Review by: Michael L. Foster

The Thing From Another World

Directed by: Christian Nyby

Written by:  John Campbell Jr. and Charles Lederer

Runtime:  87 min.

Release: April 1951

Genre:  Horror, Sci-Fi

Cast:

Margaret Sheridan...................Nikki

Kenneth Toby.........................Captain Patrick Hendry

Robert Cornthwaite.................Dr. Carrington

Douglas Spencer.....................Scotty

James R. Young......................Lt. Eddie Dykes

Dewey Martin........................Crew Chef

Robert Nichols........................Lt. Ken McPherson

William Self............................Corporal Barnes

Eduard Franz..........................Dr. Stern

Sally Creighton.......................Mrs. Chapman

James Arness..........................The Thing

Awards: Received one award from the National Film Registry in 2001, but nothing more than that.

IMDB Rating: 7.4 out of 10 (Very Good)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 90% (Excellent)

Plot:

            The events are set somewhere in the Arctic region as scientists at a local research station have received unconfirmed reports of a mysterious disturbance nearby.  To help investigate a small group is sent out, including a couple of air force pilots, a couple scientists, and others as well.  Upon reaching the coordinates of the “disturbance”, the team finds the unexpected:  a large spacecraft buried heavily beneath the ice.  In an attempt to recover the craft, the group surrounds the area with a special kind of explosive that will melt the ice without harming the craft.  Eventually the team gets through only to find what they thought not possible: some mysterious alien creature of some sort with the figure of a man.  The team cuts out the block of ice that surrounds the perceived alien and takes it back with them to the research station for further examination.  During one of the shifts taken to watch the alien, an electric blanket is accidentally left on the block of ice and melts the ice block.  When one of the team members discovers this, he notifies the others quickly and they begin to search for the missing specimen.  Throughout the rest of the film, the team discovers from a sample, that the alien has no arterial design and no heart.  The alien begins to attack members of the team feeding on their blood for life.  The team must find a way to stop the alien from causing any more harm so they set an electrical trap for him   

Released in 1951 during the time of the Korean War, “The Thing From Another World” represents the feelings of most Americans. It was at this time that much of the nation was experiencing feelings of anti-communism.  These feelings were somewhat brought about by the time period commonly known as the Second Red Scare.  During the Second Red Scare, Americans were motivated to believe that the Communists were pushing their ideas of social and economic reform onto the nation.  The Thing From Another World does a good job of symbolizing this perspective of Communism from the America point of view and illustrates pretty accurately the feelings that most Americans had during this era.

My thoughts:

I thought the movie was very entertaining and did a great job symbolizing the feelings that most Americans shared about Communism.  Also the use of the alien to illustrate the Communist threat is a very good idea.  I would give the entertainment an A and the representation of the Communist threat, etc. a B+

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