Walter Pidgeon portrays “Dr. Morbius,” alongside Anne Francis as “Altaira,” and they seem content on their home world, "Altair 4," until a ship appears in the sky. Despite encountering resistance, the newcomers land, and Dr. Morbius explains to Captain “Adams” (Leslie Nielsen) and Dr. “Ostrow” (Warren Stevens) that all previous members of an expedition perished under strange circumstances, though he insists everythin…

It's a sci-fi movie that holds an important place in history, though its age shows. I had higher hopes going into this one. Its influence at the time was undeniable, and it’s considered a classic within science fiction cinema. You could even say it belongs among the foundational films of the genre, being one of the first large-scale sci-fi movies to have a significant impact on audiences. What stands out most i…

I didn’t get around to watching "Forbidden Planet" (1956) until forty years after its initial release. I've revisited it a few times since then and here are my thoughts: It's remarkable how much of what we consider standard in Star Trek—and Gene Roddenberry was certainly a visionary—was already present in “Forbidden Planet,” which came out nearly a decade before the first Star Trek pilot. Seriously, you can find a…

Your mind resists accepting the ending. Fred M. Wilcox directed Forbidden Planet, with Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, and Leslie Nielsen in the leading roles. The screenplay by Cyril Hume is based on an original story by Irving Block & Allen Adler, initially titled Fatal Planet. It’s a CinemaScope production from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, filmed in Eastman Color—not Metrocolor as some sources suggest—by cinematographer …