Biography
Gort is a fictional humanoid robot that appeared first in the 1951 20th Century Fox American science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and later in its 2008 remake. His depiction varies between film adaptations, however, the original character was loosely based on the character Gnut, from "Farewell to the Master", a 1940 Astounding Science Fiction short story written by Harry Bates, used as the basis for Andrew Phillips's screenplay. In that story, Gort is a moving green statue that is apparently attendant upon Klaatu, but in the terminus of the story is identified as the eponymous "master" over Klaatu. In the original 1951 film, Gort is an eight-foot tall, seamless robot apparently constructed from a single piece of "flexible metal". He is but one member of a "race of robots" invented by an interplanetary confederation (described as "A sort of United Nations on a Planetary level" by Klaatu, who is a representative of that confederation) to protect their citizens against all aggression by destroying any aggressors. Klaatu describes "him" as one of an interstellar police force, holding irrevocable powers to "preserve the peace" by destroying any aggressor. The fear of provoking these robots acts as a deterrent against aggression. To that end, Gort accompanies Klaatu on his mission to deliver an ultimatum to the people of Earth: the interplanetary confederation is not concerned with internal human politics; however, if humanity threatens to use atomic weapons against the other planets, the Earth will be destroyed to ensure the safety of the other planets. Gort does not speak, but he can receive and follow verbal commands (including the famous dialog line "Klaatu barada nikto", spoken by actor Patricia Neal's character toward the end of the film), as well non-verbal commands: at one point, Klaatu communicates with him using reflected signals from a borrowed flashlight. This is not the end of his capability, though, as Gort is also shown acting entirely on his own, both to protect Klaatu from harm and to free himself from encasement in a block of plastic. Gort can also operate highly complex machinery, and is both the pilot and captain of the ship that delivers Klaatu to Earth – all of his "race" have similar ships that they use to patrol the planets. Seemingly unarmed, Gort is in fact armed with a laserlike weapon that is projected from beneath a visor on his head. While the weapon can apparently vaporize any physical object, its effect is variable at Gort's discretion, and is precise enough to destroy a single object without harming anything around it. In its first onscreen use, it vaporized several soldier's guns from their hands while not harming the soldiers at all, and seconds later was used to vaporize tanks and artillery without harming their occupants or any surrounding objects. Gort is also continually aware of Klaatu's physical condition and location without Klaatu needing to wear a tracking device of any sort. Gort is not known to be damageable by any means available to mankind, and can – despite resistance – destroy the Earth itself if he is sufficiently provoked. During most of the film, Gort remains motionless in front of his ship, which rests in a baseball park in central Washington, D.C., near the White House. Scientists and military researchers attempt to examine both the robot and the ship. He was portrayed by seven-foot, seven-inch (231 cm)-tall actor Lock Martin wearing a thick foam-rubber suit designed and built by Addison Hehr. Two suits were created, fastened alternately from the front or back so that the robot would appear seamless from any angle in the completed scenes (although he walks past the camera during the scene in which Gort picks up Neal, and the front seam is briefly visible). A fiberglass statue of Gort was also used for the close-ups of the firing of his energy beam weapon or when a scene required him to stand still. To maximize the height of the robot, the Gort suit was made with lifts in the boots. Martin could see forward through the suit's visor area during certain shots, and air holes were provided for him under the robot's wide chin and jaw, and these can be seen in several close-ups of Gort's head.
