This edition of Hollywood Classics Under the Stars: Double Feature has two legendary science fiction films! The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, Frances Bavier and Lock Martin. The screenplay was written by Edmund H. North, based on the 1940 science fiction short story “Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates. Set in the Cold War during the early stages of the nuclear arms race, the storyline involves a humanoid alien visitor who comes to Earth, accompanied by a powerful robot, to deliver an important message that will affect the entire human race. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”

Forbidden Planet is a 1956 American science fiction action film produced by Nicholas Nayfack and directed by Fred M. Wilcox. It stars Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen. Shot in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope, this landmark film is considered one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s, a precursor of contemporary science fiction cinema.