“He bids 24 hearts? No, he cannot play bridge until he’s defrosted from that block of ice!”
For a movie generally found on B-lists of science fiction movies, The Thing From Another World (1951) is actually not laughable. It’s not even disappointing. Indeed, the worst part of this flick may be its unwieldy title, although I confess nothing better springs to mind.
When a scientific research station in the Arctic reports a mysterious flying saucer passing nearby, followed by an explosion, the US Air Force dispatches a plane (a lovely C-47, a descendant of the famous DC-3) and crew to investigate, lead by Captain Scott. Teaming up with their itinerant newspaper reporter and the station personnel, they get to the crash site, only to find the saucer deeply buried in ice. An attempt to thaw it out using “standard” thermite bombs results in its ignition and final explosion, but the crew does come away with one prize: a block of ice with a body inside.
Returned to the research station, the chief scientist, Dr. Carrington, wants to examine the body, but is denied by Captain Scott. A few hours later, though, the unthinkable has occurred: the ice block has melted and the body isn’t a body – it’s animate and dangerous.
Carrington and his team take samples and discover they’re dealing with a plant, a mobile plant that feeds on blood. Carrington becomes the stereotypical scientist-before-man, unable to separate the pursuit of knowledge from the need to survive, and is thus the least believable of the characters.
But the battle for survival is believable. Bodies pile up. The Thing is trying to survive, as are the humans. The acting is competent or more than competent, and the plot’s depictions of both official and personal reactions are more than believable. These are important components of the movie, because, after all, we’re dealing with the unbelievable: a visit of a creature from outer space.
Does the movie have problems? No doubt. Certain cultural attitudes are on full display, for example. But these flaws are not the howlers you often see in old science fiction movies. To its credit, this flick is really beautifully filmed, and if it’s not filmed on location, it sure feels like it.
I won’t recommend it, as it’s not that compelling. But if you’re looking to spend an hour or so meditating on the possible dangers of the Universe, this is not a bad movie to contemplate. It surprised us at how we didn’t object to it, and that’s no bad thing.
