The Thing from Another World is a 1951 science fiction film which tells the story of an Air Force crew and scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who fight a malevolent alien being. It stars Kenneth Tobey (Capt Patrick Hendry), Margaret Sheridan (Nikki Nicholson), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Arthur Carrington) and Douglas Spencer (Ned Scott). James Arness appeared as The Thing, unrecognizable in costume and makeup. Oddly, no players are named during the otherwise-complete opening credits; the only cast credit is at the end (this was somewhat unusual in the 1950s). Image File history File links The_Thing_From_Another_World. ... Christian Nyby (September 1, 1913 _ September 17, 1993) was an American television and film director. ... Howard Hawks (May 30, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and writer of the classic Hollywood era. ... John Wood Campbell, Jr. ... Charles Davies Lederer (born December 31 1906 - died March 5 1976) was an American film writer and director. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Kenneth Tobey (Born March 23, 1917—December 22, 2002) was an American television and film actor. ... Douglas Spencer (February 12, 1910 - October 6, 1964) was a film actor. ... Robert Cornthwaite (April 28, 1917—July 20, 2006) was an American film and television character actor who began his acting career in 1937, appearing in a college production of Twelfth Night, while attending Reed College in Portland, Oregon. ... is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... See also: 1950 in film 1951 1952 in film 1950s in film 1940s in film years in film film Events Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati Top grossing films North America David and Bathsheba Show Boat tie The Great Caruso and An... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border Satellite image of the Arctic surface The Arctic is the region around the Earths North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. ... Kenneth Tobey (Born March 23, 1917—December 22, 2002) was an American television and film actor. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Robert Cornthwaite (April 28, 1917—July 20, 2006) was an American film and television character actor who began his acting career in 1937, appearing in a college production of Twelfth Night, while attending Reed College in Portland, Oregon. ... Douglas Spencer (February 12, 1910 - October 6, 1964) was a film actor. ... James Arness James Arness (originally Aurness) (born May 26, 1923 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an actor best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke for 20 years, a record length for a character on a single prime time show (though the length of time in a role is shared... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

The movie was loosely adapted by Charles Lederer from the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr. (originally published under the pseudonym Don A. Stuart). It was directed by Howard Hawks (uncredited) and Christian Nyby for Hawks' Winchester Pictures, which released it through RKO Radio Pictures Inc.. Charles Davies Lederer (born December 31 1906 - died March 5 1976) was an American film writer and director. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... John Wood Campbell, Jr. ... Howard Hawks (May 30, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and writer of the classic Hollywood era. ... Christian Nyby (September 1, 1913 _ September 17, 1993) was an American television and film director. ... This article is about the film production company. ...

The film took advantage of the national feelings of the time to help enhance the horror elements of the story. The film's release in 1951 coincided with the Korean War and the upswing in anti-communist feelings brought on by McCarthyism. The idea of Americans being stalked by a force which was single of mind and "devoid of morality" fit in well with the parallel feelings of the day on communism. Equally the film reflected a post-Hiroshima scepticism about science and negative views of scientists who meddle with things better left alone. In the end, it is American servicemen and sensible scientists who win the day over the monster. Combatants United Nations:  Republic of Korea,  Australia,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Canada,  Colombia,  Ethiopia,  France,  Greece,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  South Africa,  Thailand,  Turkey,  United Kingdom,  United States Medical staff:  Denmark,  Australia,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden Communist states:  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,  Peoples Republic of China,  Soviet Union Commanders... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... A 1947 comic book published by the Catechetical Guild Educational Society warning of the dangers of a Communist takeover. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ...

Plot summary

A U.S. Air Force re-supply crew is dispatched from Anchorage, Alaska at the request of Dr. Carrington, the chief researcher of a group of scientists working at a remote research base in the Arctic - Polar Expedition Six. They have evidence that an aircraft of some kind has crashed nearby. The crew takes along Scotty, a reporter and former war correspondent, who is hanging around the base in search of a story. A sub-plot running through the story involves a spirited romance between the commanding officer of the crew, Captain Hendry and the scientific leader, Dr Carrington's secretary, Nikki Nicholson. Nickname: Motto: Big Wild Life Location in the state of Alaska Coordinates: , Borough Municipality of Anchorage Government  - Mayor Mark Begich (D) Area  - Municipality  1,961. ...

When Hendry's crew land at the crash site (having picked up the scientists), they find the wreckage almost completely covered in ice, and are shocked to discover that the shape of the craft is round - a flying saucer. They attempt to free it from the ice with thermite explosives, but in doing so accidentally destroy the craft. However, one team member with a geiger counter finds that there is a body nearby frozen in ice. A thermite mixture using Iron (III) Oxide A thermite mixture using Iron (II,III) Oxide A thermite reaction is a type of aluminothermic reaction in which aluminium metal is oxidized by the oxide of another metal, most commonly iron oxide. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

They excavate the body, preserving it in a large ice block and return to the research outpost as a major storm moves in, making communication with Anchorage very difficult. Some of the scientists want to thaw out the creature immediately, but Hendry orders everyone to wait until he receives orders from Anchorage. Feeling uneasy, one of the Air Force crew guarding the body covers the ice block with a blanket, not realizing it is an electric blanket, and the creature thaws out.

The creature is attacked by sled dogs as it attempts to escape, and the scientists recover an arm, bitten off by the dogs. They examine it, and as it warms and ingests the blood from one of the dogs, it begins to come back to life. They learn that, while appearing humanoid, the creature is in fact an advanced form of plant life. Dr. Carrington is convinced that the creature can be reasoned with, while the Air Force men are just as sure it cannot and may be dangerous.

Carrington later discovers the hidden body of a sled dog, drained of blood in the greenhouse. He has volunteers from his own team to stand guard, some of whom are later killed by the creature. The USAF crew then manage to trap it in the greenhouse.

Carrington realizes that the creature requires human blood to reproduce and he secretly uses plasma from the infirmary to incubate and nourish seedlings he has taken from the arm. The scientists also soon realize that the wounded creature will need more blood, and that it will not be confined in the greenhouse for long. The creature soon escapes and breaks back into the camp, but Captain Hendry and his men set it alight with kerosene (following a suggestion from Nikki about how to deal with vegetables - "boil them, fry them?") and it flees into the snowy night.

Before long the creature returns, and disables the camp's oil burning heater, forcing the scientists and the airmen to make a final stand at the generator shack. They create a trap for the creature using high voltage electricity as a weapon. As the creature advances on them, Carrington twice tries to stop the creature's demise; once by shutting off the power, and the second by running out on to the trap and trying to reason with the creature. He fails and the creature bats him aside.

The creature is electrocuted, shrinking to a husk as it is killed. Its seedlings are also destroyed. As the film closes Hendry and Nikki are set to become engaged as Scotty files his "story of a lifetime" by radio, imploring his listeners to "Watch the skies!"

Production notes

The screenplay changes the fundamental nature of the alien as presented in Campbell's short story: Lederer's "Thing" is a humanoid monster whose cellular structure is closer to vegetation although it must feed on blood to survive. One character describes it as an "intellectual carrot". In the original story, the "Thing" is a lifeform capable of assuming the physical and mental characteristics of anyone it chooses. This aspect was realized in the John Carpenter remake of the film in 1982. Ronald D. Moore will bring his interpretations as he works on the script for a remake of the film expected between 2009-2011.^[1] Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants, and is, by far, the most abundant biotic element of the biosphere. ...

When American Movie Classics was showing the movie in the 1990s, the introduction related a story about the creation of the creature's makeup. The makeup artist supposedly went through several revisions of the creature's face. He would test each one by putting the full makeup on Arness and taking him for a drive through Los Angeles. At one point, a woman in the next car screamed and fainted upon seeing the creature. The makeup artist "knew he had a winner" and used that face in the movie. AMC was originally a basic cable channel that aired classic movies, largely pre-1950s, in a commercial-free, generally unedited format. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

As is common in many of Howard Hawks' films, the dialogue is notable for its snappy, fast pace and overlapping style, with characters (major and supporting) often speaking over each others lines in a realistic way.

At one point Captain Hendry opens a door and the creature is standing behind it; from then on the film takes pleasure in opening doors in an attempt to scare the viewer.

Film quotes

CAPTAIN HENDRY: Twenty thousand tons of steel is an awful lot of metal for an airplane.
CARRINGTON: It is for the sort of airplane we KNOW, Captain.

CREW CHIEF: Pretty spry for a guy with twelve dogs on him.
LIEUT DYKES: . . and losing an arm.

SCOTTY: An intellectual carrot - the mind boggles !

SCOTTY: Watch the skies!

Trivia

• In 1982, John Carpenter made a more faithful version of the story "Who Goes There?" under the remake-suggestive title The Thing. It was already well-known that Carpenter was a fan of the original film, as he included considerable footage from it in his own Halloween. Certain elements of Carpenter's film were heavily suggested (including the "burning letters" opening titles) by this film. Also during The Thing, the characters make reference to a 'Norwegian' team that used thermite charges to clear the ice around the UFO, this is a direct reference to the team in the original film.

• The last line of the film, "Watch the skies," was the working title of the film that would become Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In an interesting twist, a sequel to that film was then considered that would have been titled Watch the Skies - except this time with malevolent aliens terrorizing a farm family. That film project eventually became the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. See more at Night Skies for the full project history.

• The famous last line was parodied in The Simpsons episode The Springfield Files. The pimple faced boy takes over the narration at the end of the episode, and, reading from a cue card says Keep watching the skis!, only then to correct himself. In another episode, Martin Prince uses the line to end his nomination speech for class president, in which he promises a science fiction library for the class.

• In 2001, the United States Library of Congress deemed the original film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

• In 2003, it was released on DVD.

• An 81-minute version of the film also exists. This shorter print, which deletes some sequences of character development, was prepared for a theatrical re-release and has also been shown on television.

• The Doctor Who episode The Seeds of Doom blatantly steals the major elements from the plot of this film.^[2]

John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, film score composer and occasional actor. ... The Thing is a 1982 science fiction film, directed by John Carpenter. ... Halloween (also known as John Carpenters Halloween) is a 1978 American independent horror film set in the fictional Midwest town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween. ... A thermite mixture using Iron (III) Oxide A thermite mixture using Iron (II,III) Oxide A thermite reaction is a type of aluminothermic reaction in which aluminium metal is oxidized by the oxide of another metal, most commonly iron oxide. ... UFO can mean: Unidentified flying object United Future Organization, a Japanese-Brazilian electronic jazz band UFO, the rock band that previously featured Michael Schenker UFO, the Gerry Anderson TV series United Farmers of Ontario, a political party that formed the government in Ontario from 1919 to 1923 U.F.O... This article is about the film; for the a definition of the UFO related phenomenon, see Close encounter. ... E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace and Peter Coyote. ... Night Skies was a sci-fi horror suspense thriller film that was never made. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress. ... The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 2003 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Size comparison: A 12 cm Sony DVD+RW and a 19 cm Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. ... Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The series depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor who travels in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) time ship, which appears from the exterior... The Seeds of Doom is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from January 31 to March 6, 1976. ...

References

External links

• http://www.outpost31.com Outpost #31 - The Ultimate THE THING Fan-Site (largely devoted to Carpenter's 1982 film.)
• The Thing from Another World at the Internet Movie Database
• The Thing from Another World at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Thing from Another World at Box Office Mojo