The Thing
The Thing from Another World is a 1951 science fiction film which tells the story of an Air Force crew and scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who fight a malevolent alien being. It stars Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Robert Cornthwaite and Douglas Spencer. James Arness appeared as The Thing, difficult to recognize in costume and makeup. Oddly, no players are named during the otherwise-complete opening credits; the only cast credit is at the end (this was somewhat unusual in the 1950s).
The movie was loosely adapted by Charles Lederer (with uncredited rewrites from Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht) from the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr. (originally published under the pseudonym Don A. Stuart). It was directed by Hawks (uncredited) and Christian Nyby for Hawks' Winchester Pictures, which released it through RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
The film took advantage of the national feelings of the time to help enhance the horror elements of the story. The film's release in 1951 coincided with the Korean War and the upswing in anti-communist feelings brought on by McCarthyism. The idea of Americans being stalked by a force which was single-minded and "devoid of morality" fit in well with the parallel feelings of the day on communism. Equally the film reflected a post-Hiroshima scepticism about science and negative views of scientists who meddle with things better left alone. In the end, it is American servicemen and "sensible" scientists who win the day over the monster.
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