Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Jack Finney (Collier's magazine serial)
Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

5 February 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

... there was nothing to hold onto - except each other.

Plot:

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

Plot Keywords:

Anti Conformity | Beautiful Woman | Disturbing | Human Duplication | Pitchfork

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Kevin McCarthy	...	Dr. Miles J. Bennell
Dana Wynter	...	Becky Driscoll
Larry Gates	...	Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman
King Donovan	...	Jack Belicec
Carolyn Jones	...	Theodora 'Teddy' Belicec
Jean Willes	...	Nurse Sally Withers
Ralph Dumke	...	Police Chief Nick Grivett
Virginia Christine	...	Wilma Lentz
Tom Fadden	...	Uncle Ira Lentz
Kenneth Patterson	...	Stanley Driscoll
Guy Way	...	Officer Sam Janzek
Eileen Stevens	...	Anne Grimaldi
Beatrice Maude	...	Grandma Driscoll
Jean Andren	...	Eleda Lentz
Bobby Clark	...	Jimmy Grimaldi
Everett Glass	...	Dr. Ed Pursey
Dabbs Greer	...	Mac Lomax
Pat O'Malley	...	Baggage man
Guy Rennie	...	Restaurant owner
Marie Selland	...	Martha Lomax
Sam Peckinpah	...	Charlie (meter reader)
Harry J. Vejar	...	Pod carrier in Miles' office
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Whit Bissell	...	Dr. Hill (uncredited)
Richard Deacon	...	Dr. Harvey Bassett (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Robert Osterloh	...	Ambulance driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Don Siegel

Writing credits
Jack Finney		(Collier's magazine serial)
Daniel Mainwaring		(screenplay)
Richard Collins		uncredited

Produced by
Walter Wanger	....	producer

Original Music by
Carmen Dragon

Cinematography by
Ellsworth Fredericks

Film Editing by
Robert S. Eisen

Production Design by
Ted Haworth

Set Decoration by
Joseph Kish

Makeup Department
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist
Mary Westmoreland	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Allen K. Wood	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Beaudine Jr.	....	assistant director
Richard Maybery	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Ralph Butler	....	sound
Del Harris	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Milt Rice	....	special effects
Don Post	....	special makeup effects: pods and other props (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James V. King	....	additional camera operator: final sequence (uncredited)

Music Department
Carmen Dragon	....	conductor
Jerry Irvin	....	music editor

Other crew
Irva Mae Ross	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Walter Wanger Productions

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Continental Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2000) (West Germany) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Media Home Entertainment (198?) (USA) (VHS) (as Nostalgia Merchant)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Sleep No More
They Came from Another World (USA) (working title)
Walter Wanger's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Finland:K-12 | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

1200 N. Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

Trivia:

Only $15,000 of the budget was spent on special effects.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Miles is carrying the sleeping Becky from her house to his car, her right arm is hanging limp on the way down the stairs and her left arm is holding Miles. But in the next shot at the front door her body position is changed, with her right arm around Miles shoulder and left arm hanging limp.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dr. Harvey Bassett: Oh, Doctor Hill.
Dr. Hill: Dr. Basset. Well, where's the patient?
Dr. Harvey Bassett: I hated to drag you out of bed at this time of night. You'll soon see why I did.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Watching the Detectives (2007)

Don't let the title fool you. This one is a classic.

This is one of the great movie allegories. Yes, it is an allegory on the McCarthy era. Yes, it is an allegory on conformist America. But it is also an allegory on the evils of communism and fascism. Yes, it is a plea for sanity and individualism, for creativity and artistic freedom. And again yes it is a great directorial achievement for Don Siegel. All that aside it is also an entertaining film that does what any great movie should do, it moves. The dialog is not stilted or full of clichés. It is original and insightful without becoming preachy. Was Kevin McCarthy chosen because his name was McCarthy and the film runs counter to McCarthism? I think he was chosen because he was one of the gifted actors of the 1950's whose talents were not fully realized by the film industry. His fellow actors and actresses in the movie shared the same fate. The movie is also a top notch thriller, as good as any Hitchcock. When you're talking about the films of the 1950's that help define the period only a few come to mind: "The Wild One," "Rebel Without A Cause," and "Bad Day at Black Rock" are often cited. But "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is the one to study. It epitomizes the American outlook and cold war hysteria of the era as no other film from the decade does.