"Farewell to the Master"
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"The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) starring Gort, the robot sentinel.
TRIVIA...
In the 1940 short story "Farewell to the Master" that The Day the Earth Stood Still is based on, Gort is named "Gnut" and is suspected to be Klaatu's master instead of his servant.
Gort was portrayed by 7'-7" (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 could appear seamless depending on the camera angle.
Another fiberglass statue of Gort was used for close-ups of him firing his beam weapon or when the scene did not call for him to move. In order to maximize the height of the robot, the costume was made with lifts in the boots and was designed so that the figure's helmet stands nearly a foot above the top of Martin's head. Prisms were employed so that Martin could see through the costume's visor and air holes were provided under the robot's chin."
The story is told from the viewpoint of Cliff Sutherland, a freelance picture reporter, who is present when a mysterious "curving ovoid" ship suddenly appears on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Two days later, "visitors from the Unknown" emerge: a "god-like" person in human form and an 8-foot (2.44 m) tall robot made of green metal. The former only manages to state "I am Klaatu and this is Gnut" before he is shot and killed by a lunatic. Klaatu is buried nearby. In the days that follow, Gnut remains motionless, while laboratories and a museum are built around it and the ship. Both prove impervious to the investigations of scientists.
Sutherland discovers that the robot enters the ship each night when no one is watching, emerging to resume its position for the day. Gnut is aware of the reporter, but ignores him. After several odd encounters, Sutherland informs the world what he has learned. Gnut is encased in "glasstex", finally forcing the robot's hand. It breaks out, unaffected by all attempts to destroy it, picks up Sutherland and travels to the mausoleum containing Klaatu's corpse. It opens the tomb and takes a recording of Klaatu's voice stored there. It then returns and goes inside the ship.
Sutherland daringly boards the ship before the entrance closes and learns that the robot is working on a way to create a copy of Klaatu from an audio recording of his greeting. However the new Klaatu is flawed because the recording is imperfect, and he dies soon after speaking with the reporter. Sutherland then suggests retrieving the original recording device to study it and discover how to compensate for its imperfections. Gnut eagerly adopts this idea. Sutherland arranges for the equipment to be brought to it. As the robot prepares to depart, Sutherland impresses upon it the need to tell its master, the Klaatu yet to come, that his death was a terrible accident. Gnut replies, "You misunderstand, I am the master."
