31 Days of Halloween: Boil it, bake it, stew it, fry it? It's hard to destroy The Thing!

One of my favorite science fiction movies is the 1951 version of The Thing from Another World. Even though it was made long ago, it remains an excellent, scary movie. Although Christian Nyby gets the sole directing credit on the screen, most critics agree that producer Howard Hawks helmed much of the film. The screenplay is loosely based on the short story “Who Goes There?” written by John W. Campbell in 1938. John Carpenter’s 1982 remake of this story is a more faithful adaptation, because the alien in Campbell’s story is a shape shifter. In Hawk’s 1951 film, the alien is a more traditional monster.

The movie stars Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Douglas Spencer and Robert O. Cornthwaite, and James Arness as The Thing. I love this movie and watch it several times a year. The main reason I like this version is because the plot is simple and moves quickly, the characters are likable people, and the dialogue is witty and flows naturally. The characters are like old friends and are comfortable with each other; they don’t skip a beat when talking to one another.

Set in Alaska, the film opens with Air Force Captain Hendry and his men being sent to a remote Arctic research station to check on a group of scientists who claim a mysterious aircraft has crashed landed near their research facility. Captain Hendry (Tobey) allows a newspaper reporter to accompany them in the airplane along with sled dogs and other equipment.

Once there, Hendry quickly assesses the situation and discovers that the unknown aircraft has melted into the ice and refrozen. My favorite scene is when the scientists and Hendry’s men determine the shape of the craft. They each walk out to the rim of the craft and hold out their hands. Immediately, they realize they have found a round flying saucer. They all agree the best way to melt the ice to get to the craft is by using thermite heat explosives. However, they accidently blow up the spacecraft. Crew chief Bob, played by Dewey Martin, discovers the body of the alien frozen in the ice. (Interestingly, this icy-set scene was filmed at the RKO ranch in the San Fernando Valley in 100-degree heat.)

Dr. Carrington (Cornthwaite) is the film’s “mad scientist.” He tries to grow some “baby Things” using an arm torn by a sled dog who attacked the creature. He even uses human blood plasma to feed the seedlings, ignoring the possibility that he’s creating a race of Things that will consume the Earth’s population for food. But Carrington cannot help himself—his quest for knowledge about the unknown drives him to do these things. He does not want The Thing destroyed, so he pleads with Hendry: “We have only one excuse for existing, to think, to find out, to learn what is unknown.” A second later, one of Henry’s men quips: “We haven’t a chance to learn anything from that Martian, except a quicker way to die.” This theme of science vs. military became a staple of 1950s science fiction films (even in The Day the Earth Stand Still, Klaatu is shot by an Army soldier and later seeks out men of science because no one else will listen to his message).

Crew chief Bob is the most creative of the characters. He comes up with all the effective ideas not only to kill the Thing, but how to keep it at bay. His ideas save everyone! When they learn the monstrous alien is more vegetable than human, Scotty asks: “Here’s the sixty-four million dollar question, what you do with a vegetable?” Nikki quickly replies, “Boil it, bake it, stew it, fry it?” Bob says they have plenty of kerosene, so why not try to burn it? This is what I mean by natural dialogue that flows quickly between the characters.

You won’t find out the fate of the Thing in this review. Just watch the film and enjoy the screenplay and likable, interesting characters. The most famous quote comes at the end when Scotty warns people everywhere to “watch the skies.”

There is a colorized version of The Thing From Another World on video. My father recorded the film from television for me many years ago and I still have it. My husband got me the DVD for Christmas last year. That fact alone tells you how much I love this movie.