Another episode of stuff we hadn't seen yet, even though it's our kind of thing: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1953). We did see the 1978 remake when it came out, but mostly because of Jerry Garcia's banjo.
It starts with Dr. Whit Bissel calling in Dr. Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon) to consult about a raving madman. The madman, Kevin McCarthy is trying to warn the world, and tells his tale in flashback.
He has just come back to the small So Cal town of Santa Mira from a trip, and his nurse tells him he has a lot of patients waiting - patients who won't say what their problem is. But all of them cancel before coming in.
His old flame, Dana Wynter, is back in town from jetsetting around, and they tentatively start up their old relationship. And why not? They are both divorced and she always seems to be wearing cocktail dresses. She's upset because her cousin seems to think her uncle, an ordinary guy who raised her, is not her uncle. She thinks he's a perfect replica, with all his memories and mannerisms - but it isn't him.
It turns out that a lot of people have this same delusion - but a little while later most of them say that it was nothing. But when McCarthy and Wynter are hanging out with their friends King Donovan and Carolyn Jones (Morticia!), they discover a pod that contains a half-formed body - that looks a lot like Donovan.
They quickly figure out that somehow, perfect replicas are being formed in giant seed pods. When you fall asleep, they replace you. Not sure how this works - it seems like they take over your brain in your old body, so why do they need the spares? Oh well.
This is all shown with great economy. It clearly establishes the small town locale, but gets to the pods within about 20 minutes. The whole thing is over in 80 minutes. Director Don Siegel keeps things moving along and lets the paranoia build. You could not fall asleep if you want to stay human, so everyone gets a little frazzled. In one of the final scenes, McCarthy kisses Wynter, and you can feel, just like he does, that she has fallen asleep and been taken over - she's no longer human. You can see the spark go out of her eyes.
The studio forced a happy ending, and I was actually glad. Otherwise, it would be just too much.
1 comment:
Speaking of Whit Bissell, I just saw The creature from the Black Lagoon for the first time, a very good movie (in my opinion, of course), as it turns out.
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