Reheating a classic of the Cold War era

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” has arrived on DVD at a time when war with Iraq looms and there’s a palpable nuclear threat from North Korea. The world was an equally troubled place when the sci-fi classic was released in 1951. The Cold War between the Free World and the Communists was at its frigid height, the House Un-American Activities Committee’s blacklist was ending the careers of many liberals in Hollywood and America was embroiled in the Korean War.

Not only was “The Day the Earth Stood Still” an intelligent -- and entertaining -- commentary on the political climate of 1951, it can be seen as a powerful parable today. Michael Rennie stars as Klaatu, a disarmingly quiet, charming alien who arrives in his spaceship in Washington, D.C., with a warning to Earth to stop its violent behavior. Accompanying the stranger, who takes the name of Carpenter on Earth, is his hulking robot Gort, who uses a lethal light beam to destroy anyone who dares to harm Klaatu.

The command “Klaatu barada nikto” has become something of a pop catch phrase and has been featured in numerous other movies including Sam Raimi’s “Army of Darkness” (1993).

Robert Wise, the Oscar-winning filmmaker of “West Side Story” and “The Sound of Music,” directed “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” which also stars Patricia Neal and Sam Jaffe.

Wise and writer-director Nicholas Meyer provide commentary on the digital edition (Fox, $20). The DVD also includes a 70-minute making-of documentary, a Movietone newsreel from 1951, a look at the film’s restoration, five stills galleries, the trailer and shooting script.

“I have directed 40 films and this is one of my favorites,” Wise, 88, said in a recent phone interview. He was under contract at 20th Century Fox when “Darryl Zanuck called me and said to go see this producer Julian Blaustein. I went over, and I got the script and took it back. I read it and loved it. I called Julian and said I would very much like to direct it.”

Initially, Claude Rains was considered to play Klaatu. Rains, who was in his early 60s at the time, was best known for his roles in “The Invisible Man,” “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and “Now, Voyager.”

“He was not available at the time,” Wise said. “We got a memo from Zanuck and he had just been in London and had seen this young actor on the stage and thought he was very good. He signed him to a contract to the studio. He thought he would be good in our film. That was Michael Rennie. It was so much better to have someone who hadn’t been seen on the screen before. He was a fine actor. It was a big break for us.”

Wise hired Lock Martin as Gort. “That was back in time before we raised those 7-feet-tall basketball players,” Wise said, laughing. “He was about 7 feet tall. He was the doorman at the Chinese Theatre.”

The costume was made out of foam rubber and topped off with aluminum-colored paint.

Because of the heat buildup inside, Martin could only stay in the suit for brief periods. “We had to have two suits,” Wise explained. “One had the zipper in the front so when he was going away from the camera it wouldn’t show. Then we had another with the zipper in the back when he was coming toward the camera so you wouldn’t see the zipper.”

Wise said the film didn’t run into any problems with audiences or critics because of its antiwar stance -- in fact, in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, 20th Century Fox examined such hotbed topics as anti-Semitism (“Gentlemen’s Agreement”) and racial prejudice (“No Way Out”). But the armed services weren’t happy about the “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

“We needed some tanks in the film and we had a lobbyist in Washington,” Wise said. “We sent him a copy of the script and asked him to go to the War Department and see if they could get some tanks. But they didn’t like the script and they turned us down. So we said to the lobbyist, let’s go talk to the National Guard, and they gave us the tanks.”

Besides “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” Wise directed “Star Trek: The Movie” (1979). He acknowledged he’s been a firm believer of alien life forms and UFOs.

“To think we are the only race of people in this whole universe is a great ego trip,” he said.