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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

APPROVED 80 min  -  Horror | Sci-Fi  -   5 February 1956 (USA)
7.9
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Ratings: 7.9/10 from 19,579 users  
Reviews: 172 user | 93 critic

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

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay), Jack Finney (Collier's magazine serial), and 1 more credit »
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates. Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- Joe Dante discusses the making of Invasion of the Body Snatchers
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin McCarthy ...
Dana Wynter ...
Larry Gates Larry Gates ...
King Donovan King Donovan ...
Carolyn Jones ...
Theodora 'Teddy' Belicec
Jean Willes Jean Willes ...
Nurse Sally Withers
Ralph Dumke Ralph Dumke ...
Police Chief Nick Grivett
Virginia Christine Virginia Christine ...
Tom Fadden Tom Fadden ...
Uncle Ira Lentz
Kenneth Patterson Kenneth Patterson ...
Guy Way Guy Way ...
Officer Sam Janzek
Eileen Stevens Eileen Stevens ...
Anne Grimaldi
Beatrice Maude Beatrice Maude ...
Grandma Grimaldi
Jean Andren Jean Andren ...
Eleda Lentz
Bobby Clark Bobby Clark ...
Jimmy Grimaldi
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Storyline

Dr Miles Bennell returns his small town practice to find several of his patients suffering the paranoid delusion that their friends or relatives are impostors. He is initially skeptical, especially when the alleged dopplegängers are able to answer detailed questions about their victim's lives, but he is eventually persuaded that something odd has happened and determines to find out what is causing this phenomenon. This film can be seen as a paranoid 1950s warning against those Damn Commies or, conversely, as a metaphor for the tyranny of McCarthyism (or the totalitarian system of Your Choice) and has a pro- and epilogue that was forced upon Siegel by the studio to lighten the tone. Written by Mark Thompson <mrt@oasis.icl.co.uk>  

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Delusion | Psychiatrist | Doctor | Gas Station  | See more »

Taglines:

They come from another world! See more »

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Walter Wanger's Invasion of the Body Snatchers See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$417,000 (estimated)
See more »

Company Credits

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

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. See more »

Goofs

Continuity: Water stains on the planks in the mine. See more »

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.
See more »

Connections

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