is a stunner. I’ll go so far as to say in many ways it is better science fiction than either the much over rated 2001 or STAR WARS, asking much darker and deeper questions about who and what we are and those monsters lurking even in the best of us. It is one of the few science fiction films of any era that expresses some of the grandiose ideas and vast reach of the written genre. All that in a film that could still be sold as a ‘kids film.’
As for Earl Holliman, while I agree, his character does have a parallel in THE TEMPEST — comic relief there as well.
And while I know many disagree I have no real problem with the Disney designed monster when he makes his appearance. For my taste it adds to the fable like quality of the film and to the idea that the monsters we can’t see are far more frightening than those we can.
As for Robbie, he is still the coolest robot since Brigette Helm in METROPOLIS, and perhaps the most personable special effect in film since King Kong.
February 16th, 2010 at 7:12 am
I saw this at the movies when I was 6 years old and never forgot it. Seen it many times since with almost equal enjoyment.
As for the detective elements, I said elsewhere that every good ghost story is partly a mystery as the principal playerrs try to figure out who the ghost is and what it wants.
Getting back to FORBIDDDEN PLANET, I have one problem with it: The monster is suppposedly from Walter Pidgeon’s Id, acting out his subconscious desires. Are we suposed to believe that he raised his daughter from childood without ever once wanting to kill her? That’s not like any parent I’ve ever known!