Forbidden Planet (1956)

We are here with another edition of Sunday At The Classics and we have an interesting one for all of you. For a very long time, Sci-Fi was not a genre that was taken all that serious by most and probably not until Star Wars started changing people's minds. However, there was one film that sort of changed the way people looked at the films and showed that it didn't have to be wild and zany and that is 1956's Forbidden Planet. Leslie Nielsen (Naked Gun) plays Commander Adams, a man in charge of a starship fleet that is sent into space to look for a professor and a crew that has gone missing for 20 years as humans were starting to look for other planets to inhabit. Unfortunately when they get there, the professor and his daughter are the only ones there and they begin to get stalked by an invisible monster. The film also stars Walter Pidgeon (Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea) as Dr. Morbius,  Anne Francis (Bad Day At Bat Rock) as Altaira Morbius, Warren Stevens (Star Trek: The Original Series) as Lt. 'Doc' Ostrow, Jack Kelly (A Fever In The Blood) as Lt. Farman, Richard Anderson (The Six Million Dollar Man) as Chief Quinn, Earl Holliman (The Sons Of Katie Elder) as Cook,  George Wallace (Radar Men From The Moon) as Bosun, and the film was directed by Fred M. Wilcox (I Passed For White).

One of the cool things about this film was the fact that they built a real robot (Robby The Robot) and used it in the actual film. He is an actual robot and not a man inside of a suit which from what I can gather must have been the influence for C3PO and R2D2 in Star Wars. The one thing I was a hard sell on was the very end of the film when they explain who the creature is that is attacking them because it showcases that the film borrowed heavy from Sigmund Freud as they sprinkled him in with some of Shakespeare's The Tempest. one thing that I will say is that I had no idea that at one time, Leslie Nielsen wasn't always a goofball on camera. Nielsen take son a more serious tone for this film and he does it well as he commanded the screen every time he was on it. I thought when I saw that the film was nominated for an Oscar that it was going to be for Nielsen, but in fact it was for special effects which were done very well. I also loved the sets and how they were designed and you have to remember that in 1956, this was all practical effects compared to today's standards. It also helped that Anne Francis was an absolute fox in this film as she was quite stunning and certainly eye candy as she definitely holds her own as well. If you are a fan of Sci-fi then I am definitely suggesting that you check out this film cause it was really enjoyable to watch. That is why I am giving the film an A- for a final grade.