September 18, 1951: "The Day the Earth Stood Still" Premieres

September 18, 1951, 75 years ago: The Day the Earth Stood Still premieres. Directed by Robert Wise, it becomes a classic of science fiction.

A flying saucer lands on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. Out steps a regular-sized human-looking man named Klaatu (played by Michael Rennie) and a considerably taller robot named Gort (Lock Martin). The U.S. Army have surrounded the saucer, and they shoot Klaatu. Still alive, he orders Gort not to interfere. Klaatu is taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but escapes, and quickly heals.

He takes on a human identity, and blends in among people to learn how they really think and feel. This is considerably easier than it would soon become, since most Americans do not yet have television sets, and haven't seen him before, including his face on news broadcasts. He is aided by Helen Benson (Patricia Neal), a young widow, and her son, Bobby (Billy Gray).

Not liking what he sees, Klaatu returns to his ship. At 12:00 Noon, U.S. Eastern Time, the next day, he uses the controls on his ship to stop all electrical equipment on Earth for 30 minutes, except for essential services, such as hospitals, and aircraft already in flight.

This gets the world's attention. He tells the world that an interplanetary organization has created a police force of invincible robots like Gort. He says, "In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us. Your choice is simple: Join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer." Then they leave Earth.

In real life, at this point, Earth had developed nuclear weapons, but rocketry was still in the beginning stages: The defined barrier between "Earth" and "space" had been breached, but nothing had yet been placed into Earth orbit. And the Cold War was at a hot point: The Korean War had been going for a little more than a year. The film tapped into Cold War fears, and suggested that turning away from such aggression was a better idea.

A remake was released in 2008, starring Keanu Reeves, but was not well-received.

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September 18, 1951 was a Tuesday. Dee Dee Ramone, bass guitarist for The Ramones, was born on this day. So was Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon who ran for the Republican nomination for President in 2016, and was then appointed by Donald Trump to be Secretary of... Housing & Urban Development.