 The role of Gort was played by Martin, Lock (qv), the doorman from  Graumans Chinese, because he was extremely tall, but was unable to  pick up Helen because he was so weak and had to be aided by wires.  (In shots from the back where hes carrying her, its actually a  lightweight dummy in his arms.) He also had difficulty with the  heavy Gort suit and could only stay in it for about half an hour at  a time.