Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Short description
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 science fiction thriller set in the California town of Santa Mira. Dr. Miles Bennell returns to his practice and finds a growing number of patients convinced that their relatives and friends are no longer themselves. The people around them have become cold and unfeeling, as though something has taken their place. Miles and his former girlfriend Becky Driscoll gradually discover that the townspeople are being duplicated by alien copies that assume their identities. The film follows their attempts to understand what is happening and to stay ahead of a threat that spreads through the community.
Don Siegel directed the film, the fourth of the eighteen features credited to him in chronological order, arriving between Riot in Cell Block 11 and The Gun Runners. Daniel Mainwaring wrote the screenplay with Richard Collins, and Walter Wanger produced. Kevin McCarthy stars as Miles, with Dana Wynter as Becky, and King Donovan, Carolyn Jones, Larry Gates and Kenneth Patterson in supporting roles. The credited cast numbers twenty-six. Made by Allied Artists Pictures and Walter Wanger Productions, the film took about three million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from 29 votes, while on TMDB it has 7.5 out of 10 from 1,239 votes. A critics' rating of 9.1 out of 10 from 59 reviews places it well above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Sam Peckinpah played a small role as a gas company employee. He later claimed that, while participating in the scriptwriting, he had practically rewritten the entire script. His claims were so insistent that the film's screenwriter threatened to file a complaint, after which Peckinpah quieted down.
- After the film's release, many interpreted it as an allegory. Some believed it was about the communist threat, while others thought it was anti-McCarthyist. Don Siegel maintained that he hadn't intended anything of the sort and had simply made a film about an alien invasion.
- Robert Rodriguez's film 'Wheels' features a scene where 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' is shown in a cinema. Kevin McCarthy played one of the audience members in the theater. Furthermore, after the final credits roll, a cut scene from the cinema episode featuring McCarthy is shown, which was removed from the main plot.
Similar movies
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