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IMDbPro

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

  • 19561956
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
52K
YOUR RATING
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Theatrical Trailer from Republic Pictures
Play trailer2:20
2 Videos
67 Photos
DramaHorrorSci-Fi
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
52K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Don Siegel
  • Writers
    • Daniel Mainwaring(screenplay by)
    • Jack Finney(based on the Collier's magazine serial by)
    • Richard Collins(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Kevin McCarthy
    • Dana Wynter
    • Larry Gates
  • Director
    • Don Siegel
  • Writers
    • Daniel Mainwaring(screenplay by)
    • Jack Finney(based on the Collier's magazine serial by)
    • Richard Collins(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Kevin McCarthy
    • Dana Wynter
    • Larry Gates
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 295User reviews
    • 167Critic reviews
    • 92Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins

    Videos2

    Invasion of the Body Snatchers
    Trailer 2:20
    Watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers
    Joe Dante on Invasion of the Body Snatchers
    Featurette 2:49
    Watch Joe Dante on Invasion of the Body Snatchers

    Photos67

    Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
    Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
    Kevin McCarthy in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
    Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
    Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
    "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" Kevin McCarthy 1956 Allied Artists
    "INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS" Dana Wynter, Allied Artists, 1956, I.V.
    "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" Kevin McCarthy,Dana Wynter 1956 Allied Artists
    "INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS" Dana Wynter, Allied Artists, 1956, I.V.
    "INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS" Dana Wynter, Allied Artists, 1956, I.V.
    "INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS" Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Allied Artists, 1956, I.V.
    "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" Kevin McCarthy 1956 Allied Artists

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kevin McCarthy
    Kevin McCarthy
    • Dr. Miles J. Bennell
    Dana Wynter
    Dana Wynter
    • Becky Driscoll
    Larry Gates
    Larry Gates
    • Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman
    King Donovan
    King Donovan
    • Jack Belicec
    Carolyn Jones
    Carolyn Jones
    • Theodora 'Teddy' Belicec
    Jean Willes
    Jean Willes
    • Nurse Sally Withers
    Ralph Dumke
    Ralph Dumke
    • Police Chief Nick Grivett
    Virginia Christine
    Virginia Christine
    • Wilma Lentz
    Tom Fadden
    Tom Fadden
    • Uncle Ira Lentz
    Kenneth Patterson
    • Stanley Driscoll
    Guy Way
    Guy Way
    • Officer Sam Janzek
    Eileen Stevens
    • Anne Grimaldi
    Beatrice Maude
    • Grandma Grimaldi
    Jean Andren
    • Eleda Lentz
    Bobby Clark
    • Jimmy Grimaldi
    Everett Glass
    Everett Glass
    • Dr. Ed Pursey
    Dabbs Greer
    Dabbs Greer
    • Mac Lomax
    Pat O'Malley
    Pat O'Malley
    • Baggage Man
    • Director
      • Don Siegel
    • Writers
      • Daniel Mainwaring(screenplay by)
      • Jack Finney(based on the Collier's magazine serial by)
      • Richard Collins(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Production designer Ted Haworth came up with a fairly simple and inexpensive (about $30,000 total) idea for creating the pods. The most difficult part was when the pods burst open, revealing the likenesses of the actors. The actors had to have naked impressions of themselves made out of thin, skin-tight latex. Making the casts, which involved being submerged in the very hot casting material with only a straw in their mouths to breathe through, was grueling for the actors, especially Carolyn Jones, who was claustrophobic. Dana Wynter recalled, "I was in this thing while it hardened, and of course it got rather warm! I was breathing through straws or something quite bizarre, and the rest of me was encased, it was like a sarcophagus. The guys who were making it tapped on the back of the thing and said, 'Dana, listen, we won't be long, we're just off for lunch [laughs]!' In the end, we had to be covered except for just the nostrils and I think a little aperture for the mouth."
    • Goofs
      (at around 20 mins) When Dr. Bennell is shown the body on the pool table he never bothers to ask where it came from or why it is there. One would think that would be the first question.
    • Quotes

      Dr. Miles J. Bennell: They're here already! You're next! You're next, You're next...!

    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Connections
      Edited into The Giant Claw (1957)

    User reviews295

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    A Very Exciting and Often Involving Noir Fantasy Thriller; Recommended
    The decision to make this fascinating novel into a noir thriller worked very well on its own merits as an "adventure" with mostly-implicit ideas as motivations; however, I believe the film could have been made into a dramatic work of unusual power, It is B/W, swift-paced, intelligently acted and unusually- well-directed by Don Siegel, with a literate script by Daniel Mainwaring. The project is also interesting and disturbing for a number of reasons. Jack Finney wrote a novel in the 1950s which some read as a loss of American individualism, and others as an attack on Cold-War mentality realpolitik. Whatever the wellsprings of this fine idea, Finney's story treated of "seeds from space"; the idea is that these came to Earth and have the power to reproduce themselves into any living thing's form, right down to its thought patterns, memories, etc. But of course they have no emotions--they are merely replicas, not the originals. A mass hysteria grips the town of Santa Mira, California, shortly after their secret arrival on our planet; and Dr. Miles Bennell is called home from a conference because a dozen people claim some relative or beloved friend is not who they were before. When this seems to die down, Miles has time to pursue old flame and lovely Becky Driscoll, now that both their divorces are final. But the problem does not disappear and cannot be explained away by a psychologist friend of Bennelle's, thoughtfully played by Larry Gates. Bennell and his friend Jack Belicec and his wife Teddie find a body on Jack's pool table; his wife think's it's an alien thing--to replace Jack. They three flee to Miles's house, and Bennell goes to get Becky--carrying her off into the night. The next day looks sunny and normal, except that they find huge seed pods in Bennell's greenhouse, turning into--something else. Or someone? The remainder of the film consists of Bennell trying to call for help, observing the distribution of seeds in trucks in the small town's center, being trapped in his office, overcoming two guards, fleeing, and losing Becky to the monsters, before he finally convinces authorities that he is not insane; this requires an accident--to a truck carrying giant seed pods, from Santa Mira. As Bennell, Kevin McCarthy is quite good if not ideal. Dana Wynter is classically good as Becky; King Donovan and Carolyn Jones are the Belicecs, she doing a great deal with little to work from. Ralph Dumke as the Police Chief and Virginia Christine as Becky's Aunt Wilma are also standouts. Others in the cast include Kenneth Patterson, Tom Fadden, Guy Rennie and Jean Willes as Bennell's nurse. The production values are all good, by my standards, but only the direction is outstanding, except for the special effects. Carmen Dragon supplied eerie music suitable to the action. The loss to the film occasioned by its being made as a frightening adventure can be gauged best perhaps by comparing the qualities of Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister with the enjoyable adventure-level film "Marlowe" made in the 1970s. What we have here is a taut and often moving entertainment; what we might have had could have contained every element here, but could also perhaps have been even more intriguing. The theme of the film is "what makes a person human"; and no stronger idea for an idea-level fantasy can perhaps be imagined. But what we have here is a famous and interesting thriller in its own right; I like the envelope involving Richard Deacon, Whitner Bissell and others as the doctors at a mental hospital to which a raving Bennell is taken when he escape Santa Mira's nightmare. The original "They're here!" ending to me would have been unacceptably alarmist.
    helpful•22
    3
    • silverscreen888
    • Jun 28, 2005

    FAQ9

    • What is "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" about?
    • Is "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" based on a book?
    • Where do the pods come from?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 5, 1956 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Walter Wanger's Invasion of the Body Snatchers
    • Filming locations
      • Town Square, Sierra Madre, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Allied Artists Pictures
      • Walter Wanger Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $417,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,861
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 20 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White

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