Here I explain (with clips) what I love about Don Siegel's Sci-Fi classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Starring Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, King Donovan, Larry Gates, and Carolyn Jones.
Yes you're right, everyone SHOULD see this movie. It's great. And not to brag, BUT...Over twenty some years ago I got to watch this WITH, (sitting a few seats from me by the 16mm projector) Kevin McCarthy! He stopped the film once in a while to talk about a scene or two. It was great. The one thing that sticks in my mind was that his part was written FOR him. The producers and writer felt he was the only one who could make this believable. So he left NYC to CA to film it, in just a couple weeks. Then he went back to his theatre work in NYC. Months later they called him to come to the opening. He had no idea what they were talking about. He was so busy he forgot he even filmed the movie!!
Wow! What a cool experience! I remember reading that he was a pretty successful stage actor at the time appearing in several Shakespeare plays and was even nominated for an Oscar in the film version of Death of a Salesman so I’m sure he just saw this as just another job at the time. I also remember reading that his costar, Dana Wynter, was initially quite embarrassed to be in it after learning the film was going to be called Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It’s funny to think that this little film which nobody expected much from has become such a classic that its still watched and talked about nearly seventy years later!
Hello Josh, and another awesome and thorough movie review. I like a lot of the SYFY movies of this era, including the "B" ones. But I keep going back to the original 1953 classic, The Day The Earth Stood Still! I can just watch that over and over again with its anti-nuclear message. Just top-notch from Robert Wise before his West Side Story and The Sound of Music award-winning days. Keep up the great job!
