Directed by: Howard Hawks, Christian Nyby
Starring: James Arness, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, Douglas Spencer, Margaret Sheridan
(6 votes)
I own this movie on DVD (The Thing box set with all 3 versions)
This is an interesting one. Most people know and love the 1982 movie The Thing by John Carpenter and staring one of my favorite actors Kurt Russel. It is an adaptation on of the 1938 short novella, Who Goes There?
Well this 1951 movie was the first attempt at making a film based around that story. It does suffer from the technology of the time, and since they couldn't do the creature effects we know from the 1982 film, they made the alien more of a Frankenstein's monster sort of guy. But it serves it's purpose well for this film. It's interesting, kinda hokey, and has that black and white sci-fi movie charm to it. While the later two movies are better, it's still a good film on its own.
If you get the chance to watch it or are in the mood for an old style sci-fi monster movie... this is a good one to pick!
Mistake Status: I definitely plan to do all 3 of The Thing movies for mistakes, some what soon.
Visible crew/equipment: When the airplane flies over the area where the saucer skidded in and became buried in the ice, you can see the equipment used to clear the snow and smooth out the ice (at the narrow end of the ice). You can also see the tracks from the machine criss-crossing the circular portion from the aerial shots. (00:16:20)
Hendry: Wait a minute, Scotty. You won't need any boots. When it comes you go back with the others. You don't belong out here.
Ned "Scotty" Scott: I didn't belong at Alamein or Bougainville or Okinawa. I was just kibitzing. And I write a very good obit, a obituary to use.