THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951)

 

(Director: Christian Nyby and an uncredited co-screenwriter Howard Hawks. Co-screenwriter: Charles Lederer.)

Plot: An American Air Force crew and scientists discover an alien space craft and a frozen-solid alien in the Arctic. They bring the supposed corpse back to their nearby outpost, where the Thing─later described as a deadly “super carrot”─thaws, awakens, stalks and begins feeding on the outpost inhabitants and its dogs.

 

Review

Based on John W. Campbell Jr.’s 1948 story “Who Goes There?” (a rework of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1936 novella At the Mountains of Madness), THING is an influential, waste-no-time science fiction horror film that makes simple-but-excellent use of chiaroscuro (courtesy of cinematographer Russell Harlan), great camera shots, a fast-moving and smart-minded plot, an underlying sense of humor, and fun, solid acting. James Arness’s makeup as the titular creature is more Frankenstein’s Monster than shapeshifter (like it is in Campbell’s story) because of THING’s limited funding─in Campbell’s tale, the Thing has seaweed-like hair, three crimson eyes, a puckered mouth and blue skin.

THING‘s genre-true achievements are  highlighted by Dimitri Tiomkin’s spare, spooky (and science fiction-familiar) score, as well as mood-appropriate art direction by Albert S. D’Agostino (THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE, 1944) and John Hughes, billed as John J. Hughes. There’s also a bit of PG-rated, light-hearted kink, involving two characters and rope!

Kenneth Tobey (HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE, 1996) played Capt. Patrick Hendry─in THE NAKED MONSTER (2005, his last film) he played another character with the same name. Other notable cast members include Margaret Sheridan (I, THE JURY, 1953) as Nikki Nicholson, scientific secretary, and Hendry’s romantic interest; Robert Cornthwaite as thorny lead scientist Dr. Arthur Carrington─like Kenneth Tobey, he re-used his character’s name from THING in THE NAKED MONSTER (2005). Douglas Spencer (THIS ISLAND EARTH, 1955) played sarcastic news reporter Ned Scott.

THING is one of my favorite films in its subgenre, a love that filmmaker/composer John Carpenter shares, as evidenced by his television-background use of it in HALLOWEEN (1978) and his 1982 THING remake, titled THE THING.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)

 

(Director: Jacques Tourneur. Screenwriters: Curt Siodmak, whose screenplay was reworked by Ardel Wray, based on Inez Wallace’s article of the same name in American Weekly Magazine, and structured by Charlotte Brontë’s uncredited novel Jane Eyre.)

 

Review

In the Caribbean, on the island of St. Sebastian, a nurse (Betsy Connell, played by Frances Dee) attends to a catatonic, somnambulist wife of a sugar plantation owner─even as Betsy falls in love with her charge’s husband (Paul Holland). According to Mrs. Holland’s physician (Dr. Maxwell), the cause of her hypnotic sickness is a “tropical fever.” But it’s clearly more than that, rooted in racism and slavery─the previous generation of Hollands brought their dark-skinned workforce to St. Sebastian. As a result, Haitian voodoo, evidenced by nighttime ceremonial drums, an arrow-riddled statue of Ti-Misery (St. Sebastian) and other things, casts a huge shadow over this sad island.

The roiling, collective emotions of the Hollands (including Wesley, Paul’s younger, alcoholic brother) and Betsy come to a head when their maid (Alma) convinces to Betsy to take Paul’s wife to a houmfort where a houngan (voodoo priest) might be able to cure the zombie-like Mrs. Holland. Things don’t turn out the way Betsy and Alma hope, leading to further plot Reveals and point-of-no-return situations.

A palpable, shadow-drenched melancholia and spookiness suffuses this romance-, imperialism- and superstition-fueled sixty-nine-minute film, briefly narrated by Betsy and, later, one of the servants. WALKED, for its time, is almost shocking in its blunt, constant acknowledgment of slavery and racism, a movie that proved to be a major influence on cinema, although critics at the time of its release were wildly divided in their opinions. Time has enhanced the reputation of this reworking of Charlotte Brontë’s uncredited novel Jane Eyre (per RKO Pictures producer Val Lewton’s wishes, who was not impressed with Inez Wallace’s film-source article), and deservedly so─it’s a masterful mood-piece work, full of iconic shots (e.g., Betsy’s first encounter with the unsettling Carrefour, played with silent, terrifying intensity by Darby Jones) and an impressive, effective layer-mix of moods and themes.

Like RKO’s THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943), the censors at the Breen office took umbrage at WALKED’s original ending (suicide was not to be shown onscreen), so a different, but no less haunting ending replaced it. Another element that was toned down per the Breen office’s edict was Wesley’s alcoholism, which took up more screentime in its original version.*

WALKED's notable cast includes: Tom Conway (CAT PEOPLE, 1942, and its loosely linked prequel, THE SEVENTH VICTIM, 1943) as Paul Holland, Betsy’s initially cold object of desire; James Ellison (THE UNDYING MONSTER, 1942) as Wesley Rand; Theresa Harris, billed as Teresa Harris, as Alma, the Hollands’ maid─Harris, uncredited, also appeared in CAT PEOPLE, 1942; and James Bell (THE MONKEY’S PAW, 1933) as Dr. Maxwell.

WALKED’s behind-the-scenes talent includes: art directors Albert S. D’Agostino and Walter E. Keller (THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE, 1944); cinematographer J. Roy Hunt; film editor Mark Robson (who directed THE SEVENTH VICTIM, 1943); and composer Roy Webb (who, uncredited, also created the soundtrack for RETURN OF THE FLY, 1959).

TALES FROM THE CRYPT: RITUAL (a.k.a. RITUAL), a remake of WALKED, was released in 2002. Directed by Avi Nesher, it featured Jennifer Grey, Craig Sheffer, Tim Curry and Erick Avari.

 

Citation

*Clive Dawson, “Lewton vs. Breen” (article, The Dark Side magazine, issue 210, pp. 40-9)