Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Some of the those 1950s sci-fi paranoia thrillers all but wore their subtext on their sleeves.  1956's INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is often cited as an allegory for the Senator McCarthy witch hunts, or Communism itself.  Director Don Siegel and screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring, as many creative types are apt to do, deny any specific motive.  They just felt they were telling a compelling story.  I've said many times that interpretations and subtext tend to rest more with the viewer than the author, though I also feel that sometimes the author is unaware of what they are revealing, and it takes an outsider to clearly see it.  This regardless of the zeitgeist.

Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) recounts the story of the strange events that befell his small California town.  It began with some of his patients insisting their relatives are "not themselves."  They look the same, even recall specific memories, but have been drained of all emotion.  Bennell and his psychiatrist colleague Dr. Kauffman (Larry Gates) chalk it up to hysteria and delusion.  But then Miles' friend Jack (King Donovan) discovers a body on his pool table that is an exact replica of him.  Later, Miles finds another one that looks exactly like his old girlfriend Becky (Dana Wynter), with whom he'd recently been reacquainted.  Then he starts seeing these mysterious pods.....

You probably know the story.  Extraterrestrial life from deep space land on Earth in the form of pods that can replicate any living thing.  When humans fall asleep, their pod counterpart absorbs their bodies and minds, leaving them zombified.  And soon the entire town of Santa Mira has been taken over by the replicas, who eventually seek to have Miles and Becky join them.  Was George Romero influenced sufficiently to create NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD?

What's fascinating about INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is that the allegories and metaphors aren't limited to politics.  After Dr. Kauffman, now a pod person, explains how an existence of homogeneity will be much simpler without emotions or even faith, you can start to examine all the systems in life that seek to remove those very things.  Hmmm, the military?  Corporations?  You could take it further and see parallels to anything that would stifle individualism.  Your mileage will vary.

But what about the sci-fi and horror stuff? Sigel's direction is fluid and knowing.  He creates wonderful suspense and forboding.  Emile LaVigne's make-up effects are quite good for the time.  Carmen Dragon's score is more than suitable.  This film is a stone cold classic, even as one can nitpick some moments of illogic and the unnecessary prologue and epilogue, forced upon the filmmakers by the studio.  

But yes, Phillip Kaufman's 1978 remake is better.