How many times have I seen Forbidden Planet? I’m not sure, but it is one of my earliest childhood memories. Despite much that is quaint and embarrassing, it still holds up as one the few films with the essential “sense-of-wonder” component central to literary Science Fiction, but almost always absent from SF on film.
Some trivia about the wonderful, pioneering electronic score by husband and wife team Louis and Bebe Barron: The film’s producers originally wanted Harry Partch to score the film. The Barrons were only supposed to make a few effects. But the first sample they produced convinced the producers to go with them for the entire film. During the film’s preview, when the first electronic “tonalities” came on, the audience broke out in spontaneous applause. Many people at the time found the quite terrifying. Unfortunately, the musicians union would not recognize what they were doing as “music”, and the Barrons never did another film score.
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