Open the Pod Bay Doors · Episode 1 of 10 · 22 min
HAL 9000 and the First Time a Machine Refused a Human Order
In April 1968 an audience in Washington watched a computer calmly decline an astronaut's order, a scene that split critics and left the film in the red. The episode looks at how the flat voice of HAL was made, and at how far the movie machine sat from real 1968 computers: card decks, tape reels and a remote teletype.
Who's who
- Stanley Kubrick+2 more episodesDirector, producer and co-writer of 2001; cut nineteen minutes after the premiere
- Arthur C. Clarke+2 more episodesCo-writer of the screenplay and author of the novel
- Douglas Rain+1 more episodeCanadian stage actor who voiced HAL, given only HAL's lines
- Martin Balsam+1 more episodeActor first cast as HAL's voice and replaced
- Keir DulleaActor who played astronaut David Bowman
- Gary LockwoodActor who played astronaut Frank Poole
- Pauline KaelCritic who called the film monumentally unimaginative in 1969
- Andrew SarrisVillage Voice critic who dismissed the film, then reversed himself in 1970
Where it happens
- Uptown Theater, Washington, D.C.Site of the film's world premiere on April 2, 1968
- Dartmouth College, New Hampshire+1 more episodeHome of the time-sharing system and BASIC
- Borehamwood, England+1 more episodeWhere HAL's lines were read on set
- Stratford, OntarioFestival where Douglas Rain began his stage career
Timeline
- 1960The National Film Board of Canada catalogues Universe, narrated by Douglas Rain
- May 1964First BASIC programs run on the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System
- April 2, 19682001: A Space Odyssey premieres in Washington, D.C., at about 160 minutes
- April 1968Kubrick cuts nineteen minutes, leaving a release version of about 139 minutes
- February 1969Pauline Kael's essay calls the film monumentally unimaginative
- April 1969The film wins the Oscar for Special Visual Effects, Kubrick's only one
Still debated
Whether HAL is conscious is never settled by the film, and whether its famous ambiguity was designed or salvaged by the late cuts remains open. The critical split is often retold as critics simply getting it wrong, but they disagreed with one another.
