Forbidden Planet (1956)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Fred M. Wilcox

Writers:

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

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 | Robot | Widower | Subconscious

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

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
Morgan Jones	...	Crewman Nichols
Richard Grant	...	Crewman Silvers
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Best	...	Crewman (uncredited)
William Boyett	...	Crewman (uncredited)
Frankie Darro	...	Robby the Robot (uncredited)
Marvin Miller	...	Robby the Robot (voice) (uncredited)
Les Tremayne	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Fred M. Wilcox		(as Fred McLeod Wilcox)

Writing credits
Cyril Hume		(screenplay)
Irving Block		(story) and
Allen Adler		(story)
William Shakespeare		(play "The Tempest") uncredited

Produced by
Nicholas Nayfack	....	producer

Cinematography by
George J. Folsey		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ferris Webster

Production Design by
Irving Block		(uncredited)
Mentor Huebner		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Arthur Lonergan

Set Decoration by
Hugh Hunt
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett		(costumes: men)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Rhein	....	assistant director

Art Department
A.D. Flowers	....	set dresser: trees (uncredited)
Mentor Huebner	....	production illustrator and storyboards (uncredited)
Arthur Lonergan	....	designer: Morbius house and Krell lab (uncredited)
Glen Robinson	....	special prop designer and builder: ray guns, accessories (uncredited)

Sound Department
Wesley C. Miller	....	recording supervisor (as Dr. Wesley C. Miller)

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects
Joshua Meador	....	special effects
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects
Irving G. Ries	....	special effects
Bob Abrams	....	animation effects (uncredited)
Max Fabian	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)
Doug Hubbard	....	special effects (uncredited)
Robert Kinoshita	....	robot builder (uncredited)
Glen Robinson	....	special effects technician (uncredited)
Franklyn Soldo	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Joe Alves	....	assistant effects illustrator (uncredited)
Howard Fisher	....	matte painter (uncredited)
Henri Hillinck	....	matte painter (uncredited)
Bob Trochim	....	animator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Helen Rose	....	costumes: Anne Francis

Editorial Department
Charles K. Hagedon	....	color consultant

Music Department
Bebe Barron	....	composer: electronic tonalities
Louis Barron	....	composer: electronic tonalities

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1978) (USA) (TV) (network premiere) (pan/scan)
• Criterion Collection, The (1989) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Turner Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print Panavision)

Other Companies

• Walt Disney Productions  Joshua Meador through courtesy of

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:

Robert Kinoshita, who is credited as building Robby the Robot, was also Art Director for the TV series "Lost in Space" (1965). Many of the Lost in Space Robot's features are similar to Robby's: glass "head" with animated elements; rotating antenna "ears" (although LiS Robot's ears rarely moved after the pilot episode); flashing light "mouth"; chest panel with more animated elements. For that matter, much of the layout of Forbidden Planet's spaceship is mirrored by LiS's Jupiter 2: saucer shape; integral landing gear/entry stairs; lower external dome with animated lights; central, plexi-domed navigation station; vertical hibernacula arranged along perimeter. In addition, Robby and the LiS Robot had a couple of "family reunions" in two LiS episodes: "Lost in Space: War of the Robots (#1.20)" (1966) and "Lost in Space: Condemned of Space (#3.1)" (1967).

Goofs:

Continuity: Dr. Morbius invites Commander Adams to try his blaster on the Krell metal door. Cmdr. Adams inspects the result, but he's not pointing to the spot where the beam hit.

Quotes:

Robby: Quiet please. I am analyzing.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Firewall (2006)

Sorry "Star Wars"--the greatest Science Fiction film ever

Sure Star Wars (a movie I have seen at least fifty times) beats all the others in special effects, but this film has every thing else!

It has horror(non-graphical), romance, robots, witty repartee, intelligence, (surprisingly good) special effects, and drama.

I saw this film a couple of years ago in a revival with a newly struck print, and I was amazed at how well it held up today. I thought the old 40's style electronics would look hokey, but they somehow looked futuristic and moderne.

Ann Francis in here (mostly) short skirts and bare feet with a girlish innocence that is hard to beat still gets a rise out of me.

The Krell monster appearing in the ray beams still scares the bejebees out of me.

Of course we all know that the "Great Bird of the Galaxy" probably modeled much of "Star Trek" from this movie.

No one has yet to beat Robby, the Robot, in terms of personality

(sorry, R2D2 and C3PO).

This movie, overall, is the standard that all other Science Fiction films will have to measure up to!

Honorable mention for the haunting electronic score which kept us all on pins and needles.