Giant Robot Month: When Robots were small, black and white and still stood tall

I am not a robot scholar.  I'm just a geek who really likes movies that have robots.  Today we feature some of the earliest examples of Robots in films.  They are listed in the order I remembered them in.  Some of them are super cool for their time, others are ridiculous no matter what era they were created in.  The list ends in Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.  I think that he ushered in the more modern era of mechanical man.  After Robby there were radical changes.

I suggest you follow the link at the bottom of the article.  They are cinematic Robot Scholars.  There list and history is way cooler than this one.

the Golem: In modern times, an antiques dealer (Henrik Galeen) finds a golem (Paul Wegener), a clay statue brought to life by a rabbi four centuries earlier. The dealer resurrects the golem as a servant, but the golem falls in love with the dealer's wife. As she does not return his love, the golem commits a series of murders.

Dr. Satan's Robot:
An edited version of the 1940 Republic serial "Mysterious Doctor Satan", which was released to TV in a syndication package in 1966.

Ro-Man: Robot Monster tells the story of Moon robot Ro-Man's mission to destroy all the humans on Earth. It manages to kill all but eight survivors, who have become immune to his death ray. But Ro-Man runs afoul of his leader, The Great Guidance, after he becomes attracted to Alice, the surviving scientist's eldest daughter, and refuses to harm her. The Great Guidance kills Ro-Man and must teleport to Earth to finish what has been started.

Metropolis: The Maschinenmensch (German for "machine-human") is a fictional character in Fritz Lang's film Metropolis, played by German actress Brigitte Helm in both its robot form and human incarnation. She is a gynoid (female robot or android) created by the scientist Rotwang. Named Maria in the film, and "Futura" in Thea von Harbou's original novel Metropolis, she was one of the first robots ever depicted in cinema.

The Maschinenmensch has been given several names through the decades: Parody, Ultima, Machina, Futura, Robotrix, False Maria, Robot Maria, Roboria and Hel. The intertitles of the 2010 restoration of Metropolis quotes Rotwang, the robot's creator, referring to his gynoid Maschinenmensch, literally translated as "Machine human".

Tobor the Great (aka Tobor) is a 1954 American black-and-white science fiction film from Republic Pictures produced byRichard Goldstone, directed by Lee Sholem, and written by Carl Dudley and Philip MacDonald. The film stars Charles Drake, Karin Booth, and Billy Chapin.

The storyline involves Dr. Ralph Harrison, who resigns his government post in protest against the inhumane treatment being inflicted upon spaceship pilots. His colleague, Professor Nordstrom, develops an alternative: a robot that he names "Tobor" (the reverse anagram of "robot"[1]), which soon becomes a friend and playmate to Harrison's young son, "Gadge". Tobor is stolen by enemy agents, and only the two scientists' and Gadge's psychic link with the robot can save it from being reprogrammed and used for evil purposes against the USA.

Gort is a fictional humanoid robot that first appeared in the 195120th Century Fox American science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and years later in its 2008 remake.

In the original science fiction short story "Farewell to the Master", on which the two films are based, the character is called Gnut.

Robby the Robot is a fictional character and science fiction icon who first appeared in the 1956 film Forbidden Planet. He made a number of subsequent appearances in science fiction movies and television programs, usually without specific reference to the original film character.

Terms related to robots include:

• robot or 'robotic', often used pejoratively, refers to any 'programmed' device or machine that performs mechanically or automatically without original thought; a robot's behavior is dependent upon programmed rules, functions and commands; an artificially-intelligent (AI) super-computer can be considered robotic although it does not possess a moving machine body
• automaton - refers to a mechanical object with a human-like appearance that operates in a manner similar to a clock or music box; it was the term most commonly used to refer to 'robots' in the early 20th century
• android (droid or humanoid) refers to an automaton or artificial man that possesses human features and resembles a human being; over time, it has come to be used as a general nickname for a robot
• cyborg (or bionic man/woman) refers to a human whose body and physiological processes are aided or controlled, in whole or in part, by electronic or mechanical devices that are integrated into the original organic body; in most cases, a cyborg is not a true robot

this site is dedicated to the robots of films.  follow the link, it's pretty cool

http://www.filmsite.org/robotsinfilm4.html