Invasion of the Body Snatchers

This article is about the 1956 film. For the 1978 adaptation, see Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film). For the computer game, see Invasion of the Body Snatchas!
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDon Siegel
Screenplay byDaniel Mainwaring
Based onThe Body Snatchers
1954 stories in Collier's
by Jack Finney
Produced byWalter Wanger
Starring
CinematographyEllsworth Fredericks
Edited byRobert S. Eisen
Music byCarmen Dragon
Production
company
Distributed byAllied Artists Pictures
Release date
  • February 5, 1956 (1956-02-05) (United States)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$416,911[1]
Box office$3 million

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 American science-fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in 2.00:1 Superscope and in the film noir style. Daniel Mainwaring adapted the screenplay from Jack Finney's 1954 science-fiction novel The Body Snatchers.[2] The film was released by Allied Artists Pictures as a double feature with the British science-fiction film The Atomic Man (and in some markets with Indestructible Man).[3]

The film's storyline concerns an extraterrestrial invasion that begins in the fictional California town of Santa Mira. Alien plant spores have fallen from space and grown into large seed pods, each one capable of producing a visually identical copy of a human. As each pod reaches full development, it assimilates the physical traits, memories, and personalities of each sleeping person placed near it until only the replacement is left; these duplicates, however, are devoid of all human emotion. Little by little, a local doctor uncovers this "quiet" invasion and attempts to stop it.

The slang expression "pod people" that arose in late 20th-century U.S. culture refers to the emotionless duplicates seen in the film.[2] Invasion of the Body Snatchers was selected in 1994 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[4][5]

  1. ^ Bernstein 2000, p. 446.
  2. ^ a b Warren 1982 [page needed]
  3. ^ McGee, Mark Thomas; Robertson, R.J. (2013). "You Won't Believe Your Eyes". Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-273-2. Page 254
  4. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  5. ^ "25 Films Added to National Registry". The New York Times. 1994-11-15. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-30.