Thing from Another World, The (1951)
Director: Christian Nyby
Starring: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Robert Cornthwaite
Honors:
#87 AFI 100 Thrills
Inspiring countless subsequent sci-fi and horror productions
The Thing from Anther World is one of science fiction’s pioneers in
cinema history. Produced by Howard Hawks this film was fronted by a first-time
director with a cast of no names resulting in a production that proved to be wildly
popular, playing well to a post war American audience and continues to be a
remembered and honored. With modest, yet gripping horror story and a
mysteriously well produced product for a rather low budget feature, it lives a
classic of the then burgeoning genre of movie.
The Thing from Another World is a science fiction
thriller about an artic outpost terrorized by an alien being discovered in the
ice. An American expedition travels to a peculiar sight near the north pole to
study what appears to be a crashed flying saucer frozen under the icy surface.
Led by Air Force Captain Pat Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) and lead scientist Dr.
Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) with a journalist (Douglas Spencer) in tow, the
search party fails to retrieve the craft, but recover the body of a being
frozen in ice returning to their base for future study. Accidently the large
plant based humanoid creature is thawed and revived, commencing deadly terrors
for the crew as it seeks blood for sustenance. Hendry focuses on survival of
all the men and attempting to lure the Thing out from where it hides and kill
it. However, Carrington becomes an obstacle as he wishes to spare it for his
own future study and advancement. Seemingly indestructible, the Thing withstands
bullets and direct attack by fire, as men and resources are lost during the
conflict with the deadly creature. After Carrington fails dramatically to
appeal to the monster Hendry and the remaining men are able to kill the Thing
by electrocution, leaving the journalist, Scotty, to finally transmit his story
of the event by radio, urging the audience to keep watching the skies.
A film that played to the fears of post war America, it,
like most science fiction films of the 1950s through the 1970s, uses the medium
to share rooted metaphors in a society that was finding its place in a rapidly
evolving world. With a simple tale that comes down to cramped quarters and a
unseen predator who can strike at any moment the film assisted in shaping the
modern “haunted house” horror trope. All this is done so with the help of the
expanding atomic age as the mysteries of space delivered a new source of fear to
audiences as mankind neared the precipice of new frontiers and discoveries. A
lower budgeted picture, the film easily captured imaginations of countless
audiences, becoming nightmare fuel for many in its day and a classic that is
still honored all these years later despite its aging.
Based on the 1948 novella “Who Goes There” by John W.
Campbell, producer Howard Hawks worked to adapt alien-based thriller for the
screen under his new production company, Winchester Production Corporation, and
distributed by RKO. Simplified for the mean of the production the Thing was
reduced from being a shape shifter to simply a humanoid creature with a desire
for blood. The script allowed for the fantastical story to be captured in a
minimalistic setting with only and handful of uncomplex characters while the
focus of the plot remains mostly on the unseen, building mystery and suspense.
It was to be a modest picture, low budget to be benefit Hawks’ pocketbook, cast
with unknown players and one of Hawks’ long time editors, Christopher Nyby, set
to direct his first film.
With the story focused on the suspense of the alien creature
itself, the characters that dot the cast are rather simple in nature. As true
with many horror films, the characters serve as a device to deliver the meat of
the film, the creature that does the terrorizing. Observed in his brief
appearance within the miltary comedy I Was a Male War Bride (1950),
Kenneth Tobey was cast as Captain Hendry, the hero of the picture, who does
little more attempt to kill the Thing, fend off the troublesome scientist, and
flirt with his girlfriend. This lone female character was played by failed
starlet for Hawks Margaret Sheridan. She portrays Nikki, the flirtatious
secretary who provides fleeting moments of candor with Hendry outside of the primary
drama, delivering a female character that appears strong, but with sadly little
to do for the picture. Robert Cornthwaite provides your typical scientist type,
as he would usually do in his career, a flat character to detest as he obsesses
more over discovering the next big scientific breakthrough than care for the wellbeing
of others.
Outweighing all the cast was James Arness as the titular
Thing. Not making an appearance until nearly an hour into the feature, Arness
is not seen too much at all through the film with much clarity. This is perhaps
due in part because of the simplified and bizarre makeup that made him into the
Thing. After many makeup tests an exasperated Howard Hawks, displeased with
what makeup artists first attempts, insisted that they scale back their efforts
and make it more Frankenstein-like as the creature would not be seen clearly in
the film. Arness as the Thing at most times on screen would be in the distance,
in low light, or running frame providing little detail for the audiences to observe.
The one time the Thing is up close in a medium shot was a fraction of a second
for a jump scare, and in the age before home video, or a pause button, this was
not enough for viewers to gain a good look as many where too startled to be
sure of what they saw. It is not until the climatic final scene where we get any
prolonged shots of the Thing, still allowing for no considerable detail. This
presentation of the Thing created a mystique that built through word of mouth
as audiences shared their experience in watching the film that created its own
short live phenomena.
The film’s production was kept rather minimal, playing well
to the claustrophobic nature of the story. When shooting on location delivered
lesser material than desired, exteriors were shot on a Southern California
movie ranch made to look like the arctic while actors sweltered in heavy coats
in the hot sun. Many interior sets were built in a refrigerated warehouse to
create an environment where the character’s breathe was able to be captured on
camera adding to the drama of not only being hunted, but the possibility of
freezing to death.
The greatest legend that surrounds the legacy of The
Thing from Another World is that of its director. Christian Nyby was a
newcomer to directing and for him to make such in instant success in his first
feature and never achieve similar style or success in his subsequent works
allowed for the long debate over whether he even truly directed the picture.
The feature shares far more similarities to a Howard Hawks style of picture
than anything else, enticing many to believe he was always the creative man
behind the picture.
The truth is Hawks was there from the beginning, choosing
the story, approving the script, and supervising all aspects of filming. The
film was produced under the banner of his own production company. He rehearsed
with the actors without Nyby before filming started. During principle
photography he was ever-present with Nyby consistently talking to him between
takes. Nyby would insist that the film’s similarities to a Howard Hawks-like
style was spurred from his past working with Hawks, first as his editor and now
wanting to emulate his boss so much that he portrayed similarities in how he
filmed this movie, hoping to impress. Many cast and crew would state years
later how obvious it was Hawks was pulling the strings, but Hawks and Nyby
would continue to deny. Rumor states that Hawks distanced himself from
directing his company’s first feature to help save on the budget of the film
for his new company through RKO. Another rumor says that was Hawks’ way of
helping Nyby get his foot in the door with the Director’s Guild with this being
his first feature. All this is speculation, but there must be nuggets of true
found in there as the performances, blocking, and line delivery all resemble a
Howard Hawks style of picture which is why most film historians consider this a
Hawks’ picture when they discuss it.
The Thing from Another World was moderate success in
the theaters, making it one of the top 50 grossing features of 1951, a great
result for a science fiction picture. Critic reviews were mixed to positive,
seeing the film as a simple monster movie. Looking back, we can study how The
Thing encapsulates the mindset of America at the time. The picture reflects
impressions of the Red Scare, how Communism and Russian enemies were viewed as
an unseen threat to everyday American society. In the wake of World War II and
the atomic bomb there is was flourished a general distrust in science, as
progress opened new doors to new dangers. On top of that were the mysteries of
the on-coming space race poking into view. All this is visible looking back
which allows the film to be a time capsule, a view into the minds of a portion
of the population and its fears as it entered a new age for America.
The Thing from Another World would go on to be remade and reimagined in the years to come. Outside of John Carpenter’s direct remake in 1982, perhaps the best reimagining of the trope would be Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien, a classic of the genre itself. The Thing remains one of the most influential science fiction and horror pictures of all time, continuing to capture the imaginations of viewers with each passing generation.
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