Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) ft. Adam St. John
- Thomas Duncan
- Feb 4
- 5 min read
Guest:
Adam St. John
Host and Creator of 1001 by 1
Co-Host of Below Freezing
Frequest Contributor to Best Picture Cast
Professor of Theatre and Film at LSSU
Host of the The Long Take: A Gathering of Cinephiles in Conversation
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A Cinema Legacy Poll contributor
Cast:
Don Siegel, Director
Daniel Mainwaring, Writer
Ellsworth Fredericks, Cinematography
Carmen Dragon, Music
Robert S. Eisen, Editing
Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Miles Bennell
Dana Wynter as Becky Driscoll
King Donovan as Jack Belicec
Carolyn Jones as Theodora "Teddy" Belicec
Larry Gates as Dr. Dan Kauffman
Virginia Christine as Wilma Lentz
Ralph Dumke as Police Chief Nick Grivett
Kenneth Patterson as Stanley Driscoll
Guy Way as Officer Sam Janzek
Jean Willes as Nurse Sally Withers
Eileen Stevens as Anne Grimaldi
Beatrice Maude as Grandma Grimaldi
Background:
Adapted from The Body Snatchers 1954 stories in Collier's by Jack Finney, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was released on February 5, 1956.
On an estimated budget of just over $400,000, the film was said to have grossed roughly $3 million and finished in the teens for the global box office of 1956.
Critics largely ignored the film at the time of its release but has since been reassessed as a classic of the sci-fi horror genre.
The film was included on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
Similarly, the Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 29th scariest film ever made.
IGN ranked it as the 15th-best sci-fi picture.
Time magazine included Invasion of the Body Snatchers on their list of 100 all-time best films, the top 10 1950s Sci-Fi Movies, and Top 25 Horror Films.
In 1999, Entertainment Weekly listed it as the 53rd best movie of all time.
Similarly, the book Four Star Movies: The 101 Greatest Films of All Time placed the movie at #60.
The AFI has recognized Invasion of the Body Snatchers on the following lists:
In 1994, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been remade several times including 1978 under the same title, 1993's The Body Snatchers, and 2007's The Invasion.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers currently holds a 97% among critics on RT, a 92 score on Metacritic, and a 3.8/5 on Letterboxd.
Plot Summary: In a quiet California town, a local doctor discovers that residents are being replaced by alien duplicates—emotionless impostors grown from mysterious seed pods. As paranoia spreads and trust collapses, he races to warn the world before humanity itself is erased.
Did You Know:
Filmed in 19 days. The cast and crew worked six days a week with Sundays off. The production went over schedule by three days because of night-for-night shoots that director Don Siegel wanted.
Years after the film, Dana Wynter received a message on her answering machine at home. The message was from Kevin McCarthy and he said: "Hi Becky, this is Miles. Stay awake won't you!"
The last sequence was shot, not on the actual Hollywood Freeway, but on a little-used cross-bridge. The cars were driven by stunt drivers. Don Siegel said later that Kevin McCarthy was in real danger of getting hit, because the sequence was shot at dawn and he was near complete exhaustion.
The biggest problem director Don Siegel and company had with the studio was over the use of humor. He, writer Daniel Mainwaring and producer Walter Wanger had scripted scenes with humor in them, and Kevin McCarthy said the actors improvised some during shooting. When the film was still in the work print stage, Siegel and Wanger decided to try it out in front of a preview audience behind the studio's back. Much of the humor was still in the film at that point, and the audience response went from shrieks to screams to laughter and back again. Siegel had sneaked a tape recorder into the theater so they could prove to the studio just how great the reception was to their rough cut. However, Allied Artists head Steve Broidy hit the roof when he found out and wanted to know why the audience was laughing in places. He ordered any trace of humor removed because the audience found it difficult to follow and laughed at all the wrong moments. The studio insisted on edits because it wasn't policy to mix humor with horror.
The tunnel scene where the hero hides briefly from the townspeople was filmed at Bronson Cave in Griffith Park, famous with locals as the Bat Cave.
Kevin McCarthy would later reprise his role of Dr. Miles J. Bennell in the remake Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003).
Kevin McCarthy and author Jack Finney have always denied the rumor that the story is a statement against McCarthyism and Communism; they just saw it as a thriller. Director Don Siegel, however, believes that the political references to Sen. Joseph McCarthy and totalitarianism are inescapable, even though he tried not to emphasize them.
Best Performance: Don Siegel (Director)/Kevin McCarthy (Miles)
Best Secondary Performance: Kevin McCarthy (Miles)/Don Siegel (Director)
Most Charismatic Award: Dana Wynter (Becky)/Carmen Dragon (Music)/King Donovan (Jack)
Best Scene:
The Body at Jack's
In the Basement
Greenhouse
Escaping the Office
Becky is Turned
Favorite Scene: Becky is Turned/Escaping the Office
Most Indelible Moment: Escaping the Office/Greenhouse/Becky is Turned
In Memorium:
N/A
Best Lines/Funniest Lines:
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: They're here already! You're next! You're next, You're next...!
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: You're a forward wench dragging me into a dark hallway to be kissed.
Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman: Love, desire, ambition, faith; without them, life is so simple. Believe me.
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: In my practice, I've seen how people have allowed their humanity to drain away. Only it happened slowly instead of all at once. They didn't seem to mind... All of us - a little bit - we harden our hearts, grow callous. Only when we have to fight to stay human do we realize how precious it is to us, how dear.
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: Love? I wouldn't know anything about that. I'm a General Practitioner. Love is for the specialists.
Becky Driscoll: I don't want to live in a world without love or grief or beauty, I'd rather die.
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: This is the oddest thing I've ever heard of. Let's hope we don't catch it. I'd hate to wake up some morning and find out that you weren't you.
Becky Driscoll: Is this an example of your bedside manner?
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: No ma'am, that comes later.
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: We're not the last humans left. They'll find out about you. They'll destroy you somehow.
Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman: The mind is a strange and wonderful thing. I'm not sure it will ever be able to figure itself out. Everything else maybe, from the atom to the universe. Everything except itself.
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: What do you have? We're pushing appendectomies this week.
Wilma Lentz: There's no emotion. None. Just the pretense of it. The words, the gesture, the tone of voice, everything else is the same, but not the feeling.
Dr. Miles J. Bennell: They wept with envy when they read my paper.
Charlie: Give up! You can't get away from us! We're not gonna hurt you!
Charlie: [mob chases Miles to the highway] Let him go. Nobody will ever believe him.
The Stanley Rubric:
Legacy: 7.33
Impact/Significance: 5.83
Novelty: 9
Classic-ness: 9
Rewatchability: 6.67
Audience Score: 8.7 (89% Google, 85% RT)
Total: 46.53
Remaining Questions:
Do the Body Snatchers take over the world?
Does Dr. Miles become one of them as soon as he falls asleep?
Then why doesn't Dr. Kauffman just give Miles a sedative?
Whose pods did Dr. Miles burn up?
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