1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: This episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind Radio 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: Hour is brought to you by Thermite. If you need 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: a high temperature burst of heat, then this pyrotechnic composition 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: of metal powder and metal oxide is for you. Metal refining, fireworks, munitions, 5 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: burning through the ice to retrieve down spaceships and alien beings. 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: Thermite does it all. Thermite asked for it by name. 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is 9 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: Rob Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's finally time 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: on the Weird House Cinema podcast to cover the Thing. No, 11 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: not that the Thing, not the one you're thinking of, 12 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: the horror classic, the other the Thing, the Thing from 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: another world. Yes, uh this Uh. This is a film 14 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: that I had never seen prior to this week, and 15 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: I think part of it was because John carpenter two film. 16 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: The Thing is just this, this masterpiece of science fiction 17 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,040 Speaker 1: and horror for so many of us. It's it's visceral 18 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: but intelligent. It's it's well acted, it's effectively scored, it 19 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: makes great use of sets and locations, and of course 20 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: just features a bounty of legendary and grotesque practical effects, totally, 21 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: without a doubt, an absolute masterpiece, one of the best 22 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: horror movies ever made. Can't say enough good stuff about 23 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: Carpenter's The Thing. Yeah, from from the effects to the 24 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: acting to the music, it's just it's pretty much pitch perfect. 25 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: But of course, one of the things we always have 26 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: to remind ourselves, especially perhaps if we're becoming getting a 27 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: little too judgmental about remakes and reboots and so forth, 28 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: is because I have to remind myself of this is 29 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: that John Carpenter's The Thing is also essentially a remake 30 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: or a reboot, if you will, based on the story 31 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: Who Goes There by John W. Campbell Jr. Um an 32 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: author from like the sci fi so called you know, 33 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: Pulp Golden Age, and Carpenter's film is the second official 34 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: adaptation of this story, but the first is the film 35 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: we're talking about here today, n The Thing from Another World. 36 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: I had also never seen this movie in full before, 37 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: though I had seen some scenes from it, and I 38 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: had seen it because it is briefly featured on a 39 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: television in John Carpenter's Halloween. Oh that's right, I forgot 40 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: about that. Yeah, one of the kids who's being babysat 41 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: is is watching it. I think he's I think maybe 42 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: he's not quite old enough for this movie. So this 43 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: is a film I've always known this was around. I 44 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:51,919 Speaker 1: you know, at some point, after being exposed to Carpenter's 45 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: The Thing, I learned about this older version and maybe 46 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: I would even occasionally see it in the schedule or 47 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: catch part of it on like Turner Classic Movie vis 48 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: or something. But I never sat down and watched it. Uh. 49 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: And we'll get into some of the reasons why. But 50 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: basically they all rolled down to me thinking, oh, this this, 51 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: this film is a modern film. I don't want to 52 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: see this earlier like proto Thing vision. I'm gonna stick 53 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: with perfection. But then I was looking through Michael Weldon's 54 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: in the author of the Psychotronic Video and Film Guides. 55 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: I was looking at his right up on first on 56 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: John Carpenter's The Thing, which was glowing and you know, 57 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: and says, oh, you know, this is this is a 58 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: wonderful grotesque monsters film. Not surprised that he would he 59 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: would love that one. But of course Weldon is also 60 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: a fan of older genre films as well, and I 61 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: was reading this really high praise for this nineteen fifty 62 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: one film, talking about it having intelligent dialogue and a 63 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: strong female lead, and so that that really got me thinking, well, 64 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: maybe I should give this a look. You know, the 65 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: strong female lead being sort of doubly interesting because on 66 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: one hand, it's nineteen fifty one, You don't you know 67 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: that you don't necessarily think of this being the of 68 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: this being the era of strong female leads. And then 69 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: also you think about John Carpenter's adaptation, and there are 70 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: no women in it at all. It's an entirely male cast. Yeah, 71 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: and Carpenter's version, the all male cast of characters somehow 72 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: fits the miserable bleakness of the Antarctic base in the movie. 73 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: But I would say that having watched it now, I 74 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: know what Michael Weldon is talking about, though um, I don't. 75 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: I think it might be slightly overselling Margaret Sheridan's role 76 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: in the movie, though she is fantastic and I really 77 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: like her character. She does a great job with it. 78 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: But I was expecting her to be the main character 79 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: of the movie based on this, which she is not. 80 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: But in her scenes she is great. Yeah, and we'll 81 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: we'll get into this a bit later. It basically comes 82 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: down to this idea of the Hawksian woman, and we'll 83 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: you'll find out what that means. But in terms of 84 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: differences between the Thing and the Thing from Another World, 85 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 1: I think we're sort of burying the lead because the 86 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: one major way in which the Thing from Another World 87 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: ninety one differs from Carpenter's movie is that the original 88 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:11,359 Speaker 1: film does not involve impersonation. People who are familiar with 89 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: Carpenter's movie will remember the main thing about it is 90 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: that the alien can assume the forms of the humans 91 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: or the animals that it kills. So it is this uh, 92 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: this polymorphous being that can that can sort of uh 93 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: sample the tissue of an organism it comes into contact with, 94 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: and then make its own body into a copy of 95 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: that being, which is a wonderful plot device. The central 96 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,720 Speaker 1: mechanic of of Carpenter's movie gives rise to the paranoia 97 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: that doesn't really exist in the original or maybe there 98 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: is a kind of sense of paranoia, but it's powered 99 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: by different factors that I want to discuss in more 100 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: detail as we go on. But in this movie, the 101 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: Thing is simply a big, hulking alien that thaws out 102 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: of a block of ice and then attacks the base 103 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: where where all the characters are stationed. It doesn't assume 104 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: the form of anyone if you're actually able to get 105 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:05,599 Speaker 1: a good look at it, which you're not really in 106 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: the movie, And in fact, that's a really good thing 107 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: about the movie. The movie obscures the form of the 108 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: monster for for most of the runtime in a highly 109 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: effective way. But if you were able to get a 110 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: really good, well lit, uh gander at it, it just 111 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: looks kind of like James r. Ness in a big 112 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: creepy Frankenstein makeup and space suit. Yeah. And this was 113 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: a huge reason why I had never checked out the 114 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:32,599 Speaker 1: film before, because I'd see that that famous publicity shot 115 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: of James Arnez in the Thing costume, and I would think, well, 116 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: that that looks kind of lame. I don't really want 117 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: to see a movie about that, especially when John Carpenter's 118 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: version of it is this amorphous, ultimately formless thing that 119 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: takes on just a number of just grotesque and shifting forms. Yeah. 120 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: And in fact, I mean I've said this on the 121 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,919 Speaker 1: show before. I think one big mistake a lot of 122 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: horror movies make is letting you get two of a 123 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: look at the monster. I mean, horror movies should be 124 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: sparing in in letting you see the monster. Is it's good, 125 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: it's good to heighten the tension and make it more 126 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: mysterious by usually keeping the monster off screen. I'd say 127 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: Carpenters the Thing is a movie that breaks that rule 128 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: to great effect. You get tons of great shots of 129 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: the monster and it looks fantastic. So you know, if 130 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: you're the kind of the thing about rules with artistic 131 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: media is is you have to obey the rule unless 132 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: it's just really good anyway. Um, but but yeah, I 133 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: know what you're talking about. With the way the monster 134 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: looks in this movie. This is a major thing I 135 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: wanted to talk about. I was shocked how scary the 136 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: creature was in this movie. H And I really mean that, 137 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: like movies of this era are I I really appreciate them, 138 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: but they're rarely viscerally disturbing on a visual level to 139 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: modern audiences. And that's not a knock on them. And 140 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: in fact, like at the time, they might have had 141 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: people fainting in the aisles, are falling out of their 142 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: cars that drive in, but makeup effects from before roughly 143 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: the I don't know. The seventies or so, I think 144 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: rarely pack a strong punch with audiences today, we've just 145 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: sort of standards have been updated, and so even if 146 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: the way Boris Karloff looked in his Frankenstein makeup was 147 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: was terrifying to people at the time, I think it 148 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: looks beautiful. I think it looks amazing. I love to 149 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: look at it, but I don't find it really really terrifying. 150 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: And I would say that the baseline monster in this 151 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: movie is no exception to that rule that if you 152 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: just look at the makeup effects of the time, they're 153 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: usually not going to pack a very strong punch. If 154 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: you look at well lit still photographs of of James Arness, 155 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: the the actor who plays the monster in the Thing, 156 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: in his alien makeup and costume for the movie, I 157 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: think he looks goobery. He just looks kind of like 158 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: a like an EGA guy. He looks like Frankenstein, sort 159 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: of in a in a in a space, in a jumpsuit, 160 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: and yet somehow on the screen, within the narrative, he 161 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: is so much more than that. This is a movie 162 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: monster that benefits immensely from really strong staging, lighting and 163 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: camera work. More so than makeup effects. So most of 164 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: the time you see the monster in the movie, his 165 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: appearances sudden or brief or obscured in some way. So 166 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: maybe the characters are looking out at him through frosted 167 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: glass on a snow field, or he or somebody opens 168 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: a door and he suddenly reaches out through it as 169 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: they try to slam it shut, or he's just a 170 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: menacing silhouette at the end of the corridor, you know, 171 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: and his features are covered in shadow. So really hats 172 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: off to the team that came up with the staging 173 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: for all these scenes and the lighting and the framing 174 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,079 Speaker 1: and all that, because even though the makeup effects kind 175 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: of fall short, the monster on screen within the narrative 176 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: looks wonderful. He's really frightening. Absolutely, Like, for instance, in 177 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: the movie, you never get a sense that this character 178 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: is wearing partially ragged space pajamas, but if you look 179 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: at the still, you're like, those are space pajamas, clearly. Yeah. Yeah, 180 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: So they took a kind of goober Frankenstein and turned 181 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: him into this truly menacing being really excellent excellent filmmaking technique. Well, 182 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 1: I'd like to get into this more. Let's go ahead 183 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: and just give give the basic elevator pitch of the plot, 184 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: especially for people who you know, did they just know 185 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: the Carpenter version. They maybe don't know how much in 186 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: common this one has with that film, aside from the 187 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: details of the monster. Okay, well, maybe I'll do the 188 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: straight elevator pitch first, and then we'll see if we 189 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,440 Speaker 1: have any variations on it. The straight plot description, I 190 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: would say is a mysterious object from space crashes near 191 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 1: a remote Arctic research base. When a team of scientists 192 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: and military men go to investigate, they find a humanoid 193 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 1: body frozen in the ice, and they have to bring 194 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: it back to the base with them, And I guess 195 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:55,079 Speaker 1: you just better hope it doesn't throw out. I like that. 196 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:57,200 Speaker 1: Let's let's go ahead and listen to a little bit 197 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: of that trailer audio. M the thing from another world. 198 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 1: This is the spot where it was first seen. And 199 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: these are the first people who saw the thing. How 200 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: did it get here? Where did it come from? What 201 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: is it that people that I saw it? I shot 202 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: it and and I hit it. I know it. Nothing happened 203 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: to a clear, immediate noise like I can't hear. Captain. 204 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: It was awful. You could see those hands and those eyes, 205 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: and you've got it to tell me about it? You can't. 206 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:39,319 Speaker 1: Is it human or inhuman? Earthly or unearthly? Baffling questions, 207 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: astounding questions that not even the world's greatest scientific minds 208 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,679 Speaker 1: can answer. Gentlemen, do you realize what we've found being 209 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: from another world is different from us, is one pole 210 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: from the other if we can only communicate with it? 211 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: All right? So I want to come back to something 212 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: you were just talking about, and that was the idea 213 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: of doors opening. So yes, the the research base in 214 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: this movie feels it's more or less in keeping with 215 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: the spirit that Carpenter had in his version of the film. 216 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: You know, there are these a lot of these long corridors, 217 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:18,319 Speaker 1: their doorways, separating different sections of it. Everything feel it 218 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: doesn't feel supermodern. It feels very very rough in places. 219 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 1: There's this idea that outside of this compound there's just 220 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 1: frozen death awaiting any creature, and it's inside that we 221 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:35,839 Speaker 1: have this slim, artificial version of of life, sustaining temperatures. 222 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: And that makes actually for a killer twist later in 223 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,839 Speaker 1: the movie where you haven't even really been thinking about 224 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 1: this while they're coming up all these different ways of 225 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: battling the thing. The thing is sort of laying siege 226 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: to the humans in the base, and then at a 227 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 1: certain point they're like, oh no, somebody turned off the heaters. Yeah. 228 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: So it's a wonderful set piece in which to engage 229 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: with this monster. But one of the things that it's 230 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 1: I was really taken by watching it it's just how 231 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,439 Speaker 1: scary all the doors are. There's a lot of characters 232 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: going in and out of doors in this film, often 233 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: very quickly, and even before a monster the monster jumped 234 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: out from behind a door, I was feeling anxious whenever 235 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:20,439 Speaker 1: a door would open like it was it was really effective. Uh. 236 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: And then eventually a monster is coming out from behind 237 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,559 Speaker 1: the door, and there's worry about things jumping out from 238 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: behind doors. I don't think doors have ever been quite 239 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 1: this scary. Percent agree, Yeah, this movie does something really 240 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:37,680 Speaker 1: special with like portals, openings, doors, windows. It's it's really good. Also, 241 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: lots of scenes where like the door to the outside 242 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: has been opened, and you know there's a sense of 243 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: all that that crushing cold coming in. So it works 244 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:46,839 Speaker 1: on several levels. I think since we're not going to 245 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 1: do a scene by scene breakdown, on this one, I 246 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 1: guess to make more sense for people who haven't seen 247 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,439 Speaker 1: especially either movie, it it might make sense to do 248 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: a quick, fuller rundown on the plot. So the basic 249 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: cast of characters is that you have a journalist and 250 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: then a group of of military commanders who fly by 251 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: plane up to a remote Arctic research base where there 252 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: is some scientific research going on. And then, like I 253 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,320 Speaker 1: said in the elevator pitch earlier, there is a crash 254 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: of some kind of object near the base, and the 255 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: scientists and the soldiers go out to investigate it and 256 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: it looks like what they have encountered as a crashed 257 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: flying saucery crash daily and spacecraft, and then they're frozen 258 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: in the ice on the ice field is a humanoid figure. 259 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: So they chip that they dig that out of the 260 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: ice with with ice axes and with thermite. This movie 261 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: as a big fan of thermite, of course, and the 262 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: the thermite thing kind of goes wrong. I think they 263 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: end up sort of melting the ship by accident while 264 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: they're trying to get it up out of the ice. 265 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: But they do get this body out of the ice 266 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: and they bring it back to the base and then 267 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: through a series of mishaps, this body and a chunk 268 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: of ice is accidentally thought out, and what they come 269 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: to discover is that this is a being from another 270 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: planet that is not an animal, but is in fact 271 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: an animated vegetable. They they sort of explore the alternative 272 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: evolutionary history of this creature and say, what if plant 273 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: life on Earth had evolved the ability to move quickly 274 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: and have intelligence and and uh and and have a 275 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: have a mobile body instead of animal life and and 276 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: so uh and so that's sort of what we're dealing with. 277 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: And there's a lot of discussion about the creatures mindset 278 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: toward humans. It apparently needs to consume us, it wants 279 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: to drink our blood, but it doesn't have any uh, 280 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: it doesn't really have any remorse for us or understanding 281 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: of us as fellow creatures. Instead, as as one character 282 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: so eloquently puts it, he regards us the same way 283 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: we would regard a field of cabbages. Yeah. Yeah, this 284 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: idea that the dog is just like the short, furry 285 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: blood container, and then the humans are just the larger, 286 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: hairless blood containers and it just needs the blood. It's 287 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: just calories. Yeah. Yeah. But so within this plot, a 288 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: number of interesting themes emerge, and and maybe we can 289 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: talk more about those as we go on. But I 290 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: guess here's where we typically get into some of the 291 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: people involved in this and talk about some connections. Now, Rob, 292 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: you might have read more about the production of this 293 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: film than I did. I'm to understand. I think there's 294 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: some uh disagreement or confusion about what the level of control, 295 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 1: like who who basically was in charge of making this movie? 296 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: Who was the director, and what was their relative level 297 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: of control. Yeah, there's there's there's kind of it's kind 298 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: of an open question or in a matter of debate 299 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: that will probably never be fully settled, especially since I 300 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: think everybody involved with this film or most of them 301 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: have have passed on um. But the basic situation, I'm 302 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: going to talk about who is the credited director first? 303 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: So the credited director on this is Christian Nibe, who 304 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:08,199 Speaker 1: lived nineteen thirteen through nineteen He is a TV and 305 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,640 Speaker 1: film director who served as editor on such films as 306 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 1: Howard Hawks nineteen forty six adaptation of The Big Sleep. Uh. 307 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,920 Speaker 1: This had Humphrey Bogart in it, and William Faulkner actually 308 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: co scripted this adaptation of the Raymond Chandler Philip Marlow novel, 309 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: which is a really good novel by the way. Interesting 310 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: I've actually never read it. However, this film, The Thing 311 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: from Another World is nibies. It was his first directorial credit. 312 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: It's easily the biggest film, or at least biggest you know, 313 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: the most well remembered film, uh, that he did, although 314 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,680 Speaker 1: he worked an entire career afterwards as a TV director 315 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: up until the mid nineteen seventies. Okay, so Nibe is 316 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: credited as the director of the film, but for some reason, 317 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 1: I've always heard this described as having been directed by 318 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,439 Speaker 1: Howard Hawks, who, of course is an acclaimed filmmaker of 319 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: the time. So what's the with that? Okay, So Howard Hawks, 320 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: who we just alluded to, had had worked with Nibe 321 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:09,640 Speaker 1: ninety was his his editor. Um So, Hawks was also 322 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:11,679 Speaker 1: known as the Silver Fox, and if you look at 323 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: pictures of you can see why, you know, dashing sort 324 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: of silver looking here, I guess, directs like somebody who 325 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: would be in like a whiskey Scotch commercial on TV 326 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: in the fifties or something. Absolutely and the dashing character 327 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:30,119 Speaker 1: and director of such films as Red River, Rio Bravo two, Scarface, 328 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 1: El Dorado, and Hatari, as well as the aforementioned The 329 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 1: Big Sleep. He was nominated for an Academy Award for 330 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,440 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two Sergeant York, and he receives an Honorary 331 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: Academy Award in nineteen seventy four. He's considered a legend 332 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,640 Speaker 1: of the classic Hollywood era. And while he was not 333 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,199 Speaker 1: the credited director or the credited co writer on The 334 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: Thing from Another World, UM, you'll often see look like, 335 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: for instance, you'll see him listed on IMDb is uncredited director, 336 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: uncredited writer. Um. Basically, various accounts indicate that he was 337 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: the director, and he, for some reason or another, let 338 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,399 Speaker 1: Christian Nibe take the directing credit, which again would be 339 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 1: his first. John Carpenter, among others, have echoed this view. However, 340 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: various other folks, including some people involved with the actual 341 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,200 Speaker 1: production of the film, have said otherwise. And they say, no, 342 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,880 Speaker 1: Nibe was the director. So ultimately, you know, how can 343 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: you say one way or the other. It does seem 344 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: like Hawks greatly valued Nibe, and and it said that 345 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: Nibe was an instrumental editor in many of his films. 346 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: So it's been argued that perhaps Hawks thought that sci 347 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: fi was beneath him and didn't want his name on it, 348 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: and or he gave the credit to Nive so that 349 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: he could get into the director's guild, you know, like like, 350 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: let's you go ahead and put your name on this 351 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: film and this will help your career. Um, It's it's 352 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 1: hard to say what exactly was going on here, but 353 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: I doubt we're going to get a a a definite 354 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: answer on it ever. But it does not say, I 355 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 1: want to stress though, I've seen no accounts that indicate 356 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: that this was some sort of this was a situation 357 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: of animosity or like one director being replaced. We often 358 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: see that in this in production stories where this guy, 359 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: this guy's on the outs bringing this guy no. It 360 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: seems like something else was going on here. Um, and uh, 361 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: you know, if anything, it was probably Hawks helping out Nybe. 362 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 1: Or it's just been a situation where Hawks was involved 363 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: in the production and Nybee was still the director, and 364 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,120 Speaker 1: maybe people were were more inclined to give Hawks more 365 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: credit than than he perhaps deserved for it. I mean, 366 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know what the answer is here. Sure, 367 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: I guess we'll have to leave that one sort of unanswered. 368 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: That being said, folks that are familiar with Hawks, they 369 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: do point to various things about this film that have 370 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: his fingerprints on it. So and you you can of 371 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,399 Speaker 1: course explain that, explain. You can explain that away a 372 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: bit by saying, well, Hawks and Ibi worked together so much. 373 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,399 Speaker 1: You know, they had similar interests, they worked together to 374 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: make these previous films. So who knows. We're not going 375 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: to reach an answer today. Well, I will emphasize yet 376 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,000 Speaker 1: again that I think, pretty much across the board in 377 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 1: terms of technical filmmaking, this is an excellently made movie, 378 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: especially for science fiction films at the time. I mean, 379 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: they're there are definitely things that you can criticize about it, 380 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 1: and we will as kind of kind of like quaint 381 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:26,880 Speaker 1: or products of their era, But a lot of that's 382 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,679 Speaker 1: in the actual sort of story content. In terms of 383 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: a technical exercise and filmmaking, I think the Thing from 384 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: Another World just is awesome for nineteen fifty one. Absolutely. Yeah. 385 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: If you're hesitant to watch this just because it is 386 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,879 Speaker 1: an early nineteen fifties film, um, just know that it 387 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,719 Speaker 1: is in many ways ahead of its time. Alright, So 388 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,640 Speaker 1: we mentioned already that this was based on a short 389 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: story based on a short story by John W. Campbell Jr. 390 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: Who lived nineteen nineteen through nineteen seventy one. Pulp era 391 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,080 Speaker 1: sci fi writer and editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and 392 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,880 Speaker 1: he wrote numerous short stories and several novels, though Who 393 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 1: Goes There? The story that this is based on is 394 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: perhaps his best remembered, and I believe it was recently 395 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: re released in an expanded form, like they went back 396 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,679 Speaker 1: to an old manuscript, and there's there's stuff in that 397 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: original manuscript that in some cases is actually president in 398 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: the film version, but not in the original story, if 399 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,199 Speaker 1: if I'm correct on that. Now, having read only a 400 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: little bit about Campbell, it seems to me that his 401 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: life sort of breaks into a couple of different parts. 402 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: That like, early on, it seems like most of what 403 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:32,719 Speaker 1: you read about him is that he's just sort of 404 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: like an output machine, like he's just writing tons and 405 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,879 Speaker 1: tons of very influential science fiction and editing tons of 406 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,119 Speaker 1: people and like cultivating the early careers of a lot 407 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: of people who would become later science fiction writers. And 408 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,480 Speaker 1: then it seems like the other half is that he 409 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: descends into increasingly bizarre interest in pseudoscience and right wing politics. Yeah, Yeah, 410 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: that's that seems to be the case of you know, 411 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: some in accounts ink that he could always be a 412 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: bit of a blowhard and would was prone to just 413 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 1: talk a lot, like if you were going to go 414 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:08,639 Speaker 1: in and chat with him about anything he was, you 415 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,720 Speaker 1: were going to get a monologue. But yeah, in life, 416 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: he apparently increasingly aspounded ideas that did not set well 417 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,680 Speaker 1: with more progressive sci fi authors of his time, such 418 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: as Isaac asm Of. Yeah, the main things I've seen 419 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: picked out are increasing interest in hard right politics and 420 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: then like belief in like psychic powers and stuff, and 421 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: being uh into sort of the dionetics nexus of of 422 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: alternative psychiatry. Yeah. Plus, I was reading about him in 423 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,199 Speaker 1: a two thousand nineteen piece in The New York Times 424 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: by Peter Libby about the renaming of a science fiction 425 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: writing award that had been named for Campbell and how 426 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,159 Speaker 1: they changed it because for and the reason was it 427 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: like Campbell supported racial segregation during his life, and he 428 00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:00,239 Speaker 1: aspounded numerous racist and inflammatory viewpoints like the a kind 429 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: of guy who would not only hold the whole hold 430 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,919 Speaker 1: like it was a racist viewpoints but also would like 431 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: seemed to go the extra step and just trying to 432 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: rile people up and shock people with his opinions. So um, 433 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 1: so yeah, that's that. That is John W. Campbell Jr. 434 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,440 Speaker 1: Now do you know if Campbell does he have any 435 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: involvement with the film or was it just that he 436 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: wrote the story and then it was adapted to a 437 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: screenplay with without his involvement. I don't know the details 438 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,160 Speaker 1: of his his involvement, but I know that he's He's 439 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: not credited with any screenwriting credits on this um. Instead, 440 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: we have the credited screenwriter is Charles Letterer, who lived 441 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,359 Speaker 1: nineteen eleven through nineteen seventy six. This is a This 442 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: is somebody who's a screenwriter on Hawks as Gentleman preferred 443 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: Blond's as well as the original Oceans eleven in nineteen 444 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:50,879 Speaker 1: sixty That was that was not a Hawks film, but 445 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: just another credit for Letterer here. Uh. There's also an 446 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: uncredited writer listed on IMDb, Ben Hesched, who lives lived 447 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: through nineteen sixty four. And this is a guy who 448 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,639 Speaker 1: also worked with Hawks writer on Scarface as well as 449 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: Alfred Hitchcock's film Notorious. Now, I guess we're about to 450 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: talk about the cast a little bit, and uh, again, 451 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:16,719 Speaker 1: I will say, as great as this movie is, one 452 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 1: of the top criticisms I would lodge about it is 453 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: it has way way too many characters, way too many characters. 454 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: This movie could have had seven or eight characters at 455 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: the base, I think, and achieve the same factional dynamics. Instead, 456 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: it has like thirty seven characters as way too many. 457 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,119 Speaker 1: I could not keep track of who was who among 458 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: the minor characters, you know, I could recognize like like 459 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:42,720 Speaker 1: three or four people, and then everybody else. I was 460 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,439 Speaker 1: just getting mixed up. Oh yeah, Like you're immediately just 461 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: thrown into a cast of a very interchangeable looking like 462 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: clean cut white military guys, and and you're just scrambling 463 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 1: to figure out for a little bit, because again the 464 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: writing is really tight on this thing. You've pretty quickly 465 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,240 Speaker 1: figure out who you're main character is, and you can 466 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: sort of tell who matters and who doesn't. But there 467 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 1: are a lot of they are a fair number of 468 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 1: characters on the screen who ultimately don't matter, and they're 469 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 1: they're not even there to be cannon fodder for the 470 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: monster or anything. Right, Like, most everybody survives this thing. 471 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: I think the monster only kills like two or three people, right, yeah. Yeah. 472 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: So if you you see this many people and you're like, oh, 473 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: it's gonna be a blood bath. No, no, it's it's 474 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: not even the smaller teams like Team Science. We'll get 475 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,959 Speaker 1: get into that in a bit. But they were like 476 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,159 Speaker 1: three characters that stood out. Well, there were two that 477 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,679 Speaker 1: were important characters, one who stood out and two that 478 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,639 Speaker 1: we're just interchangeably in the background. Yeah, so maybe we 479 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: should talk about the actor playing our hero. All right, 480 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: this is Kenneth Toby playing Captain Patrick Hendry. Patrick Hendry. Uh, 481 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,199 Speaker 1: this is our hero. This is the all American lug. 482 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: He is a handsome, blonde man of action who holds 483 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: his liquor. He thinks fast, and he brooks. No sympathy 484 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: for blood sucking aliens or any such an nonsense. Yeah, yeah, 485 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: he's Uh. It doesn't take long to realize this guy's 486 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: our lead. Um, he's an interesting actor. The two twenty 487 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 1: three acting credits on IMDb. Um. I'm not sure if 488 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 1: I gave his dates yet, nineteen seventeen through two thousand 489 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: and two. Uh he he. In his later career, oh, 490 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 1: he played air controller new Bauer in nineteen eighties Airplane 491 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 1: the the parody film, but back in the day. He 492 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: was in nineteen fifty five. It came from Beneath the Sea. 493 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,439 Speaker 1: And he has quite a few interesting cameos and uncredited bits, 494 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,919 Speaker 1: especially from later in his life, including playing a hologram 495 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: priest and hell Raiser Bloodline. He was a projectionist in 496 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: Grimlins too. He had another cameo in Gremlins playing a 497 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: different character. He was in Big Top Peewee, he was 498 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: in The Howling, he was in Inner Space. You know, 499 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 1: I'll say, I think he very much fits the mold 500 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: of a leading man character of these nineteen fifties sci 501 00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:59,879 Speaker 1: fi movies, where the leading character is often just the 502 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: this kind of lug this uh you know, macho cigarette 503 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,120 Speaker 1: ad man. But but you know what, he's good. He's 504 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 1: good with this role. Yeah. Yeah, And it seems to 505 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 1: be the like he was in a lot of stuff 506 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 1: before these, uh, these more recent films I'm naming here. 507 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:18,359 Speaker 1: But what seems to be the case is that he 508 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:20,239 Speaker 1: had a long career, so he was still active by 509 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties. But also he was he was in 510 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: the Thing from Another World. He was part of this, uh, 511 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: this era of TV that this new generation of directors 512 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 1: had grown up on. So you see folks like Joe 513 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: Dante using him a lot. John Carpenter used him in Um, 514 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: I want to say star man. Uh So you know 515 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: they look back and they're like, this is the star 516 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: of the thing from another world. If if he if 517 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: he's looking for work, I want to I want to 518 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: put him in my film. Have him. I'll just give 519 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 1: him a cameo something. Let's get him on the screen. 520 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: I just want to be in his presence. Now we 521 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: mentioned that in this movie he's a ruggedly handsome lug. 522 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: He is also the love interest of Margaret Sheridan and 523 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: this movie playing a character named Nicki Nicholson. Is that right? Yep? Yeah. 524 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 1: So Sheridan's interesting. She lived through two Hawks apparently discovered 525 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 1: her while she was still in college, and Hawks was 526 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: just convinced that this that this was going to be 527 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: the next big start, that she was like a once 528 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: in a generation talent. So he wanted to cast her 529 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 1: in ninety eight Red River, that's the Hawks film, but 530 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: apparently she was pregnant at the time. She passed on it, 531 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 1: and she she ended up being in this film, which 532 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 1: you know, depending on you know, whether Hawks directed it 533 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,520 Speaker 1: or not. It's it's still very much a Hawks film, 534 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:40,720 Speaker 1: you know. Um, but her career ultimately didn't take off 535 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,680 Speaker 1: quite like Hawks had imagined it. She was in uh 536 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,959 Speaker 1: five more films, and she did some TV, but this 537 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:51,040 Speaker 1: is the one she's best remembered for. Um. Other credits 538 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: include nineteen fifty three's I've a Jury in nineteen fifty 539 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: four's The Diamond Wizard. I like that name. It's a 540 00:29:57,960 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: cool name. I think I looked at it. I think 541 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: maybe it's a diamond heist kind of a film. So 542 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 1: nothing that stands out to modern viewers perhaps so much. Well, 543 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: Margaret Sheridan is wonderful in this movie. She she has 544 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: such a rye jolly energy. I love the way that 545 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 1: she so when Kenneth Toby's uh talking and she's got 546 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: scenes with him, I love the way she's constantly either 547 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: kind of laughing at him or visibly trying to hold 548 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: back laughter while he's speaking. There's something kind of powerful 549 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 1: and almost kind of threatening about the way she just 550 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: laughs at him. But and I love it. But then 551 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: also it's very clear that she does like him. Uh So, Yeah, 552 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: she's got a wonderful screen presence. Yeah, you can see 553 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 1: what Hawk saw in her. She she has this great 554 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 1: energy and and the role is is really good for 555 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: a really well written for n one. Uh. You know, 556 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: she's not a damsel in distress. Um, she's not a 557 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: film fatale. Uh you know, she is this this strong, 558 00:30:54,880 --> 00:31:00,360 Speaker 1: capable professional woman in this you know, outrageous scenario. Um 559 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: and uh and she you know, stands toe to toe 560 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: with with her male counterparts in the film. And this 561 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 1: is where we get to to something that was apparently 562 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: one of hawks trademarks. And I have to admit I 563 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: haven't seen any other Howard Hawks film, so I can't 564 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: really speak to this personally, but apparently in film theory 565 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: this is known as the Hawksian woman, an archetype of sort. 566 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: Uh you know, a tough talking or fast talking woman 567 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: that converbally spar with male counterparts. And that's certainly something 568 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 1: we see in this in this role his girl Friday. Yeah, yeah, 569 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: I guess so. Um. You know. It's not to say, 570 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: I want to be clear, it's not like there are 571 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: no nineteen fifty sensibilities uh, in the in this character 572 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,400 Speaker 1: or in the film entirely, but I feel like it's 573 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: it's a shockingly strong role for a film from this 574 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: time period. Certainly a genre film. Yeah, so far we've 575 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:02,440 Speaker 1: spoken about two characters in depth here uh and uh, 576 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: and Nikki is very much on team science and and 577 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: Toby is is one of the military men you off 578 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 1: Mike here, you have talked about this film essentially being 579 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: about jocks versus nerds. Oh, totally. Yeah, this is a 580 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: jocks versus nerds movie, though there's some crossover because ultimately, 581 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,440 Speaker 1: I would I would say that while Margaret Sheridan is 582 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,120 Speaker 1: playing a scientist, she her real loyalties are more on 583 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: the jock side. She's with the military military guys in 584 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 1: the end. But yeah, this is a this is a 585 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: movie in which the jocks the military represent tough common 586 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: sense and the nerds the scientists represent an unhealthy and 587 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 1: ill advised curiosity, you know, a mind that is a 588 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,720 Speaker 1: little too open for its own good. And this brings 589 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:52,840 Speaker 1: us to the next character that that we wanted to 590 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,240 Speaker 1: talk about in the actor who plays him, and that's 591 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: if this movie has a human villain, this is the 592 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:02,080 Speaker 1: human villain. This is doctor Carrington. I would say he 593 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: is the main figure in the movie representing the villainous 594 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: potential of the nerds among us. He's so curious to 595 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 1: know more about the life forms from other worlds that 596 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,840 Speaker 1: he forgets his loyalty to this one. And I think 597 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,600 Speaker 1: this is a good jumping off point to talk about 598 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: some of the historical political context of the film. Uh So, 599 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: I want to be clear, I do not know if 600 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 1: it was intended this way by the filmmakers. This could 601 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: be something that is just an artifact of interpretation. But 602 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: it's easy to see how this has been interpreted as 603 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: a Cold war paranoia movie. You know, it was released 604 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,480 Speaker 1: early during the Second Red Scare, and it involves sort 605 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:48,960 Speaker 1: of comy coded intellectuals who betray their loyalty to the 606 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:55,400 Speaker 1: home team in a spirit of suicidal interplanetary cosmopolitanism. So 607 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: Dr Carrington there's something kind of off about him in 608 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: his aesthetics. He dresses in these strange slacks that look 609 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:04,960 Speaker 1: I don't I'm not sure what they were. They look 610 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 1: kind of like pajama pants with a strange pattern on them. 611 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:12,000 Speaker 1: And he wears a turtleneck sweater and a double breasted jacket, 612 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:14,600 Speaker 1: and he has a pointy beard, so he looks almost 613 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 1: like the classic Looney Tunes caricature of the Freudian psychiatrist. 614 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 1: You know, what I'm talking about. He looks like the 615 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 1: the archetype of an untrustworthy, godless intellectual, like somebody that 616 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 1: John Wayne would slug in the mouth and big Jim McClain, 617 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:36,480 Speaker 1: Yeah like almost like like a stereotypical communist sympathizer intellectual 618 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,400 Speaker 1: of the day. Yeah. Yeah. There are a number of 619 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: sci fi movies of this time interpreted as Cold War 620 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:46,480 Speaker 1: paranoia movies, and they tend to feature plot devices of 621 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:51,440 Speaker 1: either one of two mechanisms, either mind control or body snatching. 622 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: And what this means is that you end up with 623 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 1: enemies who look like your friends and neighbors, but secretly 624 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,439 Speaker 1: they're working for the other side. And you can see 625 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 1: examples of this in the nineteen fifty six Invasion of 626 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:07,080 Speaker 1: the Body Snatchers, the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 627 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,880 Speaker 1: There was a remake in uh in seventy eight that 628 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 1: I think is absolutely fantastic. If you've never seen the 629 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 1: seventy eight version, that that's another remake from I guess 630 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:17,640 Speaker 1: a few years before, but around the same time as 631 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:20,719 Speaker 1: as Carpenter's Thing remake. That is a remake that is 632 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:24,000 Speaker 1: at least as good as the original, and probably better. 633 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:26,800 Speaker 1: I've never seen the seventies remake. I've only seen the 634 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six version, which as a child like scared 635 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 1: the crap out of me at bet. It's something about 636 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:35,960 Speaker 1: just the black and white nature of it and just 637 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:40,520 Speaker 1: how just frenzied Kevin McCarthy's character is towards the end, 638 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: like he's just completely losing it with Uh, it's not 639 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 1: even paranoia in the context of the film, because people 640 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:49,600 Speaker 1: are being replaced by pod people and he's the like, 641 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,640 Speaker 1: the only sane man left trying to warn us. Well, 642 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: you really should see the seventy eight Body Snatchers because 643 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:58,240 Speaker 1: it's also just fantastic. It's it's got a great cast, 644 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 1: Donald Sutherland, Brooke, Adam Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, 645 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 1: there are Yeah, it's a wonderful cast and and excellently scripted, 646 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:11,360 Speaker 1: like really good. So. But anyway, in those cases, especially 647 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,080 Speaker 1: the original fifty six invasion of the Body Snatchers, because 648 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: it's in this sort of red scare period of the 649 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:20,000 Speaker 1: fifties after World War Two. Um, it's it fits into 650 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,400 Speaker 1: this mold. You've got people who look like your friends, 651 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:24,840 Speaker 1: but actually they work for the enemy, and on the 652 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,160 Speaker 1: Hammy or b movie side of things, You've also got 653 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,320 Speaker 1: movies like it Conquered the World, which I think you 654 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:31,239 Speaker 1: could say the same thing about also came out in 655 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:35,799 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six, a Corman special Roger Corman, And how 656 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,040 Speaker 1: would you describe it Conquered the World. It's a movie 657 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 1: where like a giant communist mind control artichoke from Venus 658 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:45,880 Speaker 1: conquers a military base in a nearby town by like 659 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,279 Speaker 1: making a brain thrawl out of Levan Cleef. Yeah, it's 660 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:51,960 Speaker 1: an interesting film. It has has a ridiculous monster in it, 661 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:56,239 Speaker 1: but a lot of it revolves around um, around Peter 662 00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:01,120 Speaker 1: graves is character having these conversations with Levan Cliff's character, 663 00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:05,160 Speaker 1: kind of like it just a philosophical arguments about how 664 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:08,560 Speaker 1: we should be treating the aliens that are invading the world, 665 00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:10,640 Speaker 1: you know with Lee Van Cliffe, Uh, you know, since 666 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:12,399 Speaker 1: he tends to play the more villainous roles though he's 667 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:15,479 Speaker 1: not really an outright villain and not an unsympathetic villain 668 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:18,120 Speaker 1: in this um he comes through in the end. Yeah, 669 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,040 Speaker 1: he comes through in the end, but he also seems 670 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,080 Speaker 1: to be he has a very logic based approach to everything, 671 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,520 Speaker 1: uh into why he is essentially siding with the aliens 672 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:28,880 Speaker 1: um And that's kind of the heart of it, Like 673 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:31,880 Speaker 1: the the the alien threat exists, and it's about how 674 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 1: are we as a as a as a as a 675 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:38,760 Speaker 1: culture responding to it, and are we engaging in dangerous 676 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:44,080 Speaker 1: um sensibilities and dangerous ideas regarding the treatment of alien beings. 677 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:46,799 Speaker 1: Will we learn only too late that man is a 678 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:49,759 Speaker 1: feeling creature, right, And that's a big that's a big 679 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,440 Speaker 1: theme in all of these, right, the idea that this 680 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:57,200 Speaker 1: this dangerous ideology or you know, or alien presence, whatever 681 00:37:57,360 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 1: the infection happens to be, it will rob you of 682 00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:03,239 Speaker 1: your individuality. You're just going to be made into You'll 683 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,880 Speaker 1: be a pod person, You'll be uh, you know, or 684 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,560 Speaker 1: whatever the thing is. You're going to be robbed of 685 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:12,960 Speaker 1: your individuality and your personality. And that this alien persuasion, 686 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,680 Speaker 1: this alien frame of mind, or the sympathies to the 687 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:18,880 Speaker 1: enemy are not visible from the outside, right, that the enemy, 688 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:22,600 Speaker 1: whether it's mind control or body snatching, either way, the 689 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:24,719 Speaker 1: effect is the same, which is that the enemy is 690 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:27,799 Speaker 1: among us, blending in, you know. And and this is 691 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:30,560 Speaker 1: very much in the political spirit of the age. It's like, 692 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,200 Speaker 1: you know, McCarthy speech when he stood up in nineteen 693 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:36,239 Speaker 1: fifty and he said he had a list of Communist 694 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:39,319 Speaker 1: spies who were secretly working in the State Department, as 695 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,480 Speaker 1: they're just blending in with everybody else. And and so 696 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:47,000 Speaker 1: the main mood or theme of these movies, a little 697 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:50,759 Speaker 1: bit less than outright terror, is instead paranoia. Right. It's 698 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:52,799 Speaker 1: this thing of like who can I trust? Who is 699 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,760 Speaker 1: not what they seem? And there's an irony here because 700 00:38:55,800 --> 00:39:00,319 Speaker 1: I think Carpenter's adaptation of the Thing accomplishes this theme 701 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 1: of paranoia much more powerfully than the original Thing from 702 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 1: Another World, even though I don't think Carpenter's version has 703 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:09,480 Speaker 1: any of that red scare political DNA, I don't. I 704 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:12,560 Speaker 1: don't think that's it's concerned with that at all. It's 705 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:15,040 Speaker 1: just sort of like more free floating paranoia. And I 706 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:19,600 Speaker 1: think it accomplishes that because specifically it involves an alien 707 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,080 Speaker 1: who impersonates people who can look like your coworkers, and 708 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:25,799 Speaker 1: you wouldn't know it was actually an alien until you 709 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:30,520 Speaker 1: test their blood. Unlike this movie, instead of having somebody 710 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:33,880 Speaker 1: who's an alien body snatcher or someone under alien mind control, 711 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 1: it has just the suspect loyalties of the scientists and 712 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:42,920 Speaker 1: the intellectual because they're hungry for knowledge and they're open 713 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,759 Speaker 1: minded to a fault, and because and because of that, 714 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:49,399 Speaker 1: they will flirt with dangerous forces from outside the zone 715 00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:52,600 Speaker 1: of safety. And that's who that's the role that Dr Carrington, 716 00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,720 Speaker 1: this character plays in the movie. And for the record, 717 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:58,759 Speaker 1: the actor Robert Corinthwaite is great in this role. I 718 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,880 Speaker 1: love him as the god less, untrustworthy nerd. Yeah, he's 719 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: pretty great, even even though at times, yeah, it feels 720 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:07,719 Speaker 1: like they're laying out a bit thick with him. But 721 00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:10,200 Speaker 1: oh yeah, yeah, it's a little cheesy. Yeah, because he said, 722 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:12,279 Speaker 1: he's like, everyone else is like this, this thing is 723 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,440 Speaker 1: murdering people in his drinking blood. And he's like, yes, 724 00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:16,920 Speaker 1: but I think we should reason with it. There's so 725 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,680 Speaker 1: much we could learn from this murderous carrot u And 726 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:22,359 Speaker 1: even right up there at the end, you know, they're 727 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:25,480 Speaker 1: they're trying to lure it into a high tech trap 728 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:27,879 Speaker 1: to shock it to death, and he's like, wait, let 729 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:30,919 Speaker 1: me speak to the creature. It must not be heard, 730 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:32,960 Speaker 1: you know, And we get to see the nerd get 731 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,960 Speaker 1: punished for his foolishness. You know, he's so naive that 732 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,799 Speaker 1: he thinks he can, he can form a relationship with 733 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,640 Speaker 1: the alien, you know, unlike he doesn't have the rough 734 00:40:41,719 --> 00:40:44,600 Speaker 1: common sense of the of the captain in the army 735 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:47,279 Speaker 1: who's like, well, you just gotta kill this thing. Um. 736 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:51,800 Speaker 1: So he gets smacked down. I think they say that 737 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,560 Speaker 1: he survives. I think they say that he just ends 738 00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:58,320 Speaker 1: up with some broken bones, broken bones, in a wounded spirit. 739 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:01,920 Speaker 1: But perhaps he'll he'll Now he knows that he shouldn't, 740 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:08,200 Speaker 1: he shouldn't put science first. So this actor Um karnth Waite. 741 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:10,680 Speaker 1: He was born in nineteen seventeen died in two thousand 742 00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:12,959 Speaker 1: and six. He did a lot of TV and film 743 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,160 Speaker 1: work throughout his long career, including Future World, that was 744 00:41:16,239 --> 00:41:19,920 Speaker 1: the one of the sequels to West World. He was 745 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty threes, War of the World's nineteen sixty 746 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:24,880 Speaker 1: two is whatever Happened to Baby Jane. He was in 747 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: The Ghost and Mr Chicken and that we don't know 748 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:30,840 Speaker 1: the ghost of Mr Chicken. I do not know the 749 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,520 Speaker 1: Ghost just like it was a Don Nots comedy, Okay, 750 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:36,040 Speaker 1: I think I I saw it a lot as a 751 00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:38,960 Speaker 1: kid for some reason. But anyway, this actor was on. 752 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:40,920 Speaker 1: It was on tons of famous TV shows, from the 753 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:45,600 Speaker 1: old day stuff like Andy Griffith, Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Um. 754 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,759 Speaker 1: This was his first credited film or TV acting gig, though, 755 00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:51,640 Speaker 1: and he he often played lawyers and scientists because he 756 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:53,960 Speaker 1: had that kind of like intellectual air, you know, that 757 00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:57,440 Speaker 1: intellectual delivery that that lent itself well to those roles. 758 00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:00,840 Speaker 1: Maybe a nasal voice and a point he eard and 759 00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:02,719 Speaker 1: you just look at that guy and you're like, I 760 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:04,840 Speaker 1: don't I don't know if I can trust him now. 761 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:08,839 Speaker 1: We also have a very amusing journalist character who has 762 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:12,280 Speaker 1: a lot of screen time. It's our character Ned Scott, 763 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:14,919 Speaker 1: and I enjoyed this character a lot because he's he's 764 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:19,560 Speaker 1: very stereotypical in many ways, but is so well written, 765 00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:23,399 Speaker 1: has a lot of snappy dialogue, fast talking journalist, has 766 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:27,560 Speaker 1: some extremely cheesy lines. He he gives the final the 767 00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:29,680 Speaker 1: final speech at the end of the movie. So this 768 00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:32,759 Speaker 1: movie's version of the he learned too late that man 769 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:36,719 Speaker 1: is a feeling creature is instead him like talking over 770 00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:39,560 Speaker 1: the military radio to I don't know, some command post 771 00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:42,040 Speaker 1: and like dictating a news story off the top of 772 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:45,520 Speaker 1: his head. It starts off with some line like, uh, well, 773 00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:48,400 Speaker 1: thousands of years ago a man named Noah save the 774 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,200 Speaker 1: Earth with an arc made of wood. Today with a 775 00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:54,480 Speaker 1: man named Captain Whatever saved the Earth with an arc 776 00:42:54,480 --> 00:43:01,239 Speaker 1: of electricity. Yeah, yeah, greatly great lead, ned really really good. Uh. 777 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:03,360 Speaker 1: The interesting thing about that ending with the keep watching 778 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,840 Speaker 1: the skies is I sometimes having never seen it before, 779 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:10,520 Speaker 1: but but being familiar with that ending line. I kind 780 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:15,760 Speaker 1: of combined that knowledge with the ending to um Invasion 781 00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:19,480 Speaker 1: of the Body Snatchers, where there's like a crazed urgency 782 00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:22,040 Speaker 1: to it, and there's no crazed urgency here. He's not like, 783 00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:24,239 Speaker 1: for God's sake, keep watching the skies because this is 784 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:26,799 Speaker 1: gonna happen again and again. He's just kind of like 785 00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:29,600 Speaker 1: in generally saying, keep watching the skies just in case, 786 00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:31,799 Speaker 1: I don't know, there might be who knows, Just keep 787 00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:37,000 Speaker 1: watching the sky. Watch those guys, keep watching them. Anyway, This, 788 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:41,080 Speaker 1: this character though very amusing Ned Scott um Uh. He 789 00:43:41,200 --> 00:43:43,759 Speaker 1: was played by Douglas Spencer, who of nineteen ten through 790 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:47,360 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, so you know, ultimately didn't it didn't have 791 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:50,200 Speaker 1: his long career as um as he could have given it. 792 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:52,040 Speaker 1: His His life was a bit cut short there. But 793 00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:55,600 Speaker 1: he was in, among other things, this Island Earth, The 794 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:59,360 Speaker 1: Diary of Anne Frank, and the classic Western Shane And 795 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:02,319 Speaker 1: speaking of what Western's, let's talk about Team Monster here. 796 00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,800 Speaker 1: Oh boy, now you mentioned already the James Arnez plays 797 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:09,640 Speaker 1: the Monster, and it is indeed James Arnez lived through 798 00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:12,800 Speaker 1: two thousand and eleven. This is the guy that's mostly 799 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:16,040 Speaker 1: mostly well known and well remembered for for one or 800 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:18,520 Speaker 1: two things. First of all, he played the lead character 801 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:22,600 Speaker 1: Matt Dillon on the long running gun Smoke Western TV show. 802 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:26,160 Speaker 1: That show aired nineteen fifty five through nine seventy five 803 00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:30,520 Speaker 1: and then was just always uh in syndication afterwards. It 804 00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:32,600 Speaker 1: seems like I remember my grandpa would watch it like 805 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:35,520 Speaker 1: every day on TV. I've never seen gun Smoke. I 806 00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:37,759 Speaker 1: really don't know anything about it. I mean, I know, 807 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:40,239 Speaker 1: I don't think I ever actively watched it, because I 808 00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:42,120 Speaker 1: mean I was a kid. I wasn't interested in in 809 00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:44,920 Speaker 1: gun Smoke so much. But it was on and he 810 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,440 Speaker 1: was like a you know, cowboy sheriff or whatnot. And 811 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:49,960 Speaker 1: he's like, let me guess, is he the new sheriff 812 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,960 Speaker 1: who's comes into a lawless town and has to fix everything? 813 00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:55,880 Speaker 1: I guess, But it's I mean, the show ran for 814 00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:58,200 Speaker 1: like twenty years, so you think he'd get into a 815 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,200 Speaker 1: pattern there after watch that. People would be like, you've 816 00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:04,759 Speaker 1: had fifteen years to fix this town and it's still lawless. Yeah, 817 00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:06,520 Speaker 1: Like does he have to run for re election? How 818 00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:10,440 Speaker 1: does it work? I don't know, gunsmoke fans let us know. Um. 819 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:12,640 Speaker 1: But it wasn't just Western's for James Arnaz. He was 820 00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:16,280 Speaker 1: also a nineteen fifty four Is Them a Giant Bug movie? 821 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:19,480 Speaker 1: Have you seen this one? Actually? Shame to say no, 822 00:45:19,560 --> 00:45:21,560 Speaker 1: I have not. I know it's a classic. The other 823 00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:25,000 Speaker 1: interesting thing about James ar Nez is that he was 824 00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:29,080 Speaker 1: born James king our Nest and he was the older 825 00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:32,480 Speaker 1: brother of a guy by the name of Peter Doosler 826 00:45:32,760 --> 00:45:36,880 Speaker 1: ar Ness who acted under the name Peter Graves. I 827 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:39,799 Speaker 1: just mentioned, Yeah, so this is Peter graves brother. So 828 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:42,480 Speaker 1: you could have literally had a brother to brother conversation 829 00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:44,440 Speaker 1: about how you learned too late that man is a 830 00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:49,080 Speaker 1: feeling creature. Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting though, I mean this 831 00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:51,440 Speaker 1: is often the case with siblings, right, I mean, this 832 00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:54,440 Speaker 1: is nothing remarkable, But you don't think of James r 833 00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:57,680 Speaker 1: Ness and Peter Graves as being is playing the same 834 00:45:57,719 --> 00:46:00,680 Speaker 1: source of characters there's like a there's a ruggedness to 835 00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:03,280 Speaker 1: James Arnez, like he's just always going to be that cowboy. 836 00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:06,319 Speaker 1: And Peter Graves, on the other hand, often played these 837 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:11,120 Speaker 1: more you know, these thoughtful characters that sometimes villainous, but 838 00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:13,800 Speaker 1: there's like a sternness to that is just sternness of 839 00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:16,399 Speaker 1: both actors. But I don't know Peter Graves different type 840 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:18,960 Speaker 1: of roles. I can't imagine them ever, like competing for 841 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,160 Speaker 1: the same character and in being like the same character. 842 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:24,360 Speaker 1: If if either of them played it, well, if it 843 00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:26,840 Speaker 1: had been Peter Graves as the thing from another world, 844 00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:30,400 Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, I wonder. I don't know 845 00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:32,839 Speaker 1: if Peter Graves ever played a monster. He might have 846 00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:34,839 Speaker 1: early in his career, and I'd have to I'd have 847 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:46,560 Speaker 1: to go through his filmography. Now another going back to 848 00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:49,120 Speaker 1: Team Science, there's one guy that stood out to me. 849 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:51,360 Speaker 1: I was just gonna, you know, skip over all the 850 00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:53,440 Speaker 1: rest of them. But there's a character by the name 851 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,839 Speaker 1: of doctor Stern. Did he stand out to you, Joe, 852 00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:58,680 Speaker 1: I don't remember which one he was. Wait, was he 853 00:46:58,719 --> 00:47:01,640 Speaker 1: one of the scientists who had black hair? He was, no, 854 00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:03,840 Speaker 1: he well, he might have had black hair. He was 855 00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:07,279 Speaker 1: tallish and and was I had kind of like a 856 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:10,759 Speaker 1: subdued but seemed like thoughtful delivery and had some good 857 00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:14,040 Speaker 1: lines here and there. Um played by this actor by 858 00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:18,800 Speaker 1: the name of Edward Franz. He lived through three again, 859 00:47:18,840 --> 00:47:22,440 Speaker 1: not a main character, but his screen presence impressed me, 860 00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:24,680 Speaker 1: so I thought i'd include him here. A stern faced 861 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:29,400 Speaker 1: character actor whose mini credits include The Ten Commandments. Um. 862 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:33,240 Speaker 1: He was in Hatari Johnny got his Gun and also 863 00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:36,520 Speaker 1: he was in Twilight Zone the movie. So the sequence 864 00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:38,080 Speaker 1: with the you know about the monster and the wing 865 00:47:38,080 --> 00:47:42,759 Speaker 1: of the plane was John lithcow Uh. Edward Franz plays 866 00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:46,520 Speaker 1: the old man on the flight. Okay, now I just 867 00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:49,200 Speaker 1: looked him up. I do remember him, but I don't 868 00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:54,400 Speaker 1: remember what he did in the movie. In just in 869 00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:58,960 Speaker 1: some of the science conversations, he kind of was a 870 00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:01,840 Speaker 1: voice of reason in and skepticism. I kind of I 871 00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:05,640 Speaker 1: liked his presence there Again, the dialogue is is pretty 872 00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:08,000 Speaker 1: tight and in in this uh, in this movie and 873 00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:11,080 Speaker 1: uh and and even like bit characters like like him, 874 00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:13,920 Speaker 1: he has a chance to shine. Okay, one more actor 875 00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:16,360 Speaker 1: I want to include, and that's Uh. The character the 876 00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:19,320 Speaker 1: character Dr Vorhes was played by this guy Paul Free 877 00:48:19,520 --> 00:48:23,000 Speaker 1: who lived nineteen twenty through nineteen eighty six. And I'm 878 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:24,680 Speaker 1: including him because he had a long career as a 879 00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:27,640 Speaker 1: voice actor, so he played a radio reporter in the 880 00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:30,440 Speaker 1: World of the Worlds. He did several voices and the 881 00:48:30,480 --> 00:48:34,600 Speaker 1: animated The Last Unicorn. Other credits include The Wind and 882 00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:37,759 Speaker 1: the Willows, Uh, the animated version of The Return of 883 00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:41,080 Speaker 1: the King and the Hobbit. Then also just various ranking 884 00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:44,560 Speaker 1: and bass holiday specials. And then finally we'll get to 885 00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:48,440 Speaker 1: the music here. The music was provided by Dmitri Tiomkin, 886 00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:53,800 Speaker 1: who lived eight four through nineteen seventy nine. The music 887 00:48:53,840 --> 00:48:56,120 Speaker 1: in this film is largely what you'd expect from the 888 00:48:56,160 --> 00:49:00,560 Speaker 1: time period, but um, this Russian born composer, it was 889 00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:03,920 Speaker 1: a major name during this era. Here in twenty two 890 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:08,080 Speaker 1: Academy Award nominations and won four oscars um and most 891 00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:11,440 Speaker 1: notably for this film. Again it's it's very standard and 892 00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:14,879 Speaker 1: a lot of brass in it, but you do hear 893 00:49:14,920 --> 00:49:17,560 Speaker 1: the theoreman from time to time to provide a little 894 00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:20,840 Speaker 1: bit of sci fi intrigue. Um. And I've seen this 895 00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:23,800 Speaker 1: score singled out as one of the works that helped 896 00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:27,880 Speaker 1: cement the electronic musical instruments place in sci fi cinema. 897 00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:31,120 Speaker 1: The other big one was The Day the Earth Stood Still, 898 00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:34,920 Speaker 1: scored by Bernard Herman. Oh that so that's interesting. I 899 00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:37,160 Speaker 1: didn't realize that these two movies came out the same year, 900 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:38,839 Speaker 1: The Thing from Another World and The Day the Earth 901 00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:41,799 Speaker 1: Stood Still, And I think it would also be interesting 902 00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:45,480 Speaker 1: to kind of compare them. I haven't seen The Day 903 00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:48,160 Speaker 1: the Earth Stood Still nearly as recently, but I would 904 00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:50,920 Speaker 1: say that The Thing from Another World is probably a 905 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:54,880 Speaker 1: much better movie, just on a technical level in terms 906 00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:57,640 Speaker 1: of like how how effective and scary, like the shots 907 00:49:57,640 --> 00:50:00,040 Speaker 1: and the horror and everything is in it. But it 908 00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:02,520 Speaker 1: I think The Day the Earth Stood Still is probably 909 00:50:02,680 --> 00:50:07,799 Speaker 1: a more thematically interesting movie. Yeah. Yeah, I think they're 910 00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:10,280 Speaker 1: both examples of sort of you know, the high minded 911 00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:14,239 Speaker 1: early nineteen fifties sci fi film um and this was 912 00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:18,120 Speaker 1: in an era where, I the genre films of this 913 00:50:18,200 --> 00:50:21,680 Speaker 1: caliber were not generally elevated at that level. They certainly 914 00:50:21,719 --> 00:50:24,880 Speaker 1: weren't getting nominated for Academy Awards and so forth. But 915 00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:27,320 Speaker 1: you know what should have been nominated for an Academy 916 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:31,000 Speaker 1: Award is the opening title of The Thing from God, 917 00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:37,640 Speaker 1: absolutely ballistic. Best Opening title I've ever seen. Probably of 918 00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:40,600 Speaker 1: course it inspired I think some things that came afterward, 919 00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:42,440 Speaker 1: But it's the one where it starts with, you know, 920 00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:44,960 Speaker 1: the black screen and then you just see the word 921 00:50:45,280 --> 00:50:49,839 Speaker 1: thing lettered in a large, jagged script that burns through 922 00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:54,160 Speaker 1: a black sheet like it's been like like spelled in kerosene, 923 00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:58,560 Speaker 1: and then set ablaze. Absolutely amazing. I love it, and 924 00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:01,560 Speaker 1: I imagine Carpenter loved it as well, because they didn't 925 00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:05,560 Speaker 1: they basically recreate the same title card for that decision 926 00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:09,400 Speaker 1: where burning through the screen. It's it's beautiful. I have 927 00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:11,640 Speaker 1: no idea how they did it. It's beautiful. Though. There's 928 00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:13,880 Speaker 1: another thing before we wrap up that I wanted to 929 00:51:13,920 --> 00:51:16,800 Speaker 1: talk about with this movie, which is that it has 930 00:51:17,360 --> 00:51:21,319 Speaker 1: uh interesting dialogue. So this film has what you might 931 00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:26,600 Speaker 1: call naturalistic dialogue or overlapping dialogue. So maybe there are 932 00:51:26,680 --> 00:51:29,759 Speaker 1: other examples of of movies like this from the time, 933 00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:31,840 Speaker 1: but if so, I'm not really aware of them. I 934 00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:37,120 Speaker 1: think filmmaking conventions of the early fifties would have overwhelmingly 935 00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:42,319 Speaker 1: favored the clear, crisp delivery of stage drama conventions, where 936 00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:44,960 Speaker 1: you know, one character speaks at a time and you 937 00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:48,120 Speaker 1: can hear every word they say, because the lines are important. 938 00:51:48,160 --> 00:51:51,040 Speaker 1: They're meant to develop the character or move the plot along. 939 00:51:51,680 --> 00:51:55,200 Speaker 1: But this movie is trending toward a more and more 940 00:51:55,480 --> 00:52:00,560 Speaker 1: naturalistic and atmospheric approach to dialogue, where characters sometimes mumble, 941 00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:04,279 Speaker 1: sometimes talk over each other at the same time, more 942 00:52:04,360 --> 00:52:07,320 Speaker 1: like you'd get in a later movies like Robert Altman movies, 943 00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:09,840 Speaker 1: where a lot of the dialogue is it's clear that 944 00:52:09,880 --> 00:52:12,800 Speaker 1: you're not supposed to hear and take in every single word, 945 00:52:12,880 --> 00:52:15,799 Speaker 1: but get a mood or get an atmosphere from the 946 00:52:15,880 --> 00:52:19,480 Speaker 1: chatter of the characters as they go about their business. Yeah, 947 00:52:19,640 --> 00:52:22,480 Speaker 1: like sometimes they are just incomplete thoughts, like one character 948 00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:25,560 Speaker 1: is talking about something they're interrupted, or yeah, there's cross 949 00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:27,840 Speaker 1: talk and you don't you don't always make out what 950 00:52:27,960 --> 00:52:31,080 Speaker 1: some of the characters are saying it, so it feels, yeah, 951 00:52:31,080 --> 00:52:33,960 Speaker 1: it has this very natural feel to it and also 952 00:52:34,040 --> 00:52:37,719 Speaker 1: just moves right along. It's like it's snappy. It's snappy dialogue, 953 00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:40,799 Speaker 1: you know it uh uh. It keeps you engaged and 954 00:52:40,840 --> 00:52:44,879 Speaker 1: it feels relatively real. Though of course, at the same time, 955 00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:47,480 Speaker 1: it's nine one reel, so you know there's gonna be 956 00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:50,399 Speaker 1: a bit of like Dames and Cigarettes you know, that's 957 00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:53,320 Speaker 1: sort of thing going on. Another aspect of the dialogue 958 00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:57,479 Speaker 1: that instantly reminded me, there's one shot in particular of this. Uh, 959 00:52:57,640 --> 00:52:59,840 Speaker 1: there's a there's a nice walk and talk sequence A 960 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:02,719 Speaker 1: and we have these long hallways between these rooms and 961 00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:05,920 Speaker 1: this and this snowy bass, and we got some scenes 962 00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:09,560 Speaker 1: where like scientists or military men walking down the hallway 963 00:53:09,719 --> 00:53:12,080 Speaker 1: and the cameras in front of them filming them talk 964 00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:14,200 Speaker 1: to each other. And of course this would this just 965 00:53:14,239 --> 00:53:17,719 Speaker 1: becomes a staple, especially of like police procedurals and uh 966 00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:20,480 Speaker 1: it shows like the West Wing and here it is 967 00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:23,200 Speaker 1: president and thing from another world? What's that guy who 968 00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:26,520 Speaker 1: does the Aaron Sorkin loves to walk and talk, which 969 00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:31,759 Speaker 1: I I frankly personally often find irritating. Imagine if Aaron 970 00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:34,560 Speaker 1: Sorkin did a remake of the Thing, I think I 971 00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:38,640 Speaker 1: would hate that all walk and talk, I never even 972 00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:43,440 Speaker 1: see the monster. I bet it would have a great cast. Though. Yeah, okay, Robert, 973 00:53:43,440 --> 00:53:46,640 Speaker 1: I know we can't finish without talking about the number 974 00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:48,960 Speaker 1: of scenes in this They're so good. But one that 975 00:53:49,120 --> 00:53:52,520 Speaker 1: just had my jaw on the floor was the fire 976 00:53:52,600 --> 00:53:56,480 Speaker 1: attack scene. Oh my god, this scene is so solid 977 00:53:56,640 --> 00:54:00,360 Speaker 1: and and terrifying. Uh. Like afterwards, I'm just I was 978 00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:03,120 Speaker 1: just like, like, I think I audibly said something like, 979 00:54:03,160 --> 00:54:06,680 Speaker 1: oh crap, like that that sequence was it was literally 980 00:54:06,719 --> 00:54:09,760 Speaker 1: on fire because it's a scene where the thing busts 981 00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:12,759 Speaker 1: into a room and they what they throw some kerosene 982 00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:15,040 Speaker 1: at it, and then they throw some fire at him. 983 00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:18,600 Speaker 1: They figured out that it's invulnerable to bullets. Yeah, yeah, 984 00:54:18,680 --> 00:54:21,320 Speaker 1: that shooting it didn't work earlier, so they're using fire 985 00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:26,480 Speaker 1: against it, and it's just it's rampaging and it's on fire. There, 986 00:54:26,520 --> 00:54:29,879 Speaker 1: like from an effect standpoint, terrifying, you know, because it's 987 00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:32,520 Speaker 1: like there's all this visible, real fire on the set. 988 00:54:32,840 --> 00:54:35,560 Speaker 1: There are multiple shots of somebody doing a man on 989 00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:39,239 Speaker 1: fire stunt. Uh. And then within the context of the film, Yeah, 990 00:54:39,239 --> 00:54:43,879 Speaker 1: it's just this intense feeling of of danger, both the 991 00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:47,200 Speaker 1: environmental danger of of their of of where they are 992 00:54:47,239 --> 00:54:49,239 Speaker 1: in the world, but also the fact that now things 993 00:54:49,320 --> 00:54:52,880 Speaker 1: are increasingly on fire and there's a rampaging, you know, 994 00:54:53,120 --> 00:54:57,759 Speaker 1: blood drinking alien that's also on fire. Tremendous. Yeah, and 995 00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:01,880 Speaker 1: the fact that it something about that scene and the 996 00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:05,160 Speaker 1: way that it's scary heightens something that's a sort of 997 00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:08,080 Speaker 1: progressive tension throughout the plot, which is that the characters 998 00:55:08,080 --> 00:55:13,120 Speaker 1: are having to make strategic decisions really fast that you know, 999 00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:16,359 Speaker 1: they're not given time to like compile everything they know 1000 00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:19,799 Speaker 1: and and try and figure out what's going on. I 1001 00:55:19,880 --> 00:55:22,279 Speaker 1: recalled that the set up to that scene is just like, 1002 00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:24,520 Speaker 1: we think he's attacking the door. Okay, what are we 1003 00:55:24,560 --> 00:55:27,000 Speaker 1: gonna do? You know, the bullets don't work, what if 1004 00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:30,080 Speaker 1: we try fire? And so they just like arranged this 1005 00:55:30,200 --> 00:55:33,040 Speaker 1: fire trap for it in real time pretty much. It 1006 00:55:33,080 --> 00:55:36,120 Speaker 1: happens really fast, and then it all goes to hell, 1007 00:55:36,200 --> 00:55:38,279 Speaker 1: and it becomes clear that you can't kill this thing 1008 00:55:38,280 --> 00:55:40,880 Speaker 1: with fire, or at least maybe you hurt it with fire. 1009 00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:43,680 Speaker 1: But it's like, it's not like us. Each of it 1010 00:55:43,840 --> 00:55:46,080 Speaker 1: sells as kind of independent, so you might be able 1011 00:55:46,080 --> 00:55:48,279 Speaker 1: to burn its outer layer, but it's ultimately going to 1012 00:55:48,360 --> 00:55:52,000 Speaker 1: be okay, yeah. Yeah. And and then afterwards they've lost 1013 00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:54,319 Speaker 1: an entire room of the facility and they have they 1014 00:55:54,320 --> 00:55:57,279 Speaker 1: have finite resources there, which I thought was also a 1015 00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:00,640 Speaker 1: great touch. You know, it's an old standby, but I 1016 00:56:00,680 --> 00:56:04,360 Speaker 1: gotta admit I'm really a sucker for setting a trap 1017 00:56:04,440 --> 00:56:06,919 Speaker 1: for the monster. That's just a kind of set piece 1018 00:56:06,960 --> 00:56:09,680 Speaker 1: that I always enjoy. Yeah, and that's where we wind 1019 00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:14,160 Speaker 1: up towards the end. Here they develop a trap, they 1020 00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:16,840 Speaker 1: explain how it's gonna work, and so you know, you 1021 00:56:16,840 --> 00:56:18,600 Speaker 1: know that this is always the case if if a 1022 00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:22,040 Speaker 1: trap is fully explained, something is going to go wrong, 1023 00:56:23,160 --> 00:56:25,480 Speaker 1: or if a plan is fully explained, something is going 1024 00:56:25,520 --> 00:56:27,799 Speaker 1: to go wrong. So, yeah, it doesn't quite go off 1025 00:56:28,480 --> 00:56:31,719 Speaker 1: as there is they're they're planning it to, but it 1026 00:56:31,800 --> 00:56:35,360 Speaker 1: also is not doesn't go off the rails disastrously. I 1027 00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:38,560 Speaker 1: don't think that would have been allowed in No, I 1028 00:56:38,600 --> 00:56:41,160 Speaker 1: guess not. No, you couldn't. I don't know at the time. 1029 00:56:41,200 --> 00:56:43,680 Speaker 1: Could you have an ending like you having Carpenters thing? 1030 00:56:44,239 --> 00:56:47,400 Speaker 1: I don't know, Yeah, I don't know how would How 1031 00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:49,880 Speaker 1: would audiences have reacted to that? I don't know the 1032 00:56:49,880 --> 00:56:52,680 Speaker 1: answer to this question, listeners right in are are there 1033 00:56:52,719 --> 00:56:55,840 Speaker 1: examples you can think of of sci fi or genre 1034 00:56:55,920 --> 00:57:00,759 Speaker 1: movies from say the fifties with utterly blieke ending just 1035 00:57:01,360 --> 00:57:04,879 Speaker 1: ending where the alien winds and earth loses. I mean, 1036 00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:07,840 Speaker 1: the main example that comes to mind instantly, and perhaps 1037 00:57:07,880 --> 00:57:09,719 Speaker 1: part of it because we already talked about it, is 1038 00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:13,160 Speaker 1: the fifty six Body Snatchers film, Like at the end 1039 00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:16,400 Speaker 1: of that film, it's like, we have one sane man 1040 00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:19,200 Speaker 1: left and everyone thinks he is insane. And I guess 1041 00:57:19,240 --> 00:57:22,880 Speaker 1: you could also look to various like short form Twilight 1042 00:57:22,960 --> 00:57:25,440 Speaker 1: Zone Twilight Zone type stuff where yeah, you'll definitely have 1043 00:57:25,480 --> 00:57:28,280 Speaker 1: the downer ending and and and and all. But yeah, 1044 00:57:28,320 --> 00:57:30,680 Speaker 1: this one, this one does not. This one leaves things 1045 00:57:30,680 --> 00:57:33,600 Speaker 1: on a positive note. Humans were tested, and they were 1046 00:57:33,720 --> 00:57:37,240 Speaker 1: they were up to the test. It's easier to end 1047 00:57:37,240 --> 00:57:39,600 Speaker 1: on a downer note. I think after like a sub 1048 00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:42,520 Speaker 1: thirty minute story than it is to end on a 1049 00:57:42,560 --> 00:57:45,400 Speaker 1: downer note after a ninety minute story. You know you've 1050 00:57:45,400 --> 00:57:48,120 Speaker 1: got more investment on a feature length and so people 1051 00:57:48,160 --> 00:57:51,080 Speaker 1: are going to feel really mad. If if you get 1052 00:57:51,080 --> 00:57:53,480 Speaker 1: a downer ending at the end of a movie, yeah, 1053 00:57:53,560 --> 00:57:56,280 Speaker 1: you gotta gotta send him home happy. Yeah, and if 1054 00:57:56,280 --> 00:57:58,439 Speaker 1: what this film does, I was. I was happy with 1055 00:57:58,600 --> 00:58:00,640 Speaker 1: the film after after we were on here. It has 1056 00:58:00,840 --> 00:58:04,640 Speaker 1: some terrific sequences. Uh, you know, great dialogue, a lot 1057 00:58:04,680 --> 00:58:07,720 Speaker 1: of interesting things about it. So you know, older films 1058 00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:09,840 Speaker 1: like this are not everybody's cup of tea, But I 1059 00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:12,360 Speaker 1: wouldn't if you're it all attempted, I encourage you to 1060 00:58:12,440 --> 00:58:15,280 Speaker 1: give the thing from another world a chance, I'm still 1061 00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:17,600 Speaker 1: thinking about this thing I just talked about. Wait a minute, 1062 00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:20,240 Speaker 1: this might be developing into a broader theory, Rob, would 1063 00:58:20,240 --> 00:58:23,920 Speaker 1: you generally agree then, when it comes to horror literature, 1064 00:58:24,360 --> 00:58:29,320 Speaker 1: it's way more common to have horror short stories where 1065 00:58:29,360 --> 00:58:32,920 Speaker 1: the monster or the the evil entity wins in the end, 1066 00:58:33,240 --> 00:58:37,640 Speaker 1: but horror novels where the hero wins in the end. Yeah. Yeah, 1067 00:58:37,680 --> 00:58:40,440 Speaker 1: I would say, by and large that's the case. Um. 1068 00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:43,720 Speaker 1: You know, and I've seen, I've certainly seen examples where 1069 00:58:44,480 --> 00:58:49,240 Speaker 1: longer works that have dark endings, those dark endings are 1070 00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:53,200 Speaker 1: not always that well received, even if the audience tends 1071 00:58:53,280 --> 00:58:57,640 Speaker 1: to be into darker, grittier stuff. You know, I've I've seen, 1072 00:58:57,680 --> 00:58:59,880 Speaker 1: I've seen that time and again. So I think that 1073 00:59:00,080 --> 00:59:03,080 Speaker 1: probably holds true. Um And I don't know how much 1074 00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:06,440 Speaker 1: of that is yet investment uh in a longer work, 1075 00:59:06,560 --> 00:59:10,040 Speaker 1: or sort of expectations of a longer work or um 1076 00:59:10,600 --> 00:59:13,120 Speaker 1: or also just like effective storytelling, if you stick with 1077 00:59:13,160 --> 00:59:16,160 Speaker 1: it that long, like you you're rooting for the good 1078 00:59:16,160 --> 00:59:18,800 Speaker 1: guys or what or whoever is you know, the protagonists 1079 00:59:18,800 --> 00:59:21,800 Speaker 1: happened to be like you want them to overcome the 1080 00:59:21,800 --> 00:59:24,959 Speaker 1: the adversary. UM And generally, I guess in those longer 1081 00:59:25,000 --> 00:59:27,920 Speaker 1: works you tend to have a protagonist that that you 1082 00:59:27,920 --> 00:59:32,040 Speaker 1: you're genuinely rooting for and and not like in short fiction, 1083 00:59:32,080 --> 00:59:34,960 Speaker 1: you sometimes have, you know, very problematic characters and you 1084 00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:37,400 Speaker 1: know something terrible is going to happen to them. Basically, 1085 00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:41,000 Speaker 1: the Tales from the Crypt model short stories, bad people, 1086 00:59:41,360 --> 00:59:45,920 Speaker 1: bad endings. Yeah. Yeah, Tales from the Crypt exactly is 1087 00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:48,840 Speaker 1: short enough that you don't need to like anybody. Yeah, 1088 00:59:49,080 --> 00:59:52,400 Speaker 1: like I hate everybody in this. I know something bad 1089 00:59:52,480 --> 00:59:54,320 Speaker 1: is going to happen. I'm probably gonna celebrate it when 1090 00:59:54,360 --> 00:59:56,840 Speaker 1: it does. Uh. And it's and it's a short ride 1091 00:59:56,840 --> 00:59:58,720 Speaker 1: to get there. Well, I guess we got kind of 1092 00:59:58,720 --> 01:00:02,280 Speaker 1: sidetracked there, But I'll come back to my my original recommendation. 1093 01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:04,520 Speaker 1: I say, Thing from Another World. Yeah, this one's This 1094 01:00:04,520 --> 01:00:09,960 Speaker 1: one's really really good horror filmmaking, especially for absolutely And 1095 01:00:10,000 --> 01:00:11,600 Speaker 1: if you would like to see this film, you're in 1096 01:00:11,680 --> 01:00:14,520 Speaker 1: luck because it, like I think our last one that 1097 01:00:14,560 --> 01:00:18,400 Speaker 1: we covered, is widely available. You can you can easily 1098 01:00:18,480 --> 01:00:21,200 Speaker 1: pick up a DVD or Blu ray of it. You 1099 01:00:21,240 --> 01:00:24,280 Speaker 1: can also digitally rent or buy it pretty much any 1100 01:00:24,320 --> 01:00:29,240 Speaker 1: place you you digitally buy or rent films. Watch the guys. 1101 01:00:31,040 --> 01:00:33,480 Speaker 1: I know that there was also a colorized version of 1102 01:00:33,520 --> 01:00:39,200 Speaker 1: this film. I can't imagine watching it colorized. Uh. I 1103 01:00:39,240 --> 01:00:41,760 Speaker 1: feel like the black and white is essential. Yeah, yeah, 1104 01:00:42,320 --> 01:00:44,240 Speaker 1: all right, we're gonna go ahead and wrap it up there. 1105 01:00:45,360 --> 01:00:47,560 Speaker 1: But hey, if you would like to listen to other 1106 01:00:47,600 --> 01:00:51,080 Speaker 1: episodes of Weird House Cinema, you'll find it every Friday 1107 01:00:51,160 --> 01:00:54,000 Speaker 1: in the Stuff to Blow your Mind podcast feed. We 1108 01:00:54,040 --> 01:00:57,880 Speaker 1: have core episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have a 1109 01:00:57,920 --> 01:01:00,360 Speaker 1: listener mail on Monday's artifact on winds D and a 1110 01:01:00,480 --> 01:01:04,760 Speaker 1: rerun on the weekends. And and hey, keep watching the 1111 01:01:04,800 --> 01:01:08,160 Speaker 1: skies out there. If you've got a sky, keep watching it. 1112 01:01:09,200 --> 01:01:11,760 Speaker 1: But what would that have done if you've seen it? 1113 01:01:11,800 --> 01:01:14,440 Speaker 1: You just said, you'd be like, I see something crash landing. 1114 01:01:15,640 --> 01:01:18,200 Speaker 1: Then you learn lear decided, so I guess you're like, oh, 1115 01:01:18,240 --> 01:01:21,800 Speaker 1: we gotta get all the thermite really quick. Uh. That 1116 01:01:21,960 --> 01:01:24,080 Speaker 1: is one more thing. It's this terrible time in the 1117 01:01:24,120 --> 01:01:26,520 Speaker 1: episode to remember it. But we have some great sequences 1118 01:01:26,560 --> 01:01:29,440 Speaker 1: too of plotting where the character is trying to track 1119 01:01:29,480 --> 01:01:32,400 Speaker 1: it with like a Geiger counter. Oh yes, closed space. 1120 01:01:32,520 --> 01:01:36,480 Speaker 1: Very reminiscent of films to come much later, like like 1121 01:01:36,560 --> 01:01:40,800 Speaker 1: Alien and Aliens. Yeah, yeah, totally so. Yeah, this film 1122 01:01:41,160 --> 01:01:44,080 Speaker 1: feels ahead of its time in a number of ways. Okay, 1123 01:01:44,080 --> 01:01:47,720 Speaker 1: we gotta stop gushing about the thing, Okay, okay, uh yeah, 1124 01:01:47,800 --> 01:01:50,240 Speaker 1: so what were we saying? Oh yeah, we're ending the 1125 01:01:50,240 --> 01:01:52,720 Speaker 1: episode all right. Well anyway, thanks as always to our 1126 01:01:52,720 --> 01:01:56,120 Speaker 1: wonderful audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. If you would like 1127 01:01:56,160 --> 01:01:58,160 Speaker 1: to get in touch with us with feedback on this 1128 01:01:58,200 --> 01:02:00,720 Speaker 1: episode or any other, to suggest topic for the future, 1129 01:02:00,880 --> 01:02:03,800 Speaker 1: just to say hello, you can email us at contact 1130 01:02:03,880 --> 01:02:13,640 Speaker 1: at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to 1131 01:02:13,640 --> 01:02:16,160 Speaker 1: Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. For 1132 01:02:16,240 --> 01:02:18,480 Speaker 1: more podcasts for My Heart Radio, visit the i heart 1133 01:02:18,520 --> 01:02:21,240 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 1134 01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:21,960 Speaker 1: favorite shows.