The Thing from Another World

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The Thing
Directed by	Christian Nyby Howard Hawks (uncredited)
Written by	Novella: John W. Campbell, Jr. Screenplay: Charles Lederer
Starring	Margaret Sheridan Kenneth Tobey
Release date(s)	April 6, 1951
Running time	87 min. 81 min. (edited version)
Language	English
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IMDb profile

The Thing from Another World is a 1951 science fiction film which tells the story of an Air Force crew & scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who fight a malevolent alien being. It stars Kenneth Tobey (Capt Patrick Hendry), Margaret Sheridan (Nikki Nicholson), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Arthur Carrington) and Douglas Spencer (Ned Scott). James Arness appeared as The Thing, unrecognizable in costume and makeup. Oddly, no players are named during the otherwise-complete opening credits; the only cast credit is at the end (this was somewhat unusual in the 1950s).

The movie was loosely adapted by Charles Lederer from the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr. (originally published under the pseudonym Don A. Stuart). It was directed by Howard Hawks (uncredited) and Christian Nyby for Hawks' Winchester Pictures, which released it through RKO Radio Pictures Inc..

The film took advantage of the national feelings of the time to help enhance the horror elements of the story. The film's release in 1951 coincided with the Korean War and the upswing in anti-communist feelings brought on by McCarthyism. The idea of Americans being stalked by a force which was single of mind and "devoid of morality" fit in well with the parallel feelings of the day on communism. Equally the film reflected a post-Hiroshima scepticism about science and negative views of scientists who meddle with things better left alone. In the end, it is American servicemen and sensible scientists who win the day over the monster.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Production notes 3 Film quotes 4 Trivia 5 External link

[edit] Plot summary

A U.S. Air Force re-supply crew is dispatched from Anchorage, Alaska at the request of Dr. Carrington, the Chief of a group of scientists working at a remote research base in the Arctic - Polar Expedition Six. They have evidence that an aircraft of some kind has crashed nearby. The crew takes along Scotty, a reporter and former war correspondent, who is hanging around the base in search of a story. A sub-plot running through the story involves a spirited romance between the commanding officer of the crew, Captain Hendry and the scientific leader, Dr Carrington's secretary, Nikki Nicholson.

When Hendry's crew land at the crash site (having picked up the scientists), they find the wreckage almost completely covered in ice, and are shocked to discover that the shape of the craft is round - a flying saucer. They attempt to free it from the ice with thermite explosives, but in doing so accidentally destroy the craft. However, one team member with a geiger counter finds that there is a body nearby frozen in ice.

They excavate the body in an ice block and return to the research outpost as a major storm moves in, making communication with Anchorage very difficult. Some of the scientists want to thaw out the creature, but Hendry orders everyone to wait. Feeling uneasy, one of the Air Force crew guarding the body covers the ice block with a blanket, not realising it is an electric blanket, and the creature thaws out.

The creature is attacked by sled dogs as it attempts to escape, and the scientists recover an arm, bitten off by the dogs. They examine it, and as it warms it begins to come back to life. They learn that, while appearing humanoid, the creature is in fact an advanced form of plant life. Dr. Carrington is convinced that the creature can be reasoned with, while the Air Force men are just as sure it can't.

Carrington later discovers the hidden body of a sled dog, drained of blood in the greenhouse. He gets scientist volunteers to stand guard, some of whom are later killed by the creature. The USAF crew then manage to trap it in the greenhouse.

Carrington realizes that the creature requires human blood to reproduce and he secretly uses plasma from the infirmary to incubate and nourish seedlings he has taken from the arm. The scientists also soon realize that the wounded creature will need more blood, and that it will not be confined in the greenhouse for long.

The creature does escape and breaks back into the camp, but Captain Hendry and his men set it alight with kerosene (following a suggestion from Nikki about how to deal with vegetables - "boil them, fry them?") and it flees into the snowy night.

Before long the creature returns, and it turns the camp's oil burning heat off, forcing the scientists and the airmen to make a final stand at the generator shack. Here they create a trap for the creature using high voltage electricity as a weapon. As the creature advances on them, Carrington twice tries to stop the creature's demise; once by shutting off the power, and the second by running out on to the trap and trying to reason with the creature (he fails and the creature bats him aside.)

The creature is electrocuted, shrinking to a husk as it is killed. Its seedlings are also destroyed. As the film closes Hendry and Nikki are set to become engaged as Scotty files his "story of a lifetime" by radio, imploring his listeners to "Watch the skies!"

[edit] Production notes

The screenplay changes the fundamental nature of the alien as presented in Campbell's short story: Lederer's "Thing" is a humanoid monster whose cellular structure is closer to vegetation although it must feed on blood to survive. One character describes it as an "intellectual carrot". In the original story, the "Thing" is a lifeform capable of assuming the physical and mental characteristics of anyone it chooses. This aspect was realized in the John Carpenter remake of the film in 1982.

When American Movie Classics was showing the movie in the 1990s, the introduction related a story about the creation of the creature's makeup. The makeup artist supposedly went through several revisions of the creature's face. He would test each one by putting the full makeup on Arness and taking him for a drive through Los Angeles. At one point, a woman in the next car screamed and fainted upon seeing the creature. The makeup artist "knew he had a winner" and used that face in the movie.

As is common in many of Howard Hawks' films, the dialogue is notable for its snappy, fast pace and overlapping style, with characters (major and supporting) often speaking over each others lines in a realistic way.

At one point Captain Hendry opens a door and the creature is standing behind it; from then on the film takes pleasure in opening doors in an attempt to scare the viewer.

[edit] Film quotes

CAPTAIN HENDRY: Twenty thousand tons of steel is an awful lot of metal for an airplane.
CARRINGTON: It is for the sort of airplane we KNOW, Captain.

CREW CHIEF: Pretty spry for a guy with twelve dogs on him.
LIEUT DYKES: . . and losing an arm.

SCOTTY: An intellectual carrot - the mind boggles !

SCOTTY: Watch the skies!

[edit] Trivia

• The twenty thousand tons of steel that Carrington & Hendry refer to is comparable to a helicopter-carrying aircraft carrier. The mated space shuttle & launch system gross weight is 2,250 tons (US). The Saturn V moon rocket was 1,100 tons heavier.

• In 1982, John Carpenter made a more faithful version of the story "Who Goes There?" under the remake-suggestive title The Thing. It was already well-known that Carpenter was a fan of the original film, as he included considerable footage from it in his own Halloween. Certain elements of Carpenter's film were heavily suggested (including the "burning letters" opening titles) by this film. Also during The Thing, the characters make reference to a 'Norwegian' team that used thermite charges to clear the ice around the UFO, this is a direct reference to the team in the original film.
• The last line of the film, "Watch the skies," was the working title of the film that would become Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In an interesting twist, a sequel to that film was then considered that would have been titled Watch the Skies - except this time with malevolent aliens terrorizing a farm family. That film project eventually became the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. See more at Night Skies for the full project history.
• The famous last line was parodied in The Simpsons episode The Springfield Files. The pimple faced boy takes over the narration at the end of the episode, and, reading from a cue card says Keep watching the skis!, only then to correct himself. In another episode, Martin Prince uses the line to end his nomination speech for class president, in which he promises a science fiction library for the class.

• In 2001, the United States Library of Congress deemed the original film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

• In 2003, it was released on DVD.

• An 81-minute version of the film also exists. This shorter print, which deletes some sequences of character development, was prepared for a theatrical re-release and has also been shown on television.

• The Doctor Who episode The Seeds of Doom is largely based on the plot of The Thing From Another World.

[edit] External link

• Outpost #31 The Ultimate The Thing Fan-Site (largely devoted to Carpenter remake.)
• The Thing from Another World at the Internet Movie Database.