Happy Birthday, Fred M. Wilcox! Born today in 1907 as Fred McLeod Wilcox, this American motion picture director had worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for many years.
Born in Tazewell, Virginia, Wilcox was one of six children born to James Wilcox, a Kentucky optometrist and drugstore owner. He had been married six times (twice to one woman), as six children were from his first wife.
Of Wilcox's six siblings (his father adopted his niece after the death of his sister in 1912), the most notable included American actress Ruth Selwyn (born Ruth Wilcox).
She was married to the prominent figure in American theatre and film in the first half of the 20th century Edgar Selwyn. He was one of the founders of Goldwyn Pictures.
Wilcox's other sibling included American former showgirl Pansy Wilcox Schenck (Mrs. Nicholas M. Schenck).
She was married to Loew's Inc. President, American film studio executive and businessman Nicholas M. Schenck, one of the pioneers of the film industry.
Pansy was the mother-in-law of Austrian-American actor Helmut Dantine, with whom Wilcox worked on a film in India in 1962. Wilcox was also a cousin to American actress Niki Dantine.
A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Wilcox began his film-industry career at MGM in its New York publicity department.
He later became an assistant to King Vidor ('The Big Parade', 'The Crowd', 'Stella Dallas') in the late 1920s, and worked on the great director's masterpiece. This was with the 1929 American pre-Code black and white musical/drama film 'Hallelujah'.
For the film, Wilcox served as Assistant to the Director. However, he went uncredited.
Subsequently Wilcox worked as a director, shooting screen tests of new talent. He then served an apprenticeship as an assistant director on three of his brother-in-law Edgar Selwyn's pictures.
Wilcox was also an assistant- and second-unit director on two more films before moving to the short subjects.
After working his way up through the MGM shorts department, he got his shot as a feature director in the early 1940s. This was with the 1943 American Technicolor family/drama film 'Lassie Come Home'.
The following year, the film was nominated an Oscar for Best Cinematography. However, it didn't win. This occurred at the 16th Academy Awards in early March 1944.
Wilcox also helmed the two sequels, 'Courage of Lassie' (1946) and 'Hills of Home' (1948).
He had a sure hand with child actors, directing American film, radio, television, and stage actress Margaret O'Brien in one of her most well-received pictures, being 'The Secret Garden' (1949).
After directing some pictures for the studio's "B" unit, Wilcox made one more memorable film. It was also the film of which he is best known for directing. This was the 1956 American Eastman Color sci-fi/adventure film 'Forbidden Planet'.
Aside from Eastman Color, it was also shot in CinemaScope. Today, 'Forbidden Planet' is considered to be one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s.
The film was loosely based on William Shakespeare's 1611 tragicomedy romantic comedy drama play "The Tempest". and the plot contains certain analogues to the play, leading many to consider it a loose adaptation.
The characters and isolated setting in 'Forbidden Planet' have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's 1611 comedy/tragicomedy play "The Tempest".
The film was also the debut of Leslie Nielsen, who played Commander John J. Adams. It also stars Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis.
The miniskirt worn by Francis was seen to be the first worn in a Hollywood movie, and resulted in the film being banned in Spain (it was not shown there until 1967), due to General Franco's dictatorship that considered dirty and obscene that a woman wore a miniskirt to show off her legs.
In addition to animating the monster that invades the camp, American animator, special effects artist, animation director and Walt Disney Studios artist Joshua Meador provided approximately twenty-nine other animation effects depicting laser beams and other forms of visual energy.
Production for the film took up eighty-nine thousand square feet of sound stage space, making it one of the largest productions for MGM. It was the first mainstream film to have the music performed entirely by electronic instruments.
'Forbidden Planet' was filmed on the same stage as 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939) seventeen years earlier; the set of Altaira's garden is a reuse of the Munchkin Village set.
The genre of 'Forbidden Planet' had rarely been taken seriously by studio executives, and sci-fi films generally received the most meager of budgets.
The model of the "flying saucer"-style Earth space cruiser was retained by the "MGM" prop department and subsequently used in a number of productions on the "MGM" lot. This included The Twilight Zone: "To Serve Man" (S03E24) for its air date on March 2, 1962.
Robby the Robot, his ground transporter, and crew uniforms would be used on The Twilight Zone (1959–1964) as well.
Despite this, 'Forbidden Planet' marked one of the first times a science-fiction project had received a large budget, being $1,968,000 ($18,870,329.55 today). It grossed $2,765,000 at the box office ($26,512,429.48 today).
Upon release, the critical success of 'Forbidden Planet' convinced many in the film industry that well-funded science-fiction projects could be successful.
The reaction from the preview audience for 'Forbidden Planet' was so positive that the film was released as it was, with no further changes. That is why there are several rapid takes toward the end.
Outside science fiction, the film was groundbreaking as the first of any genre to use an entirely electronic musical score, courtesy of Bebe and Louis Barron. These were two American pioneers in the field of electronic music.
The poster for 'Forbidden Planet' was chosen #5 of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere magazine.
The famous poster for the film shows a menacing robot carrying a struggling pretty girl - a staple of "monster movie" posters from the 1950's. In fact, no such scene occurs in the film itself and the robot portrayed in the poster is of course actually the very likeable Robby the Robot.
American television screenwriter, producer and creator of the original Star Trek television series Gene Roddenberry has been quoted as saying that 'Forbidden Planet' film was a major inspiration for that series.
Perhaps not accidentally, American stage, screen, and television actor Warren Stevens, who plays Lt. 'Doc' Ostrow, would later be a guest star in Star Trek: The Original Series: "By Any Other Name" (S02E22) in February 23, 1968.
This was where the true shape of the alien Kelvans, like the Krell in 'Forbidden Planet', was implied to be extremely non-humanoid but never shown.
1701, which is the serial number of the Starship Enterprise, allegedly comes from the clock mark 17:01 when the C57D enters orbit around Altair IV.
One year after its release, 'Forbidden Planet' was nominated an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. However, it didn't win. This occurred at the 29th Academy Awards in late March 1957.
In an interview, when asked why the film was so successful with both audiences and critics, Francis responded, "From the first day on the set, we were told to take it seriously."
Before leaving MGM in 1957, Wilcox went on to become an independent producer and director.
On February 8, 1960, Lassie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is located at 6368 Hollywood Blvd.
The following month, Wilcox only made one more film, being a miscegenation tale. This was with the 1960 American black and white melodrama film 'I Passed for White', of which he co-wrote, produced and directed.
It starred American actor James Franciscus, and is most notable as the first American film for which John Williams wrote the score.
Four years later, Wilcox passed on September 23, 1964 in Beverley Hills, California. He was 56. Wilcox is survived by his son, Ron.
In 1993, 'Lassie Come Home' was included in the annual selection of twenty-five motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation.
'Lassie Come Home' is recognized by the American Film Institute in these lists:
Lassie – #39 Hero
• 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
• Joe Carraclough (Roddy McDowall): "You're my Lassie come home." – Nominated
• 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated
In 2013, 'Forbidden Planet' was entered into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
American professor in English at the University of Vermont Tony Magistrale describes the film as one of the best examples of early techno-horror.
American television personality, political commentator, and film critic Ben Mankiewicz has claimed that the success of 'Forbidden Planet' made future big-budget science-fiction films possible.
Wilcox had been active from 1929–1960.
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