ALL SCI-FI

[Gord Green]

This is an article purpotedly written by Warren Stevens ( Doc Ostrow ).

Warren Stevens
on
Forbidden Planet (1956)
(from the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction by John Clute and Peter Nicholls)

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.

~ gratuitous Tempest quote - my favourite — Warren Stevens (Lt. Charles Xavier Ostrow, MD)

~ "In the final decade of the 21st century, men and women in rocketships landed on the Moon. By 2200 AD they had reached the other planets of our solar system. Almost at once there followed the discovery of hyperdrive through which the speed of light was first attained and later greatly surpassed. And so at last mankind began the conquest and colonisation of deep space. United Planets Cruiser C-57-D, now more than a year out from Earth base on a special mission to the planetary system of the great main sequence star, Altair." — Forbidden Planet opening narration.

Here are the more pertinent plot elements from The Tempest: the Duke Prospero (who can do magic) and his daughter Miranda were exiled to an island by his devious brother, Antonio, and the king of Naples, Alonso. Also living on the island are Caliban, a savage deformed being enslaved by Prospero, and several spirits, amongst them one called Ariel. Prospero freed the latter from Caliban and is now his master as well. Prospero uses Ariel to create a tempest during which a passing ship is wrecked and its passengers, including Antonio and Alonso, washed ashore.

Enter Ferdinand, selected by Prospero as a suitable mate for his daughter, and son of Alonso. In the meantime Caliban and some men from the ship conspire to kill Prospero, and Antonio to kill Alonso. With the help of Ariel, Prospero prevents this, arranges a wedding for Ferdinand and Miranda, and forgives all involved in his exile. Finally he takes back his Dukedom and leaves the island, setting Ariel free. And they al live happily ever after.

In Forbidden Planet the imperious philologist Morbius and his daughter Altaira are the sole survivors of the ship Bellerophon which landed on Altair IV 20 years ago. A "dark, terrible planetary force" (Caliban) "literally" tore everyone else "limb from limb", and vaporised their ship. We learn that this occurred after a vote had been taken to return to Earth, and that Morbius and his wife were devastated at the prospect of leaving. Morbius is assisted by a robot named Robby (Ariel). A ship arrives under the command of John Adams (Ferdinand) to search for survivors, but is warned off by Morbius. He stresses that should they land he "cannot be answerable for the safety of [the] ship or [the] crew". They follow their orders regardless, and meet the reclusive, secretive Morbius, his beautiful daughter (who has never seen another human), and the family servant - the highly advanced robot Robby. We eventually learn that the source of Morbius's achievements and his power (his magic) is the ancient and highly advanced technology of the former inhabitants of the planet, the Krell, which he has managed to master to some extent over the past two decades.

In the light of the deaths of Morbius's colleagues Adams needs to contact Earth Base for new orders. To do this the spaceship is temporarily left disabled to construct and power the communications device. Morbius realizes with horror that he may have to leave Altair IV and his work for two years should he have to return to Earth to be debriefed. When his unwelcome visitors leave his house he can be seen putting his arm around his daughter, who is obviously as taken with the first young men she has ever seen as they are with her.

During the night an unseen something enters the ship and sabotages it. It seems that the long dormant destructive force has re-awakened. Previously Morbius and his daughter were never harmed, but when Altaira is attacked by her pet tiger the next day - after kissing Commander Adams with every sign of enjoyment - it becomes clear that she is no longer safe from whatever haunts the planet. Her attraction to the commander, and her awakening sexuality and individuality seem to move her out of a sphere of protection which has surrounded her up to that point.

Finding Adams and Ostrow in his study Morbius proceeds to introduce them to the wonders of the lost Krell civilization. He demonstrates a Krell teaching device which he used to raise his intellect to the level necessary to decode enough of their technology to build Robby, and to gain some understanding of the ethically and technologically advanced Krell and their history. The subterranean Krell construct is "a single machine, a cube 20 miles on each side", source of the enormous Krell power Morbius now has at his disposal, and all that is left of a once mighty race which even managed to conquer their "baser selves". (Interestingly, on the approach to the planet the ship was "radar-scanned" from an area covering 20 square miles.) Ominously, all the Krell perished in the course of a single night, 2,000 centuries ago, apparently on the verge of a great breakthrough.

After the murder of a United Planets Federation officer Morbius reminds Adams that he warned him and tells him that the first death is just the beginning. Asked how he knows Morbius responds that he "seem[s] to visualize it". That night the monster launches a full-scale attack on the camp during which a further three crewmembers die.

During the battle the camera cuts away from the action to show Morbius asleep in the lab while the gauges all around him indicate a huge power drain. Adams decides that Morbius and his daughter have to be evacuated, and that either he or Doc Ostrow has to use the "brain booster" to learn how to combat the unseen force that stalks them. (It will be remembered that it vaporised the Bellerophon when it tried to take off 20 years earlier.)

At the residence Adams tries to convince Altaira to come with them while the doctor slips away unseen to the Krell lab. Soon after Robby carries the dying Ostrow into the lounge, where he has time to explain all to Adams before he dies prettily on the sofa.

It seems that the Krell did in fact complete their final project, which made "creation through mere thought" possible via the great machine. They failed to realise that they were not only giving their collective Ego access to the machine, but also their Id. (Morbius defines "Id" as "elementary basis of the subconscious mind".) As Adams puts it:

"And so those mindless beasts of the subconscious had access to a machine that could never be shut down. The secret devil of every soul on the planet all set free at once to loot and maim and take revenge, Morbius! And kill!"

The resulting destruction wiped out the Krell, and everything they established above ground. In terms of the plot it is no accident that what remains of them is subterranean. When the unseen force attacks the house, Robby is incapable of defending them. Earlier Morbius told them how Robby was incapable of harming human beings. Adams has to explain to Morbius what he refuses to see:

"Morbius, that thing out there. It's you!"

At their first meeting Morbius told Adams:

"And yet, always in my mind I seem to feel the creature is lurking somewhere close at hand, sly and irresistible, only waiting to be re-invoked for murder."

That turns out to be an accurate description of what was going on. (It occurs to me that it's not the sort of thing one should say if one is trying to convince people that you're OK and they should leave!) It seems that his use of the Krell educating device, which left him with his intellectual capacity doubled, also forged a bond between him and the great machine - which it will be remembered, can power something without "direct wiring". And the great machine belonged to a race which managed to "free [themselves] once and for all from any dependence on physical instrumentality".

When Morbius's studies gave him access to their power, he set foot on the same path which lead to their destruction. Unconsciously giving free reign to the ravening monster from his own Id - equal in size and power to his over-weening Ego, and fueled by alien technology - he indirectly caused the deaths of all the colonists when they wanted to return to Earth, as well as the sabotage and murder on the newly arrived Earthship. What he would never do or accomplish consciously his subsconcious "monster" had no compunction about doing with brute force.

As the monster gets closer they decide to hide in the alien laboratory, behind thick Krell steel which even a blaster can"t melt but the monster, drawing on the tremendous power below, breaks through. Morbius finally stands up against it, though he still tries to deny it and give it up, and dies - but not before showing Adams how to set in motion a runaway chain reaction involving all the "Krell furnaces". He literally created a monster, and was the only one with the power to stop it. The ship is at last free to leave. Through the viewer the survivors watch the planet blow up, taking with it its dangerous machines and temptations.

The End.

Every time I see the film it blows me away. There is a solid plot at its core, a solid idea, backed up by fine performances, glorious colour cinematography, great special effects and great production design. Three of my favourite scenes are the battle between the monster and the United Planets force, the scene in which Morbius shows off his house's massive shutters, the disintegration of the tiger, and of course the scenes which illustrate the scale and majesty of the Krell machine. In the latter the camera zooms in on three tiny figures on a walkway crossing an enormous ventilator shaft which stretches up and down as far as the eye can see. The film does a great job of impressing on one the scale of the alien machine and its unfathomable power.

I'm sure viewers today find the crew members' lusting after Altaira a bit over the top - they appear ready to jump her at a moment's notice. But her innocence and ignorance actually serve a purpose in the plot - she isn't simply there to be ogled. As long as she remains as she is she belongs completely to Morbius, as did the remnants of the Krell civilization before the intrusion of Adams and the others. Morbius believes his motives to be pure, but he is power-hungry and egotistical. He denies his baser impulses, he denies the very existence of his Id. This leaves him free from responsibility for its actions, and allows his Id to operate without constraint - and to solve his problems for him. (He even warned Adams that "I wash my hands of all responsibility" for what happened if they landed.)

When he feels Altaira slipping from his grasp, and his sole ownership of the Krell machine threatened, his Id - enhanced by Krell technology in the same way as his intellect and his Ego - goes on the rampage. When Altaira chooses to ally herself with Adams she becomes the target as opposed to one of the obsessions of Morbius' Id.

With hindsight one becomes aware how many clues there are in the film and in Morbius' pronouncements which point at the origin of the monster. See the Quotes section for some of these. I love the logic to the narrative, and the way the story unfolds. In the final event the text seems to argue that the beasts in us are stronger than our "civilized" impulses. This makes it imperative that we do not overreach ourselves. We are not mature enough to handle the technological marvels we come up with. However, one day in the distant future when the technologically advanced human race reaches the cusp the Krell did they will at least have the example of Morbius' Id and the Krell machine to guide them, as we the viewers have Forbidden Planet.

The visual treatment of Forbidden Planet was unsurpassed until 2001: A Space Odyssey, made 12 years later. Despite its flaws, it remains one of the few masterpieces of science fiction cinema.

[Custer]

1956 for Forbidden Planet, 1968 for 2001: A Space Odyssey... and then 1977 for A New Hope? It's interesting to look back and see how things changed over the space of a comparatively few years.

Watching the film while we were having the ASF group chat, it certainly held up very well, after almost sixty years. I suppose it was released before the "Space Race" really got going, hence the comparatively long time in the future, the end of our current century, before we Earth people were out exploring even our own Solar System. 2001 certainly moved things along, on that front.

What would the film be like with ordinary orchestral music, I wonder? The Krell's theramin score was certainly suitably unearthly, though there were times when it was hard to be sure what was music, and what was sound effects. Someone commented on the similarities with a Star Trek episode, and one could easily claim that FP was an inspiration for Gene Roddenberry's "Wagon Train to the Stars." Kirk got the girl, of course, and there would have been no reason for Doctor McCoy to die... after all, Morbius survived that particular trial, even if he was unconscious for a day or two.

Fine costumes for the lovely Altaira of course, who was as beautiful as she was naive. I guess there was a big difference between her father's paternal pecks on the forehead, and full-on mouth-to-mouth kissing... she was no longer an innocent after that, so the beasts of the forest no longer obeyed her. Strange that the Krell, in all their time, seemed only to have brought back animals from our particular world.

I wonder if the cook managed to get any more of Robby's Special Brew on board before lift-off? Commander Adams must have had a heck of a good watch, to, after setting the self-destruct system going, be able a day later to do an accurate second-by-second countdown to zero.

Anyway, the time passed rather quickly - the movie certainly deserves its classic status.

[alltare]

[Robert (Butch) Day]

The theremin was not used in Forbidden Planet. According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebe_and_Louis_Barron):

The soundtrack for Forbidden Planet (1956) is today recognized as the first entirely electronic score for a film. Eerie and sinister, the soundtrack was unlike anything that audiences had heard before. Music historians have often noted how groundbreaking the soundtrack was in the development of electronic music.

On the album sleeve notes of the Forbidden Planet soundtrack, Louis and Bebe explain:

We design and construct electronic circuits which function electronically in a manner remarkably similar to the way that lower life-forms function psychologically. [...]. In scoring Forbidden Planet — as in all of our work — we created individual cybernetics circuits for particular themes and leit motifs, rather than using standard sound generators. Actually, each circuit has a characteristic activity pattern as well as a "voice". [...]. We were delighted to hear people tell us that the tonalities in Forbidden Planet remind them of what their dreams sound like.

The producers of the film had originally wanted to hire Harry Partch to do the music score. The Barrons were brought in to do only about twenty minutes of sound effects. After the producers heard the initial sample score, the Barrons were assigned an hour and ten minutes of the rest of the film. The studio wanted to move the couple to Hollywood where most of the film scores were produced at the time. But the couple would not budge, and took the work back to their New York studio.

The music and the sound effects stunned the audience. During the preview of the movie when the sounds of the spaceship landing on Altair IV filled the theater, the audience broke out in spontaneous applause. Later, the Barrons turned over their stunning audio creation to GNP Crescendo records for distribution. GNP had previously demonstrated its expertise in producing and marketing science fiction film soundtracks and executive album producer Neil Norman had proclaimed the film (and the soundtrack) his favorites.

Not everyone was happy with the score. Louis and Bebe did not belong to the Musicians' Union. The original screen credit for the film, which was supposed to read "Electronic Music by Louis and Bebe Barron", was changed at the last moment by a contract lawyer from the American Federation of Musicians. In order to not upset the union, the association with the word music had to be removed. The Barrons were credited with "Electronic Tonalities". Because of their non-membership in the union, the film was not considered for an Oscar in the soundtrack, or special effects category.

LOOK! A new piece of background info! Harry Partch as music composer!

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Partch

His 43-tone scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Partch's_43-tone_scale
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Bud Brewster]

[orzel-w]

My memory is a little spotty on this, but I read the book treatment by W.J. Stuart many eons ago. In it he describes Doc Ostrow's dissection of one of the animals (I believe struck and killed accidentally by the ship's tractor). The animal's interior is a spaghetti of tubes rather than the organs one would expect to find, indicating its nonterrestrial origins.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Bud Brewster]

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Reading the novel in high school in the 1960s was what put me onto the concept, and since then I've promoted and debated it like crazy — as you well know, Wayne.


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All those discussions with smart people who either challenged my analysis or added supporting evidence have left me firmly convinced that W.J. Stuart (aka Phillip MacDonald) was right about his suggestion that the animals were artificial.

I even asked Forbidden Planet historian Bill Malone (through Facebook) about the controversy, and he reply with this.



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]

I'd have to look at my copy of the novel, but I seem to remember the description of the Monkey's chest being filled with a fibrous material that resembles cotton. When I read the book, for some reason I wondered if the machine would make a replacement if something happened to one of the animals. I'm sure Morbius wouldn't have wanted a young Altaira to be upset at the loss of an animal.

I also have a theory about the Tiger. It is indicated that Altair IV is a normal planet with different environments. There is a comment about the landing site being situated out in the desert. It is lush around Morbius's house, and there are even trees and vegetation near the ship. If you have vegetation, then you most likely have animals. During the great night of slaughter the Krell's Ids were most likely so preoccupied with killing each other, that the wildlife was, for the most part ignored. With native wildlife around, Altaira might need protection. A Tiger would provide good protection.

David.

[orzel-w]

[Custer]

All very intriguing. I see that a theremin was actually used in The Day the Earth Stood Still, not to mention Spellbound.

So why did the tiger attack Altaira, and have to be zapped? Did that reflect the attitude of her father to her fooling around with the newcomers?

I see that Philip "W. J. Stuart" MacDonald wrote four SF short stories over the decades; despite his meagre science fiction output, two of MacDonald's SF short stores (1931's "Our Feathered Friends" and 1949's "Private - Keep Out!") are frequently anthologized, that Wikipedia page mentions. Was the Stuart name a tip of the hat to Don A. Stuart, I wonder, the name John W. Campbell Jr used for some stories, including the novella "Who Goes There?" - the basis for The Thing From Another World.

[Krel]

[Krel]

[orzel-w]

We're all overthinking this, David. But that's the fun of it.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Bud Brewster]

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It's impossible to "overthink" Forbidden Planet. Heck, there are still aspects of the story we don't fully understand and appreciate!

Here's a perfect example.

[Robert (Butch) Day]

For further discussion: Did Dr. Morbius also create the fruit in the bowl (cantaloupe, bananas, limes, etc.) that the Capuchin monkey tried to steal out of?
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Common Sense ISN'T Common