After Claude Rains turned down the role, Rennie received top billing in his next film, The Day the Earth Stood Still (also 1951), the first postwar, large-budget, "A" science-fiction film.
It was a serious, high-minded exploration of mid-20th century suspicion and paranoia, combined with a philosophical overview of humanity's coming place in the larger universe.
Rennie said director Robert Wise told him to do the role "with dignity but not with superiority". (
The story was later dramatised in 1954 on Lux Radio Theatre, with Rennie and Billy Gray recreating their original film roles.
Seven years later, on 3 March 1962, when The Day the Earth Stood Still made its television premiere on NBC's NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, Rennie appeared in a two-minute introductory prologue before the start of the film.)

Rennie went on to support Power in I'll Never Forget You (1951) then had good roles in the ensemble drama Phone Call from a Stranger (1952) (where he played an American) and in the wartime spy thriller, 5 Fingers (1952), as the agent who tracks down James Mason's spy.
He did some narration for The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951) and would provide voice overs for several Fox films, such as Pony Soldier (1952), Titanic (1953), The Desert Rats (1953), Prince Valiant (1954).
After Claude Rains turned down the role, Rennie received top billing in his next film, The Day the Earth Stood Still (also 1951), the first postwar, large-budget, "A" science-fiction film. It was a serious, high-minded exploration of mid-20th century suspicion and paranoia, combined with a philosophical overview of humanity's coming place in the larger universe. Rennie said director Robert Wise told him to do the role "with dignity but not with superiority". (The story was later dramatised in 1954 on Lux Radio Theatre, with Rennie and Billy Gray recreating their original film roles. Seven years later, on 3 March 1962, when The Day the Earth Stood Still made its television premiere on NBC's NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, Rennie appeared in a two-minute introductory prologue before the start of the film.)
Rennie went on to support Power in I'll Never Forget You (1951) then had good roles in the ensemble drama Phone Call from a Stranger (1952) (where he played an American) and in the wartime spy thriller, 5 Fingers (1952), as the agent who tracks down James Mason's spy. He did some narration for The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951) and would provide voice overs for several Fox films, such as Pony Soldier (1952), Titanic (1953), The Desert Rats (1953), Prince Valiant (1954).
Michael Rennie