The Thing from Another World

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Christian Nyby directs. Russell Harlan behind the camera. Dimitri Tiomkin scores. Roland Gross cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 375 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Directed by Christian Nyby, shot by Russell Harlan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Roland Gross shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Kenneth Tobey and Margaret Sheridan and Robert Cornthwaite carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Natural or Supernatural?".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0044121 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 12 themes, including "flying saucer", "based on novel or book", "pilot", "research station".
• 11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Russell Harlan

Original score

Dimitri Tiomkin

Editing

Roland Gross

Makeup / hair

Larry Germain

Runtime

87 min · 1h 27m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,300,000

Box office

$1,950,000

Return

150% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

The Thing from Another World (1951) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

87% 🍅 Fresh

IMDB rating

7/10 · 36,024 votes

MPAA

Approved

Also by

Christian Nyby

• 
  The Twilight Zone

  1959 · ★ 8.5
• 
  Emergency!

  1972 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Valentine's Day

  1964 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Lone Wolf

  1954 · ★ 8.0
• 
  First to Fight

  1967 · ★ 7.9
• 
  The Wonderful World of Disney

  1954 · ★ 7.9

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Jesus Trevino on THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  The Thing From Another World (1951) - Movie Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-03-18
  ★ 9/10

  There are no enemies in science, only phenomena to be studied. The Thing from Another World is set at The North Pole and finds a bunch of U.S. airmen, scientists and a journalist getting more than they bargained for when they investigate a space craft frozen in the ice. What is most striking about the film is the basic human story of team work, the pulling together of mankind during a crisis, this theme is a big shift from the short story by John W Campbell Jr. (Who Goes There?). Where that story and later John Carpenter's wonderful remake focused on paranoia and mistrust, this film is something of the "polar" opposite (literally) as regards the group in peril. It bears all the hallmarks of producer Howard Hawks, who clearly influenced Nyby's direction. The script, with its pros and cons of a military and scientific society, is very much of its time, blending po-faced observations with straight backed joviality. But this all works in the film's favour and helps define it as one of the most important science fiction pictures ever made. Along with the other major sci-fi movie of 1951, "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "TTFAW" firmly brought the visitor from outer space idea into the public conscious. But where the former film intellectualised the alien visitor, resplendent with a message of worth, the latter is about terror, pushing forward the notion that the visitor here is a monster that wants to drink our blood and attempt World domination. No major effects work is needed here because one of the pic's highlights is only glimpsing the creature (James Arness) in little snippets, and this after we are made to wait for some time before things really kick off. This begs us to think for ourselves as regards this stalking menace, putting us firmly with this intrepid group of people, and we want to see them survive and we do care if they can or do succeed. The low end budget doesn't hamper the atmosphere or flow, in fact Nyby, Hawks, cinematographer Russell Harlan and music maestro Dimitri Tiomkin, work wonders to ensure there's a level of authenticity to the Arctic base and that peril is never far away. Not hindered by many of the clichés that would dominate similar themed genre pieces that followed it, film neatly taps into fears that were to become prevalent as the 1950s wore on. It may not be perfect, but a genre star it still be - so watch the sky tonight indeed. 9/10

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2023-09-22
  ★ 6/10

  Stuck at an isolated arctic station with some… Thing Scientists at a base in the frozen North discern the crash-landing of an unknown vessel 50 miles away, which they naturally investigate with the corresponding militarists. They bring a mysterious frozen specimen back to the station. Big mistake. “The Thing From Another World” (1951) was the first attempt to film John W. Campbell’s novella Who Goes There? Being shot in 1950, there’s a quaintness to the proceedings compared to the 1982 version with Kurt Russell or the 2011 prequel. This version lacks the grimness of those two future renditions and the extraterrestrial (played by towering James Arness) is lame by comparison. We know from “War of the Worlds” and “The Blob” that flicks from the 50s can feature effective alien creatures and be genuinely scary, but I can’t really say that about this B&W classic, although there’s of course SOME creepiness at the remote station. On the positive side, the elaboration on a mysterious plant-based lifeform from another planet is well-done and interesting. So is the contention between Capt. Hendry (Kenneth Tobey), who is intent on saving lives, and Dr. Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite), who believes scientific discovery is above all, even above all lives on Earth. Speaking of which, the idea about the possible global threat of the lifeform is later explored in the great “Species.” I suggest watching the 2011 and 1982 movies (in that order) and, if you want more, check out this classic for an alternative take on Campbell’s novella, assuming you don’t mind old-fashioned filmmaking and B&W photography. The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles (including at the Ice & Cold Storage Company in order to show condensed breath in the interiors); second unit work was done at Glacier National Park, Montana. GRADE: B-

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• WI

  Winchester Pictures Corporation

• 

  RKO Radio Pictures

  US

Key crew

• EditorRoland Gross
• ProducerHoward Hawks
• NovelJohn W. Campbell Jr.
• StuntsKen Terrell
• StuntsDick Crockett
• StuntsDuke Taylor
• StuntsSol Gorss
• StuntsLeslie Charles
• StuntsBob Morgan
• StuntsBill Lewin
• StuntsRussell Saunders
• StuntsTeddy Mangean
• Art DirectionAlbert S. D'Agostino
• Music DirectorDimitri Tiomkin
• Set DecorationWilliam Stevens
• Special EffectsDonald Steward
• HairstylistLarry Germain
• Art DirectionJohn Hughes
• Set DecorationDarrell Silvera
• Associate ProducerEdward Lasker
• Production ManagerWalter Daniels
• StuntsTom Steele
• Special EffectsLinwood G. Dunn
• Assistant DirectorArthur Siteman

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• flying saucer
• based on novel or book
• pilot
• research station
• base
• arctic polar circle region
• survival
• black and white
• alien invasion
• north pole
• survival horror
• alien plant-life

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)1951-04-05NR· Ohio
• Theatrical (limited)1951-04-06NR· Washington, D.C.
• Theatrical1951-04-07

Also known as

International titles

• El enigma de otro mundoES
• O Monstro do ÁrticoBR
• O Enigma de Outro MundoBR
• A AmeaçaPT
• 괴물KR
• 怪人CN
• La Chose d'un autre mondeFR
• La cosa del otro mundoMX
• НечтоRU
• Нечто из другого мираRU