National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Universal Pictures released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in June 1982, with Steven Spielberg directing at the height of his commercial and creative powers. The film became the highest-grossing release of its time, displacing Star Wars, and remains a defining work of American cinema — a story of childhood, loneliness, and connection that resonated across generations and cultures.

This cell, titled Gertie, captures three consecutive frames from the memorable first encounter between Gertie and E.T. inside the family home. Drew Barrymore's Gertie meets the alien's presence with a wide-open scream, her reaction caught in rapid succession across the strip — a brief, unguarded moment of pure childhood terror preserved in original 35mm.