Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

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)

Stars:

Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Dr. Miles Bennell returns to 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 doppelgangers 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.

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Plot Keywords:

alien infiltration | alien invasion | surprise ending | small town | psychiatrist | 

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Taglines:

Walter Wanger Creates the Ultimate in Science-Fiction!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The biggest problem director Don Siegel and company had with the studio was over the use of humor. He, writer Daniel Mainwaring and producer Walter Wanger had scripted scenes with humor in them, and Kevin McCarthy said the actors improvised some during shooting. When the film was still in the work print stage, Siegel and Wanger decided to try it out in front of a preview audience behind the studio's back. Much of the humor was still in the film at that point, and the audience response went from shrieks to screams to laughter and back again. Siegel had sneaked a tape recorder into the theater so they could prove to the studio just how great the reception was to their rough cut. However, Allied Artists head Steve Broidy hit the roof when he found out and wanted to know why the audience was laughing in places. He ordered any trace of humor removed.

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Goofs

The opening credits say "Produced in Superscope." This is not true. It was produced (i.e. filmed) spherically in the wide-screen ratio of 1.85:1, then cropped to 2:1 and printed anamorphically in Superscope, despite the protests of director Don Siegel.

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Quotes

Dr. Miles J. Bennell: Drugs dull the mind - maybe that's the reason.

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Crazy Credits

THE END comes up on the final shot of the film of Miles looking relieved that Dr Hill has believed his story, and is calling the FBI about the alien invasion of Santa Mira.

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Alternate Versions

Originally released at 80 minutes; reissued in 1979 at 76 minutes, deleting the studio-imposed prologue and epilogue starring Whit Bissel and Richard Deacon.

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Connections

Featured in Under the Silver Lake (2018)

User Reviews

Classic chiller

A doctor comes to a hospital on a late night call to hear a man whom everybody else deems insane. The doctor persuades the man to be patient and tell his story. The man then tells the doctor about how a small California town has been invaded by some sort of alien seeds that grow into human clones...

Coming straight from the McCarthy era and general Cold War paranoia this is one scary movie. There is not a gun fired, not a drop of gore shed but the final effect of the film will stay with you for a good while. More contemporary film viewers might recognize the concept from John Carpenter's "The Thing" which itself was an update of the 1951 film. However, the themes of paranoia and tension are just as nail-biting and intense here.

There is a lack of visual punch that so many people are used to today, but just think of the historical context and the implications, basically use your mind! Then you'll see why the film scared studio executives so much that they forced Don Siegel to add an intro and outro to help soften the overall effect. It wasn't the best play in the book, but the film remains a great classic chiller. --- 9/10

Not Rated. It would most likely receive a PG from the MPAA, there are several tense moments, though no violence.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 February 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sleep No More

Filming Locations:

Sunset Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$417,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,861

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Wanger Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1