After my trip down memory lane with aliens, robots soon popped into my mind.  Those of us who feel in love with movie extraterrestrials also became acquainted with loads of movie robots, from sublime to silly, but all hold a warm place in our hearts, I’m sure.  Though today’s movie robots and mechanized creatures are no doubt better made and slicker in CGI, give me a man in a silver suit anytime.

The granddaddy of my movie robot memories is Robby from Forbidden Planet, and I’m sure I’m not alone in my affection for this charming character.  Urbane, no-nonsense, helpful and nifty-looking, Robby is a true icon in the Robot Hall of Fame, the robot by which all other movie robots are measured.  Both Robby and the beloved robot from TV’s Lost in Space – real name B9 — were designed by veteran Hollywood Art Director Robert Kinoshita, and all robot lovers owe him big thanks for his visionary creations which have inhabited our dreams for decades.  (Robby and B9 appeared together on the small screen in an episode of Lost in Space.) (Also, I received a Robby the Robot toy for Christmas when I was probably four years old, as documented in home movies.  Wish I had that toy now!)  Forbidden Planet is airing Friday, July 13th at 6:15p eastern, btw.

For sublime and supremely silent robots, we can look to The Day The Earth Stood Still’s Gort, a tall and stately presence patrolling the galaxy alongside Michael Rennie’s wise Klaatu.  Powerful and potentially deadly, Gort walked softly and carried a really big stick, in the form of a deadly ray that shot from his upraised visor.  Just don’t get him mad, and don’t muck up the galaxy, whatever you do, and you’ll be okay around Gort.

As a kid, I was traumatized and fascinated by the blocky but brutally effective giant robots patrolling the deserted streets of mid-1950s Los Angeles in Target Earth.  Maybe it was because I grew up fifteen or so miles away from downtown L.A., but the movie seemed pretty realistic to me and it’s a wonderful example of what we should call Robot Noir.  The robots are filmed as moodily as any sardonic gumshoe, or rather the suggestion of robots.  I recall you mostly see the shadows as they roll through the concrete jungle, but it’s enough to make you lock your doors and duck down, lest they spot you, too.  The multi-armed Dalek-like robot from Gog also impressed and creeped me out, too.

In terms of grandeur, the tall and stately Colossus of New York rules.  Created when a brilliant scientist was killed and his brain inserted into a robot, the Colossus is tortured and horrified by his very existence, and takes it out on the United Nations.  Outfitted like a gigantic metallic Hamlet, in the best scene he trudges across the bottom of the Hudson river to seek his revenge, his robes flowing behind him in the murky water.  Another great feature of this unusual and dare I say haunting film is the weird solo piano musical score, insanely melodramatic and yet absolutely perfect for this unsettling movie.  I love it. 

There are so many other robots, of course, but these are some of the ones whose images have stuck with me.  Obviously the ones we see as children have incredible lasting impact far beyond their technical merits, but one Gort is surely worth a million computer generated mechanicals from the recent I, Robot, I’m sure you’ll agree.