Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST is transformed in this landmark science-fiction film. Spacemen travel to a planet ruled by Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), who has built a kingdom with his daughter and obedient robot Robby. The good doctor is plagued by his mad quest for knowledge through his "brain booster" machine, and by Freudian "monsters from the id" as his daughter discovers other men and learns to kiss.
Color by Eastmancolor. Shot in CinemaScope.
"Electronic tonalities" by Louis and Bebe Barron.
Joshua Meador, who worked on the special effects team, was loaned to MGM by Walt Disney Productions.
The story is loosely based on Shakespeare's classic play "The Tempest."
Rated BBFC U by the British Board of Film Censors.
Director of Photography
George J. Folsey: American Director of Photography
Featured Character (fictional)
Robby the Robot:
Production Designer
Arthur Lonergan: Art Director
Production Designer
Cedric Gibbons: Art Director/In USA
Source Writer
Allen Adler: Source Writer, FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)
Source Writer
Irving Block: Source Writer, FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)
Special Effects
A. Arnold Gillespie:
Special Effects
Irving Reis: Director/Writer/1906-1953
Special Effects
Joshua Meador:
Special Effects
Warren Newcombe: Special Effects
Costume Designer
Walter Plunkett: Costume Designer, FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)
Review 1:
"...Sci-fi classic....[Nielsen does] a man's-gotta-do-what-a-man's-gotta-do..." -- Rating: A-
Source: Entertainment Weekly
pp.126-8 09/16/1994
Review 2:
"[A]n irresistible blend of the sublime and the silly....[With] magnificent galazy scapes...[and[ colorful futuristic interiors..."
Source: Premiere
p.130 12/01/2006
Review 3:
5 stars out of 5 -- "FORBIDDEN PLANET is a feast for the eyes....This definitive Science Fiction movie has really never looked better..."
Source: Ultimate DVD
p.83 08/01/2007
Review 4:
"Filmed in CinemaScope and color and given a lofty sci-fi budget for its day....[A] perennially popular outer space variation on Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST..."
Source: USA Today
p.3D 08/01/1997
Review 5:
"Over 50 years on, FORBIDDEN PLANET still looks like the future....An oddity that would change the face of science-fiction on film."
Source: Empire
p.161 08/01/2008
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