The Day The Earth Stood Still Put Gort's Actor Through A Gauntlet Of Pain

At the beginning of Robert Wise's 1951 sci-fi classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still," a flaying saucer lands in Washington, D.C. and a stern, masked alien named Klaatu (Michael Rennie) emerges. He announces to the gathered military and curious humans that he comes in peace, and even has a gift for the people of Earth. He extracts a small, palm-sized tube and flicks it open, revealing multiple small antennae. The flicking device, however, spooks one of the nearby military men, and he fires off a shot, injuring Klaatu's hand. He falls in pain. 

Almost instantly, as if sensing Klaatu's panic, an enormous eight-foot humanoid robot emerges from the flying saucer. It is silvery and featureless, sporting a mysterious visor across its face. This is Gort. Gort steps out onto the ground, and its visor lifts, revealing a glowing power source. A laser beam emerges from Gort's head, striking all the Army's weapons. Guns, mortars, and even tanks are almost instantly dissolved. Klaatu barks a few orders at Gort in an alien language, and the robot's attack ceases. 

Gort is an awesome sight, terrifying and mysterious. Late in the film, Klaatu will explain that robots like Gort are stationed throughout the galaxy, and serve as threatening, automated enforcers, programmed to start blasting should any planet stray from a mission of peace and diplomacy. He is a symbol of militant pacifism, if you'll pardon the oxymoron. 

Gort was played by the 7'7" actor Lock Martin, who also performed with Spike Jones and His City Slickers and who appeared in films like "Invaders from Mars," and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (although his scenes were cut). In 2006, the Independent ran a profile of Martin and his time in the Gort costume. Martin, it seems, had trouble standing upright in it.

According to the Independent, Lock Martin was working as a doorman at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California when one of the theater's regulars suggested he play Gort in "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Robert Wise was having trouble finding an actor tall enough, wanting Gort to be towering and imposing. Lock Martin had appeared in a few films prior to "The Day," including "Lost in Harlem," "Anchors Aweigh," and "Lady on a Train." He also worked as a live cowboy performer at Knott's Berry Farm and as a live spokesman for Arden's Dairy, also playing a cowboy. Later in his career, Martin hosted a local Los Angeles kiddie show called "The Gentle Giant," now mostly lost to time. 

To play Gort, Martin had to be outfitted with a massive, thick foam rubber suit, painted with aluminum. The headpiece was made of metal and plastic. Martin may have been tall, but he wasn't bulky, and his frail frame couldn't comfortably hold the suit. Martin also had to hold his arms stiff at his sides to make Gort that much more robotic, and that was a painful position to maintain. If you see Gort's right arm twitching, that's Martin experiencing muscle spasms. 

Late in "The Day," Gort had to carry the bodies of Michael Rennie as well as his co-star Patricia Neal. Martin wasn't strong enough to lift the actors, especially while wearing the suit — one might notice that the Neal character is hoisted up off-camera. To achieve the effect, Robert Wise had to rely on dummies and puppets. 

In a video interview conducted in 1995 for the British Sci-Fi Channel, Robert Wise talked about finding Lock Martin at the Chinese Theater, and the process of outfitting his actor with the Gort suit. It seems that Wise required two suits to be made. when Gort was facing the camera, Martin wore a suit with a massive fasteners up the back. When the robot was walking away, however, Martin put on a second suit with fasteners up the front. The combination made Gort look smooth and metallic all over. In order to see out of the helmet, Marts was given miniature periscope-like mirror appliances that would be directed out of Gort's face — the helmet extended much higher than Martin's actual head.

Lock Martin passed away in 1959 at the age of 42. Some posit that he was afflicted with Marfan Syndrome, a condition that causes body elongation and also affects the body's connective tissues. It's likely what ultimately took his life. Martin, however, is a vital part of cinema history, and sci-fi fans will remember him forever. He also had nine children with his wife, Ethel, so his legacy lives on with his large family. 

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" was remade in 2008 by director Scott Derrickson, with Keanu Reeves playing Klaatu. In the remake, perhaps predictably, Gort was reimagined as a CGI creation capable of splitting into millions of nanites and flying around as a swarm. No one had to don an uncomfortable foam rubber suit this time, although the new Gort was far less imposing or striking.