 |
ALLIED
ARTISTS PICTURES CORPORATION - 1956
80
minutes - Black and White - Superscope
PRODUCTION
CREDITS
| Producer:
Walter Wanger Director: Don Siegel Writer: Daniel Mainwaring (from the "Collier's serial" by Jack Finney, "The Body Snatchers") Cinematographer: Ellsworth Fredericks Art Director: Edward "Ted" Haworth Editor: Robert S. Eisen |
Music:
Carmen Dragon Music Editor: Jerry Irvin Sound Mixer: Ralph Butler Sound Editor: Del Harris Special Effects: Milt Rice Makeup: Emile Lavigne and Lou LaCava |
 |
CAST
OF CHARACTERS
Kevin
McCarthy ..... Dr. Miles Bennell Dana Wynter ..... Becky Driscoll |
 |
King
Donovan ..... Jack Belicec Caroline Jones ..... Teddy Belicec |
 |
Larry
Gates ..... Dr. Danny Kaufman, psychiatrist Everett Glass ..... Dr. Ed Pursey Jean Willes ..... Sally, Miles' nurse and secretary Kenneth Patterson ..... Mr. Driscoll, Becky's father Virginia Christine ..... Wilma Lentz, Becky's cousin Ralph Dumke ..... Nick Grivett, the police officer Whit Bissell ..... Dr. Hill from the State Mental Hospital Richard Deacon ..... Dr. Harvey Bassett Tom Fadden ..... Uncle Ira Lentz Sam Peckinpah ..... Charlie Buckholtz, the gaz meter Dabbs Greer ..... Mac, the gas station attendant |
PLOTLINE
| After
a medical convention, Dr. Miles Bennell returns to his hometown
Santa Mira by train, and, discovers small changes in people behaviors.
He later witnesses a monstrous conspiracy against Mankind conceived
by alienpods from outer space which substitute people forms during
their sleeps and absorb their minds. Scared stiff Dr. Miles Bennell
must now warn his fellowmen of the menace at his own risk. |
 |
QUOTES
| Dr.
Danny Kaufman: |
| "...
Less than a month ago, Santa Mira was like any other town. People
with nothing but problems. Then out of the sky came a solution.
Seeds, drifting through space for years, took root in a farmer's
field. From the seeds came pods which have the power to reproduce
themselves in the exact likeness of any form of life." |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "So
that's how it began. Out of the sky." |
| *** |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "I
love Becky. Tomorrow will I feel the same?" |
| Dr.
Danny Kaufman: |
| "There's
no need for love." |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "No
emotion? Then you have no feelings, only the instinct to survive...
You can't love or be loved, am I right?" |
| Dr.
Danny Kaufman: |
| "You
say it as if it were terrible. Believe me, it isn't. You've been
in love before... It didn't last. It never does... Love. Desire.
Ambition. Faith. Without them life's so simple, believe me." |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "I
don't want any part of it." |
| Dr.
Danny Kaufman: |
| "You're
forgetting something, Miles." |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "What's
that?" |
| Dr.
Danny Kaufman: |
| "You
have no choice." |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "I
guess we haven't any choice." |
| Dr.
Danny Kaufman: |
| "Good." |
| *** |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "Hey,
stop! Pull up, will ya?... Pull over to the side of the road...
I need your help. Something terrible has happened." |
| Driver: |
| "Go
on, you're drunk!" |
| Driver: |
| "Get
out of the street! Get out of here!!" |
| Driver: |
| "Go
on!" |
| Voice: |
| "Are
you crazy, you big idiot!" |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "Look!
You fools You're in danger! Can't you see? They're after you!
They're after all of us! our wives! ... our children... everyone..." |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "They're
here already! You're next!" |
| Dr.
Miles Bennell: |
| "You're
next! You're next! You're next! You're next!" |
COMMENTS
 |
| The
main quality of this science-fiction film lies in its Film Noir
look (thanks to cinematographer Ellsworth Fredericks) and his
horror-oriented approach. Too bad, the Studio adds irrelevant
opening and end hospital scenes in order to soften its pessimistic
leaning and overtones (Don Siegel's first film title was "Sleep
No More"). At first glance, the film looks like a pamphlet
on communism. But the director's intentions were to criticize
America's mass conformism and conservatism. Director Sam Peckinpah
(see "The Wild Bunch") plays a small part: Charlie,
the gas meter. On TV, episodes from the fantastic anthology "The
Outer Limits" (1963) recycled elements (subversion, paranoia)
of the plot in "Corpus Earthling" and "The Invisibles".
Both Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter play once in the science-fiction
series: "The Invaders" (1967) which is a direct reference
to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", especially in the
episodes: "Genesis", "The Enemy", "The
Spores". Kevin McCarthy starred in the season two episode:
"The Watchers" and Dana Wynter in "The Captive".
Actors Whit Bissell and Dabbs Greer play in both shows. |
 |
REMAKES
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Director: Philip Kaufman
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum,
Leonard Nimoy, Kevin McCarthy and Don Siegel
***
Body Snatchers (1993)
Director: Abel Ferrara
Cast: Terry Kinney and Meg Tilly
Director: Philip Kaufman
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum,
Leonard Nimoy, Kevin McCarthy and Don Siegel
***
Body Snatchers (1993)
Director: Abel Ferrara
Cast: Terry Kinney and Meg Tilly
LINKS
| BOOK |
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| To
read the contents of the Book: click here To get the Book, go to: Amazon.com UK Robert Foyle Books |
