These films were released during the 1950s

The Day the Earth Stood Still

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Day two of my own little Robert Wise Film Festival

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a film that has, in some ways, outlived its reputation. It is certainly a cut above other films from “flying saucer” sub-genre of science fiction. An intelligent script, Robert Wise‘s capable direction and a better than average cast all combine to make this a high-quality production. The film’s only real weakness is that its message of “mankind had better learn to get along or else”, which was definitely bold for a film made during the anti-Communist witch hunts of the early 1950s, now seems like rather juvenile wish-fulfillment. The idea of advanced aliens coming down to solve our problems for us was an early staple of science fiction but is now a best-forgotten cliché.

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Singin’ in the Rain

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It would be unfair to review Singin’ in the Rain as if it were a normal movie with conventional parts and pieces like a story and character development. The plot of this movie is just a threadbare skeleton on which to hang some of the best musical numbers committed to film and, by itself, would seem thin as the basis of a 22-minute sitcom. You don’t even have to follow the plot in order to enjoy the musical interludes, either, since they have very little to do with each other. Virtually none of the songs were written for the project, but were existing tunes simply incorporated, very loosely, into the narrative.

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