Forbidden Planet (1956)

Forbidden Planet (aka Fatal Planet) is a 1956 American science fiction film from MGM, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, directed by Fred M. Wilcox and starring Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, and Robby the Robot. Forbidden Planet is the first science fiction film in which humans are depicted traveling in a faster-than-light "flying saucer" of their own creation. It was also the first science fiction film set entirely on another world in interstellar space, far away from planet Earth. Forbidden Planet is considered one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s, a precursor of what was to come for the science fiction film genre in the decades that followed. The characters and isolated setting have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Its plot contains certain story analogues to the play. There is also a reference to one section of Jung's theory on the collective unconscious.

Forbidden Planet was filmed in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope, and features special effects which were nominated for an Academy Award. Also nominated was the first groundbreaking use of an entirely electronic musical score by Bebe and Louis Barron. Forbidden Planet also features Robby the Robot, one of the first film robots that was more than just a mechanical "tin can" on legs; Robby displays a distinct personality and is a complete supporting character in the film.

The film was entered into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2013, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

Synopsis

In the 23rd century, to discover the fate of an expedition sent 20 years earlier, starship C-57D reaches the distant planet Altair IV. Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), one of the expedition's scientists, contacts the starship. He states no assistance is required, warning the Earth ship away, saying he cannot guarantee their safety. Commander John Adams (Leslie Nielsen) insists on landing.

Actors