Forbidden Planet (1956)

Notes

• The cyclorama painting of the planet's surface and the sky was 10,000 foot long. (Click for a bigger image.) Bill Gates can buy it and hang it in his bathroom, I'm sure.

• The original title was Fatal Planet.

• The spaceship's full designation is United Planets Cruiser C57D.

• I am guessing that Morbius is derived from the Latin word "morbus", which means disease or sickness.

• Morbius has an IQ of 183, Doc Ostrow's is 161.

• This was the first mainstream film to have an entirely electronic soundtrack. The soundtrack of Robby's noises and that of the planet cost $25,000.

• This was the first science fiction film to cost more than $1,000,000.

• In a Babylon 5 episode Sinclair and Ivanova discover alien technology of a comparable scale to the Krell's inside a planet. The camera zooms out showing their tiny figures on a walkway in an enormous cavern surrounded by machines. The shot echoes the scene in Forbidden Planet in which Morbius walks Adams and Ostrow into the Krell machine.

Robby Notes

• On the posters Robby carries Altaira in his arms, but he never does in the film. I guess Robby lugging around the doctor just wasn't sexy enough for advertising purposes.

• Apart from English Robby knows 187 languages as well as their dialects and sub-tongues.

• Robby's popularity resulted in a starring role in 1957's The Invisible Boy. He appeared in Lost in Space and also on The Twilight Zone in somewhat altered form.

• Robby's orders can be cancelled by invoking "Emergency Cancellation Archimedes".

• The only reason Robby doesn't leap tall buildings in a single bound is because there aren't any.

Collectibles

• Forbidden Diorama Set: a disintegrator gun, Robby landcar, lead lifter truck, force field posts, Robby, the Id monster and crew

• Robby the Robot kit - also on the page linked to above

• Forbidden Planet Soundtrack

Goof

During the battle by the ship, the monster stands up to being blasted with "3 billion electron volts". An electron volt is a minuscule unit, normally used in subatomic physics; a mere 3,000,000,000 of them ... or even 3,000,000,000,000, if we take it that traditional British billions are in use at the time of the story ... wouldn't be enough to hurt a grain of sand.

taken as is from the Internet Movie Database

The Krell

• Download the Krell alphabet - it was used to spell "Krell" in the image above. It is from the Unofficial Forbidden Planet Homepage. (I tried to contact them for permission but got no reply.)

• The whole race perished in a single night 2,000 centuries ago.

• The only Krell artifacts left are underground.

• There are Krell power sources without direct wiring.

• One uses a shuttlecraft to explore the subterranean machine.

• The machine takes up 20 miles square.

• There are 7,800 levels and 400 ventilator shafts.

• The Krell power is derived from 9,200 thermonuclear rectors working in tandem.

Cast

• Walter Pidgeon - Dr. Edward Morbius
  
• Anne Francis - Altaira Morbius
• Leslie Nielsen - Commander John J. Adams
• Warren Stevens - Doc Ostrow
• Jack Kelly - Lt. Jerry Farman
• Richard Anderson - Chief Quinn
• Earl Holliman - Cookie
• George Wallace - Bosun
• Bob Dix - Grey
• Jimmy Thompson - Youngerford
• James Drury - Joe Strong
• Harry Harvey Jr. - Randall
• Roger McGee - Lindstrom
• Peter Miller - Moran
• Morgan Jones - Nichols

Main Crew

• Director - Fred M. Wilcox
• Producer - Nicholas Nayfack
• Cinematographer - George Folsey
• Music - Louis + Bebe Barron
• Editor - Ferris Webster
• Set Design - Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt
• Special Effects - Arnold Gillespie, Warren Newcomb, Irving G. Reis, Joshua Meador

Links

• Unofficial Forbidden Planet Homepage - best FP site; covers all aspects of it, incl. the Krell (language + font), with essay, art, collectibles, cool pics and sounds, great links page

• Forbidden Planet - IMD entry

• The Tempest - the play online

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