A Reel 70: THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD

“There are no enemies in science; only phenomena to be studied.”

 

This month marks the 70^th anniversary of Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks’ THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD. 

 

Based on the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD told the fantastic tale of a team of scientists and an Air Force crew who find a crashed flying saucer in the Arctic ice, and later find themselves fighting for survival when the lone alien survivor is revealed to multiply on human blood. Although a monster-movie at heart, THE THING also capitalized on the national feelings in America at the time, which ranged from American bravado (recently winning WWII), to skepticism towards scientists who mess with things they shouldn’t mess with (like atomic bombs). The film reflected this, as the scientists who want to study the creature are shown to be somewhat naïve, while the day is won by military action. 

 

The film was mostly directed by Christian Nyby, with producer Howard Hawks stepping in on occasion. Hawks’ primary role for THE THING was producer, although two of his trademarks are dominant in the film; American ingenuity and strong, tough-talking female characters…with the latter a rarity for a horror film of the early 1950’s. The cast was led by Kenneth Tobey as the captain of the Air Force crew, who was at odds with the leader of the scientific expedition, as played by Robert Cornthwaite. Margaret Sheridan has a strong role as a love interest for Tobey, and true to Hawks’ style, was the character who figures out how to slay the beast. Douglas Spencer provides comic relief as a wise-cracking reporter, and the rest of the cast is filled out by James Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, and Wiliam Self. James Arness plays the imposing alien creature. The fantastic score is provided by Dimitri Tiomkin. 

 

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD was the highest grossing sci-fi film of 1951, even beating out its kindred alien-visitation film, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Today the film is considered to the best of its era. In 2001 it was deemed “culturally significant” by the U.S. Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. 

 

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In 1982, director John Carpenter unleashed his remake of THE THING; a film that is now considered to be one of the best horror films of all time. It is indeed a great film, but this Blogger will always lean towards the black-and-white original from 1951. It’s simplicity is part of its charm, and despite its age…can still bring on the scares (the battle with the alien in a burning room still impresses to this day). The film has had tremendous influence on not only the Carpenter version, but in other classic sci-fi/horror films such as ALIEN (1979), and its 1986 sequel. When sci-fi and horror collide, it owes its beginnings to a thing that came out of the ice.

 

“Keep watching the skies!”