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Popular Culture Review
enough in Korea. His principal critic, General Douglas MacArthur, was a highly
popular figure who elicited great sympathy from the American public when
Truman fired him for insubordination (Remini 243-257).
Campbell’s story offered the potential to explore this threat of
invasion/infiltration through the symbolic concept of alien invasion. The black
and white movie, The Thing from Another Worlds (Howard Hawkes 1951) grew
from Campbell’s plot but added some new dimensions to the story, while
changing characters and the nature of the alien. Visually, the Arc tic region (note
the change from Antarctic to Arctic) once again offered a great setting for the
story. Its remoteness, bleakness, and isolation added a natural source of visual
wonder to the story. The crash landing of the space ship, called in that day a
flying saucer, focused on the fascination with outer space and aliens popular
during the time. From a technical point of view, having the ship buried in ice
and destroyed by thermite charges, consistent with the original story, left the
appearance of the ship to the viewer’s imagination, keeping it mysterious. It was
much easier to produce the alien itself, since its essential form is humanoid. It,
too, was buried in ice but was hacked out and carried to the base of the scientific
team for further study. The setting once again plays an important role, both
exterior and interior. The compound is full of nooks and isolated areas from
which the monster can pounce unexpectedly on its victims. It is noteworthy that
film critic Roger Ebert remembers this film as especially terrifying for this very
reason.
Although the characters’ names were all changed from the original
story, the actor Kenneth Tobey clearly embodies the heroic character of the
American. In this version, and appropriate to a time in which America had been
involved in military action in Korea, a military framework seemed appropriate.
Tobey as Captain Patrick Hendry is sent on orders from his commanding
General to find out what is happening in the Arctic since the reports are
confusing about the crash of an airship. It is not American or Canadian, so it
could possibly be a Russian aircraft. Naturally, during the Cold War, the
military would want to know what the Russians were doing and to examine the
aircraft to learn about their technological capability.
Other new elements in the movie are the appearance of women
characters and an awkward, “aw shucks” romance between Captain Hendry and
Carrington’s secretary Nikki Nicholson (Margaret Sheridan). This topic is
pursued in Margaret Tarratt’s article, “Monsters from the Id,” with a focus on
the Freudian elements of 1950’s sexual repression and subconscious desire.
Another added element is a reporter Ned Scott (Douglas Spencer) who serves as
the Gabriel to warn the whole world of the first contact with aliens and with the
need to be on the watch for their appearance. The watchword for this movie
actually is his line, “Watch the skies.”
In addition to fighting the alien itself, following the original story,
Captain Hendry has to fight scientist Doctor Carrington (Robert Comthwaite)
who wants to preserve the creature in the name of “pure” science.” From a