Review of The Thing from Another World (1951) by Donald M — 05 Nov 2008

Produced by Howard Hawks - and some say he had a hand in the direction. It certainly contains elements of Hawks: manly men acting all manly, and tough but beautiful broads all struggling against...something.

In the film, a scientific installation in Alaska uncovers a flying saucer and accidentally unleashes a terrifying alien being, who, unlike us, is vegetable matter and is able to reproduce "asexually" by spores (although in nature plants and flowers require pollen-spreading for fertilization, this is unmentioned in the film). Fortunately for the sissy scientists, there are some military men there to kick some vegetable ass.

Nowhere near as good as the John Carpenter "remake", which actually came closer to the spirit of the original source material. This version cuts out the "thing's" shape-shifting ability, reducing the movie to a siege film with the soldiers as the cowboys, the alien as the indians and the scientific installation as the fort.

There are some nice set pieces though - particularly the scene when the scientists and soldiers try to see how large the flying saucer is and stand around its outline; the camera pulls back to reveal the men standing around the huge shadow of something submerged under the ice.

My favourite part of the film was putting the face to the voice of Paul Frees (in an uncredited role as one of the scientists). He was the voice of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Fractured Flickers, Ludwig Von Drake, Rankin-Bass cartoons, etc. etc. and he used to be all over Disneyland until they ruined it.

Oh, and the film should have ended with a scene of an alien plant growing secretly in some secluded area.