The Day the Earth Stood Still

Synopsis: The Day the Earth Stood Still (a.k.a. Farewell to the Master and Journey to the World) is a 1951 black-and-white American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein, directed by Robert Wise, that stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, and Sam Jaffe. The screenplay was written by Edmund H. North, based on the 1940 science fiction short story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates. The score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Production: 20th Century Fox
  Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
7.8
Rotten Tomatoes:
94%
G
Year:
1951
92 min
1,952 Views


EXT. BEACH - PACIFIC ISLAND - MED. SHOT - DAY

Backgrounded by palm trees and rolling surf, an American

army radar operator sits at his huge instrument, intently

tracking a target. Without interrupting this, he speaks with

tense excitement into a telephone transmitter strapped to

his chest. (It is 8:00 a.m.)

(In this and the subsequent scenes, music and cutting build

to an exciting crescendo).

EXT. FIELD - HONG KONG - MED. SHOT - DAY

A group of British soldiers, in shorts and tropical gear,

are gathered tensely around a piece of radar equipment, which

is tracking a target. The radar operator says something to

another soldier, who turns and speaks excitedly into a field

telephone. (It is 5:00 a.m.)

INT. INDIAN RADIO STATION - NIGHT

The microphone bears the word CALCUTTA. An Indian announcer,

his expression one of excitement and terror, jabbers into

the mike in a native tongue. A clock on the wall indicates

that it is 2:
26

EXT. RUSSIAN BOMBER IN FLIGHT - (STOCK) - NIGHT

The plane is identified by a red star on the fuselage.

INT. RUSSIAN BOMBER - NIGHT

The radioman is tracking an object on his radar scope. He

points it out excitedly to the pilot. The pilot adjusts his

microphone and starts making a report back to his base in

Russian.

EXT. FRENCH VILLAGE - STREET CORNER - MED. CLOSE SHOT -

NIGHT:

A group of French farmers is collected around a radio,

listening wide-eyed to the keyed-up voice which is telling

them, in French, of a strange object that has been seen in

the sky. They exchange uneasy glances. One old man crosses

himself.

SPLIT SCREEN SHOT

RIGHT SECTION OF SCREEN SHOWS INT. AMERICAN RADIO STATION -

DAY:

A breathless American radio reporter is speaking into his

mike, but we can't hear what he's saying. On the wall behind

him is a clock which reads 3:32.

LEFT SECTION OF SCREEN SHOWS INT. BRITISH RADIO STATION -

NIGHT:

A clock shows the time to be 8:32. The British announcer

tries to maintain his traditional BBC calm, but finds it

almost impossible to control his excitement.

BRITISH ANNOUNCER

Reports are coming in from all over

the Empire -- from all over the world.

The Government have not yet issued a

statement, but there seems to be no

question that there actually is a

large, unidentified object circling

the earth at incredible speed.

This announcer keeps talking, but his voice fades out, and

now we hear the words the American announcer is saying...

AMERICAN ANNOUNCER

(staccato with

excitement)

We still don't know what it is or

where it's from –- but we do know

there's something there. It's been

tracked around the world by radar

traveling at a rate of four thousand

miles an hour.

INT. NEW YORK TAXI - DRIVER AND FARE – DAY

The driver and his fare are listening intently to the radio,

as we hear the voice of another radio reporter.

2ND RADIO REPORTER

(voice off scene)

This is not another "flying saucer"

scare. Scientists and military men

have already agreed on that. Whatever

this is -- it's something real.

EXT. SUBURBAN GAS STATION

The attendant, who is filling a car with gas, leans around

to hear the car's radio, oblivious to the fact that the car's

tank is overflowing.

3RD RADIO REPORTER

(voice off scene)

We interrupt this program to give

you a bulletin just received from

one of our naval units at sea. "A

large object, traveling at supersonic

speed, is headed over the North

Atlantic toward the east coast of

the United States."

Music builds to a climax and ends.

INT. WASHINGTON RADIO STATION

4TH RADIO REPORTER

(with deliberately

controlled calm)

Here in the nation's capital, there

is anxiety and concern, but no outward

sign of panic. As a matter of fact,

there are signs of normalcy that

seem strangely out of place; the

beautiful spring weather, the tourist

crowds at the various monuments and

public buildings...

Rate this script:1.9 / 8 votes

Edmund H. North

Edmund Hall North (March 12, 1911 – August 28, 1990), was an American screenwriter who shared an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with Francis Ford Coppola in 1970 for their script for Patton. North wrote the screenplay for the 1951 science-fiction classic The Day the Earth Stood Still and is credited for creating the famous line from the film, "Klaatu barada nikto". more…

All Edmund H. North scripts | Edmund H. North Scripts

0 fans

Submitted by aviv on February 09, 2017

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Day the Earth Stood Still" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_day_the_earth_stood_still_1006>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    The Day the Earth Stood Still

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.