Tonight we are up late- watching a familiar old movie.The 1951 Robert Wise film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" entered our living rooms via black and white television when I was a young girl. I am certain that we were not supposed to watch it- my mother said we would have bad dreams. However, one night when my parents left us in the care of a babysitter- I was allowed to watch while my younger siblings went to bed.
Mother's warnings proved correct- but because Michael Renni, the actor playing Klaatu, looked amazingly like my father!! All the neighbor children (and parents) would greet my Dad with "Klaatu barada nikto"!
I was a little bit freaked out, but secretly proud because I knew he was the smartest man in the world. Adding to this coincidence, my Dad worked as an engineer on the Titan Missile design team at Martin Marietta in Littleton, Colorado.My Dad was like a celebrity when the movie was shown on television.
Today, in 2008, they are filming a remake with Keanu Reeves as Klaatu. I will have to take Dad to see it.