Movies

mahatmakanejeeves

(59,613 posts) Thu Jul 18, 2024, 08:36 AM Jul 18

On this day, July 18, 1951, Klaatu and Gort landed on the Ellipse.

Last edited Thu Aug 1, 2024, 02:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Jul 18th 1951 - Klaatu finds a laundry ticket with this date on the suit he stole #DayTheEarthStoodStill

Link to tweet

Turn Me On, Dead Man

Article: February 13, 2012 File Under: Cold War Sci-Fi Tags: Sci-Fi, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Washington DC

Gort Revisits DC 60 Years After The Day the Earth Stood Still

The 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still tells the story of an alien named Klaatu who travels to Earth with his robot companion Gort to warn us against continuing down the path toward self-destruction. The opening sequence of the movie shows images from all over the world, indicating that the arrival of Klaatu is an event that affects the everyone on Earth. Still, this movie went to some lengths to locate itself in Washington DC, often providing very specific local references. I thought it would be interesting to find the locations used in this movie and see how they have changed in the 60 years since The Day the Earth Stood Still–and Gort came along for the ride. One note, the time of year is not well established in The Day the Earth Stood Still. In one of the news reports early in the film H.V. Kaltenborn mentions “the beautiful spring weather,” but the date on the dry cleaning ticket in Major Carpenter’s suit is July 18, 1951. I took these pictures on December 13, 2011, an unseasonably nice day in Washington DC but not the same season depicted in the film.

{snip}

It's my favorite movie. I first saw The Day the Earth Stood Still on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, in about 1961. The elevator scene still terrifies me.

The timeline for that movie is way out of whack. For that matter, so is the trip that Klaatu and Patricia Neal took trying to get to Professor Barnhardt's home. The way they take makes no sense.

Early on, we are told it is a beautiful spring day in Washington. Later on in the movie, Mr. Carpenter checks a laundry receipt. There is a date on that receipt. Someone took that information and came up with Klaatu and Gort's landing day.

Take it with a grain of salt.

Microsoft Word gives a red squiggly underline to the word "Klaatu."

The Day the Earth Stood Still - timeline

1951

Wednesday 18th July: Klaatu arrives on Earth with Gort and a cautionary message to halt experiments with violence, atomic energy, and space travel. (Washington DC)

Prelude - Outer Space - Radar
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Bernard Herrmann - Topic
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Provided to YouTube by Routenote

Prelude - Outer Space - Radar · Bernard Herrmann (conductor), Bernard Herrmann Ensemble

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951 Film Score)

℗ Classic Film Scores

Let's show the first few minutes:

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) title sequence
9,506 views • Sep 24, 2017

MovieTitles
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Title sequence from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - Power Outage
25,661 views • Jul 30, 2013

Andy Friedhof
73 subscribers

The Day The Earth Stood Still
51,494 views • Feb 25, 2008

mikesbigyellowtaxi
60 subscribers

Final moments from this 1951 classic B movie starring Michael Rennie.

{Removed, unfortunately}

Does All This Frighten You? - The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
316 views • Mar 9, 2020

Henry Stites
117 subscribers

Barnhardt : Tell me, Hilda, does all this frighten you? Does it make you feel insecure? Hilda : Yes, sir, it certainly does. Barnhardt : That's good, Hilda. I'm glad.

Tue Jul 18, 2023: On this day, July 18, 1951, Klaatu and Gort landed on the Ellipse.

Mon Jul 18, 2022: On this day, July 18, 1951, Klaatu and Gort landed on the Ellipse.

Sun Jul 18, 2021, 02:37 PM: On this day, July 18, 1951, Klaatu and Gort landed on the Ellipse.

Sat Jul 18, 2020: On this day, July 18, 1951, Klaatu and Gort landed on the Ellipse.