Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay)
Jack Finney (Collier's magazine serial)
(more)

Release Date:

5 February 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

... there was nothing to hold onto - except each other.

Plot:

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Delusion | Psychiatrist | Doctor | Gas Station

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Kevin McCarthy	...	Dr. Miles J. Bennell
Dana Wynter	...	Becky Driscoll
Larry Gates	...	Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman
King Donovan	...	Jack Belicec
Carolyn Jones	...	Theodora 'Teddy' Belicec
Jean Willes	...	Nurse Sally Withers
Ralph Dumke	...	Police Chief Nick Grivett
Virginia Christine	...	Wilma Lentz
Tom Fadden	...	Uncle Ira Lentz
Kenneth Patterson	...	Stanley Driscoll
Guy Way	...	Officer Sam Janzek
Eileen Stevens	...	Anne Grimaldi
Beatrice Maude	...	Grandma Grimaldi
Jean Andren	...	Eleda Lentz
Bobby Clark	...	Jimmy Grimaldi
Everett Glass	...	Dr. Ed Pursey
Dabbs Greer	...	Mac Lomax
Pat O'Malley	...	Baggage man
Guy Rennie	...	Restaurant owner
Marie Selland	...	Martha Lomax
Sam Peckinpah	...	Charlie (meter reader)
Harry J. Vejar	...	Pod carrier in Miles' office
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Whit Bissell	...	Dr. Hill (uncredited)
Richard Deacon	...	Dr. Harvey Bassett (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Robert Osterloh	...	Ambulance Driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Don Siegel

Writing credits
Daniel Mainwaring		(screenplay)
Jack Finney		(Collier's magazine serial)
Richard Collins		uncredited

Produced by
Walter Mirisch	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Carmen Dragon

Cinematography by
Ellsworth Fredericks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robert S. Eisen

Production Design by
Ted Haworth		(as Edward Haworth)

Set Decoration by
Joseph Kish

Makeup Department
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist
Mary Westmoreland	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Allen K. Wood	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Beaudine Jr.	....	assistant director (as Bill Beaudine Jr.)
Richard Maybery	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Ralph Butler	....	sound
Del Harris	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Milt Rice	....	special effects
Don Post	....	special makeup effects: pods and other props (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James V. King	....	additional camera operator: final sequence (uncredited)

Music Department
Carmen Dragon	....	conductor
Jerry Irvin	....	music editor

Other crew
Irva Mae Ross	....	script supervisor (as Irva Ross)

Production Companies

• Allied Artists Pictures (presents) (as Allied Artists Pictures Corporation)
• Walter Wanger Productions (as Walter Wanger Pictures, Inc.)

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Sinfonia Films (1967) (France) (theatrical)
• Artisan Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2000) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1974) (Finland) (TV) (as MTV1)
• National Telefilm Associates (NTA) (1983) (USA) (all media)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Olive Films (2012) (Canada) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)
• Olive Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Republic Pictures (1988) (worldwide) (all media) (colorized version)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2010) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

"Walter Wanger's Invasion of the Body Snatchers" - UK (complete title), USA (complete title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Norway:16 | UK:PG (tv rating) | UK:X (original rating) (passed with cuts) | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1997) | USA:Approved (certificate #17567)

Filming Locations:

1200 N. Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

Throughout the years, Sam Peckinpah (who appears briefly in the film as the meter reader) claimed that he had done work on the script ranging from modifications to major overhauls. Those who worked on the film claimed that if Peckinpah had made any changes to the script, it was limited to a few lines of dialog. Peckinpah's claims became so inflated that the actual writer, Daniel Mainwaring, threatened to file an official complaint with the Writers Guild of America, so Peckinpah backed down. When Peckinpah died in 1984, many of his obituaries still carried the claim that he had rewritten the screenplay for this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Water stains on the planks in the mine.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dr. Harvey Bassett:Oh, Doctor Hill.
Dr. Hill:Dr. Basset. Well, where's the patient?
Dr. Harvey Bassett:I hated to drag you out of bed at this time of night. You'll soon see why I did.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Gossip Girl: How to Succeed in Bassness (#3.7)" (2009)

Excellent genre film with intellectual subtexts

Dr. Miles J. Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is called back to his small California home early from a conference because a number of his patients have been frantically asking to see him. But oddly, when he returns home, most forget about their unspecified needs. At the same time, it seems that a mass hysteria is building where residents believe that friends and loved ones are "not themselves", literally. Just what is going on? As of this writing, it has been more than twenty years since I have seen the 1978 remake of this film, so I can't compare the two at the moment. However, it would have to be flawless to top this, the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

The sole factor that caused me to give the film less than a ten was the pacing during portions of the first half hour or so. While it's not bad, exactly, director Don Siegel does not build atmosphere and tension as effectively as he might have while the viewer is being filled in on the necessary exposition. Admittedly, this section is directed in a standard way for its era, but "standard" here is enough to subtract a point.

However, once we reach Miles' friend Jack Belicec (King Donovan) discovering a body on his billiard table, the suspense and tension gradually increase, and the remainder of the film is a very solid ten.

The literal "weapon" of the film's horror could have easily come across as cheesy, but it doesn't. Don Post and Milt Rice's special make-up effects and props are threateningly eerie. The transformation sequences involving the props are beautifully shot and edited--showing just enough to make them effective, but not so much that the mystery is gone.

It was ingenious to create a story where a whole town gradually turns into a villain, and even natural, unavoidable biological functions threaten our heroes' destruction. In conjunction, it all creates an intense sense of claustrophobia and paranoia for the audience.

McCarthy and Dana Wynter, as Miles' girlfriend Becky Driscoll, expertly convey a gradual transformation from common citizens to panic-stricken, desperate victims on the run. The film is also notable for slightly ahead-of-its time portrayals of relationships and divorce.

Much has been said about the parallels between Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the "communist paranoia" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, especially as it was directed against Hollywood by the House of Un-American Activities Committee. (And how ironic that the star of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is named McCarthy?) However, there is another very interesting subtext present that isn't so often mentioned. The film can also be looked at as a philosophical exploration of personal identity. Just what does it take for people to be themselves? Is it how they look, act, the things they say? Is it not the case that people are constantly transformed into something they weren't just hours ago, or even moments ago? Among the many ways that these kinds of ideas are worked into the script is that sleep is a metaphor for unconscious physical change over time. It would be easy to analyze each scene in the film in this manner, going into detail about the various implications each plot development has on the matter of personal identity.

Despite the slight pacing/atmosphere flaw in the beginning, this is a gem of a film, not just for sci-fi and horror fans, and not just for its era. It's worth seeing by anyone with a serious interest in film, and can be enjoyed either on its suspenseful surface level, or more in-depth by those who want to look at the film as more metaphorical material for societal and philosophical concerns.