{"id":37766,"date":"2016-09-30T09:14:49","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T16:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37766"},"modified":"2020-12-10T14:35:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:35:10","slug":"invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37766","title":{"rendered":"Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;There&#8217;s something missing. Always when he talked to me there was a certain look in his eyes. Now it&#8217;s gone. There&#8217;s no emotion. The words are the same, but there&#8217;s no feeling.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Invasion-of-Body-Snatchers-1956-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Invasion-of-Body-Snatchers-1956-Poster-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-37768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Invasion-of-Body-Snatchers-1956-Poster-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Invasion-of-Body-Snatchers-1956-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Invasion-of-Body-Snatchers-1956-Poster-768x1159.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Invasion-of-Body-Snatchers-1956-Poster-678x1024.jpg 678w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Invasion-of-Body-Snatchers-1956-Poster.jpg 1971w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAs patients complain that their loved ones are &#8220;lookalike imposters&#8221;, a doctor (Kevin McCarthy) in a California town tries to protect himself, his new girlfriend (Dana Wynter), and his married friends (King Donovan and Carolyn Jones) from mysterious pods with human-like figures in them.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aliens<\/li>\n<li>Carolyn Jones Films<\/li>\n<li>Don Siegel Films<\/li>\n<li>Kevin McCarthy Films<\/li>\n<li>Living Nightmare<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Possession<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary refers to this extra-terrestrial invasion flick as &#8220;one of the all-time great science-fiction films, one of the few that make the fantastic seem perfectly credible&#8221;. He argues that director Don &#8220;Siegel&#8217;s film outshines <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2174\">Phil Kaufman&#8217;s 1978 remake<\/a>&#8230; in pacing&#8221;, given that &#8220;the excitement just keeps building&#8221;, with &#8220;several tricks&#8221; used &#8220;to establish tension: having characters leave their motors running when they get out of their cars; having much activity take place in basements and other dark, shadowy settings; and, most effective of all, establishing that aliens have replaced [McCarthy&#8217;s] friends so we&#8217;re paranoid about everything ordinary and familiar&#8221;. Peary adds that Siegel &#8220;used staples of the action film he knew so well: diverse camera angles, penetrating close-ups of characters mixed with mysterious longshots&#8230;, and sharp editing&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>I think Peary misses the boat in his comparison of the two films, given that both are creepily effective in their own ways. However, there&#8217;s no denying that this earlier version is a true classic of the genre and era. While Peary writes that it&#8217;s &#8220;controversial because it can be seen as either anti-communist or anti-McCarthy polemic&#8221;, at this point in history that doesn&#8217;t really matter: the idea of witnessing &#8220;your loved ones becoming your enemy&#8221;, and &#8220;fighting to retain your ability to love&#8221; is terrifying no matter what your political leaning. Siegel&#8217;s smart direction and Ellsworth Fredericks&#8217; <em>noir<\/em>-ish cinematography combine to make the visuals consistently impressive, and McCarthy gives an excellent leading performance: he is fully invested in his role as a man determined to resist the lure of sleep and conformity at any cost.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Miles Bennell<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-McCarthy.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-McCarthy-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-McCarthy-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-McCarthy-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-McCarthy-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-McCarthy-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-McCarthy.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Siegel&#8217;s taut, exciting direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37775\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction2-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction2-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction2-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction2-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction2-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Direction2.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ellsworth Fredericks&#8217; noir-ish cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography2-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37771\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography2-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography2-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography2-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography2-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography2.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography1-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography1-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography1-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography1-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography1-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Cinematography1.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Excellent use of on-location shooting in Southern California<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Locale3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Locale3-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Locale3-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Locale3-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Locale3-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Locale3-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Locale3.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many truly creepy scenes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy3-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37774\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy3-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy3-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy3-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy3-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy3.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy2-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy2-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy2-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy2-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy2-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IOTBS-Creepy2.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a genuine sci-fi classic. Discussed at length in Peary&#8217;s first <em>Cult Movies<\/em> book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0049366\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/sciencefiction\/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/inva.html\">FilmSite Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/79341\/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s something missing. Always when he talked to me there was a certain look in his eyes. Now it&#8217;s gone. There&#8217;s no emotion. The words are the same, but there&#8217;s no feeling.&#8221; Synopsis: As patients complain that their loved ones are &#8220;lookalike imposters&#8221;, a doctor (Kevin McCarthy) in a California town tries to protect himself, his new girlfriend (Dana Wynter), and his married friends (King Donovan and Carolyn Jones) from mysterious pods with human-like figures in them. Genres, Themes, Actors,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37766\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37766"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56830,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37766\/revisions\/56830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}