View source for Invasion of the Body Snatchers

{{short description|1956 horror film directed by Don Siegel}}
{{About|the 1956 film|the 1978 adaptation|Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)|the computer game|Invasion of the Body Snatchas!}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Invasion of the Body Snatchers
| image          = Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 poster).jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Don Siegel]]
| producer       = [[Walter Wanger]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[The Body Snatchers]]''<br>1954 stories in ''[[Collier's]]''|[[Jack Finney]]}}
| screenplay     = [[Daniel Mainwaring]]
| narrator       = 
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]]
* [[Dana Wynter]]
* [[Larry Gates]]
* [[King Donovan]]
* [[Carolyn Jones]]
* [[Jean Willes]]
* [[Ralph Dumke]]
}}
| music          = [[Carmen Dragon]]
| cinematography = [[Ellsworth Fredericks]]
| editing        = Robert S. Eisen
| studio         = [[Walter Wanger Productions]]
| distributor    = [[Monogram Pictures|Allied Artists Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1956|2|5|United States}}
| runtime        = 80 minutes
| country        = [[United States]]
| language       = [[English language|English]]
| budget         = $416,911<ref name="wagner">Bernstein 2000, p. 446.</ref>
| gross          = $3 million
}}

'''''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''''' is a 1956 American [[Science fiction film|science-fiction]] [[horror film]] produced by [[Walter Wanger]], directed by [[Don Siegel]] and starring [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]] and [[Dana Wynter]]. The [[black-and-white]] film was exhibited in 2.00:1 [[Super 35|Superscope]] and shot in the [[film noir]] style. [[Daniel Mainwaring]] adapted the [[screenplay]] from [[Jack Finney]]'s 1954 [[science-fiction]] novel ''[[The Body Snatchers]]''.<ref name="Warren">Warren 1982 {{Page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref> The film was an [[independent film|independent production]]<ref name="postwartalenttakeover">[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hollywood_Independents/0mPWE4Ysa0wC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=snatchers Hollywood Independents: The Postwar Talent Takeover - Google Books (pg.5)]</ref> but distributed  by [[Monogram Pictures|Allied Artists Pictures]] as a [[double feature]] with the British science-fiction film ''[[Timeslip (1955 film)|The Atomic Man]]'' (and in some markets with ''[[Indestructible Man]]'').<ref>McGee, Mark Thomas; Robertson, R.J. (2013). "You Won't Believe Your Eyes". Bear Manor Media. {{ISBN|978-1-59393-273-2}}. Page 254</ref>

The film's storyline concerns an [[Extraterrestrial intelligence|extraterrestrial]] [[Alien invasion|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 (Invasion of the Body Snatchers)|pod people]]" that arose in late 20th-century U.S. culture refers to the emotionless duplicates seen in the film.<ref name="Warren"/> ''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."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|website=Library of Congress|access-date=2020-05-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1994-11-15|title=25 Films Added to National Registry|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/15/movies/25-films-added-to-national-registry.html|access-date=2020-06-30|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

==Plot==
A psychiatrist, Dr. Hill, is called to a [[Los Angeles]] hospital, where a man named Dr. Miles Bennell is being held in custody. Miles recounts the events leading up to his arrest and arrival at the hospital.

In the nearby town of Santa Mira, Miles sees a number of patients suffering from the belief that their relatives have been replaced with identical-looking impostors. Psychiatrist Dr. Dan Kauffman assures Miles that these cases are merely a mass hysteria. Miles's ex-girlfriend Becky Driscoll has recently come back to town after settling a divorce, and they rekindle their relationship. The couple are called to the home of Miles's friend Jack Belicec, who has found a body in his basement. It has no features or fingerprints, but under their observation it takes on the features of Jack. Remembering that Becky's father was uncharacteristically emerging from his basement, Miles searches there and finds a duplicate of Becky. When Miles calls Dan to the scene, the bodies have disappeared, and Dan tells Miles that he is falling for the same hysteria.

Distraught by the incidents, Jack and his wife Teddy spend the night at Miles's place. They find duplicates of themselves emerging from pods in Miles's greenhouse and conclude that the townspeople are being replaced while asleep with copies. Miles tries to make a call to authorities, but the operator claims that all lines are busy and he cannot be put through, so Jack and Teddy drive off to seek help in the next town. Miles and Becky realize that all of Santa Mira's inhabitants have been replaced. They hide at Miles's office for the night.

They observe truckloads of the pods arrive downtown. Chief Nick Grivett directs the others to take them to towns to be planted and used to replace their populations. Dan and Jack arrive at Miles's office with pods for Becky and Miles, and say they and Teddy are now members of an extraterrestrial race which arrived on Earth through seeds which sprouted the pods. After their takeover, humanity will lose all emotions and sense of individuality.

Using misdirection, Miles and Becky overcome and knock out their captors, and leave the office. To avoid recapture, they pretend Dan succeeded in replacing them with emotionless pod people. However, Becky screams at a near-traffic accident, exposing their humanity to the aliens. An alarm is sounded and the couple flees.

The couple hide in a mine outside town. After their pursuers move on they hear music, and Miles leaves Becky to investigate. He sees a farm with hundreds of pods being loaded onto trucks. Miles returns to find Becky succumbing to fatigue. Upon kissing her, he realizes that she has been replaced by a pod person. Becky sounds the alarm as Miles runs away. Desperate, he screams at the drivers on the highway for help.

Miles finishes his story. A driver is wheeled into the hall on a gurney after having been injured in an accident. The attendant recounts that the man had to be dug out from under a load of mysterious pods coming from Santa Mira. With a key detail thus confirmed, Dr. Hill now believes Miles's story. He alerts the police to block the roads in and out of Santa Mira and calls the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]].

==Cast==
;Starring
* [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]] as Dr. Miles Bennell
* [[Dana Wynter]] as Becky Driscoll
* [[King Donovan]] as Jack Belicec
* [[Carolyn Jones]] as Theodora "Teddy" Belicec

;Featuring
* [[Larry Gates]] as Dr. Dan Kauffman
* [[Virginia Christine]] as Wilma Lentz
* [[Ralph Dumke]] as Police Chief Nick Grivett
* Kenneth Patterson as Stanley Driscoll
* Guy Way as Officer Sam Janzek
* [[Jean Willes]] as Nurse Sally Withers
* Eileen Stevens as Anne Grimaldi
* [[Beatrice Maude]] as Grandma Grimaldi
* [[Whit Bissell]] (uncredited) as Dr. Hill
* [[Richard Deacon (actor)|Richard Deacon]] (uncredited) as Dr. Bassett

;With
* [[Bobby Clark (juvenile actor)|Bobby Clark]] as Jimmy Grimaldi
* [[Tom Fadden]] as Uncle Ira Lentz
* [[Everett Glass]] as Dr. Ed Pursey
* [[Dabbs Greer]] as Mac Lomax
* [[Pat O'Malley (actor born 1890)|Pat O'Malley]] as Baggage Man
* [[Sam Peckinpah]] as Charlie, the Gas Meter Reader

==Production==
===Novel and screenplay===
Jack Finney's novel ends with the extraterrestrials, who have a lifespan of no more than five years, leaving Earth after they realize that humans are offering strong resistance, despite having little reasonable chance against the alien invasion.<ref name="Warren"/>

===Budgeting and casting===
''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' was originally scheduled for a 24-day shoot and a budget of [[United States dollar|US$]]454,864. The studio later asked Wanger to cut the budget significantly. The producer proposed a shooting schedule of 20 days and a budget of $350,000.<ref name="LaValley"/>

Initially, Wanger considered [[Gig Young]], [[Dick Powell]], [[Joseph Cotten]], and several others for the role of Miles. For Becky, he considered casting [[Anne Bancroft]], [[Donna Reed]], [[Kim Hunter]], [[Vera Miles]], and others. With the lower budget, however, he abandoned these choices and offered the part to [[Richard Kiley]], who had just starred in ''[[The Phenix City Story]]'' for Allied Artists.<ref name="LaValley"/> Kiley turned the role down and Wanger cast [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]], an Academy Award nominee five years earlier for ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'', and relative newcomer [[Dana Wynter]], who had done several major dramatic roles on television.<ref name="LaValley2">LaValley 1989, pp. 25-26.</ref>

Future director [[Sam Peckinpah]] had a small part as Charlie, a meter reader. Peckinpah was a dialogue coach on five Siegel films in the mid-1950s, including this one.<ref>Weddle 1994, pp. 116–119.</ref>

===Principal photography===
Originally, producer Wanger and Siegel wanted to film ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' on location in [[Mill Valley, California]], the town just north of [[San Francisco]], that Jack Finney described in his novel.<ref name= "LaValley">LaValley 1989, p. 25.</ref> In the first week of January 1955, Siegel, Wanger, and screenwriter [[Daniel Mainwaring]] visited Finney to talk about the film version and to look at Mill Valley. The location proved too expensive, and Siegel with Allied Artist executives, found locations resembling Mill Valley in the [[Los Angeles]] area, including [[Sierra Madre, California|Sierra Madre]], [[Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California|Chatsworth]], [[Glendale, California|Glendale]], [[Los Feliz, Los Angeles|Los Feliz]], [[Bronson Canyon|Bronson]], and [[Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles|Beachwood Canyon]]s, all of which went on to make up the fictional town of "Santa Mira" for the film.<ref name="LaValley"/> In addition to these outdoor locations, much of the film was shot in the Allied Artists studio on the east side of [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]].<ref name="Warren"/>

''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' was shot by cinematographer Ellsworth Fredericks in 23 days between March 23 and April 27, 1955. The cast and crew worked a six-day week with Sundays off.<ref name="LaValley"/> The production went over schedule by three days because of the [[night-for-night]] shooting that Siegel wanted. Additional photography took place in September 1955, filming a frame story on which the studio had insisted (see [[#ending|Original ending]]). The final budget was $382,190.<ref name="Warren"/>

===Post-production===
The project was originally named ''The Body Snatchers'' after the Finney serial,<ref name="LaValley3"/> but Wanger wanted to avoid confusion with the 1945 [[Val Lewton]] film ''[[The Body Snatcher (1945 film)|The Body Snatcher]]''. The producer was unable to come up with a title and accepted the studio's choice, ''They Come from Another World'' and that was assigned in summer 1955. Siegel objected to this title and suggested two alternatives, ''Better Off Dead'' and ''Sleep No More'', while Wanger offered ''Evil in the Night'' and ''World in Danger''. None of these was chosen, and the studio settled on ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' in late 1955.<ref name="LaValley3"/> The film was released at the time in France under the mistranslated title {{Lang|fr|L'invasion des profanateurs de sépultures}} (literally: ''Invasion of the defilers of tombs''), which remains unchanged today.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Badmington|first=Neil|date=November 2010|title=Pod almighty!; or, humanism, posthumanism, and the strange case of Invasion of the Body Snatchers|journal=Textual Practice|volume=15|issue=1|pages=5–22|doi=10.1080/09502360010013848|s2cid=170827979}}</ref>

Wanger wanted to add a variety of speeches and prefaces.<ref name="LaValley4"/> He suggested a voice-over introduction for Miles.<ref name="LaValley5">LaValley 1989, p. 126.</ref> While the film was being shot, Wanger tried to get permission in England to use a [[Winston Churchill]] quotation as a preface to the film. The producer sought out [[Orson Welles]] to voice the preface and a trailer for the film. He wrote speeches for Welles' opening on June 15, 1955, and worked to persuade Welles to do it, but was unsuccessful. Wanger considered science-fiction author [[Ray Bradbury]], instead, but this did not happen, either.<ref name="LaValley5"/> Mainwaring eventually wrote the voice-over narration himself.<ref name="LaValley3"/>

The studio scheduled three film previews on the last days of June and the first day of July 1955.<ref name="LaValley5"/> According to Wanger's memoranda at the time, the previews were successful. Later reports by Mainwaring and Siegel, however, contradict this, claiming that audiences could not follow the film and laughed in the wrong places. In response, the studio removed much of the film's humor, "humanity", and "quality", according to Wanger.<ref name="LaValley5"/> He scheduled another preview in mid-August that also did not go well. In later interviews, Siegel pointed out studio policy was to not mix humor with horror.<ref name="LaValley5"/>

Wanger saw the final cut in December 1955 and protested the use of the [[Widescreen|Superscope]] [[aspect ratio (image)|aspect ratio]].<ref name="LaValley3"/> Its use had been included in early plans for the film, but the first print was not made until December. Wanger felt that the film lost sharpness and detail. Siegel originally shot ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Superscope was a post-production laboratory process designed to create an [[Anamorphic format|anamorphic]] print from nonanamorphic source material that would be projected at an aspect ratio of 2.00:1.<ref name="LaValley3"/><ref>Hart, Martin. [http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingss1.htm "Superscope."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629120247/http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingss1.htm |date=2011-06-29 }} ''The American WideScreen Museum'', 2004. Retrieved: January 13, 2015.</ref>

===Original ending {{Anchor|ending}}===
[[File:Tri-City Drive-In Ad - 29 February 1956, Loma Linda, CA.jpg|thumb|150px|right|[[Drive-in theater|Drive-in]] advertisement from 1956 for ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' with co-feature, ''[[Timeslip (1955 film)|The Atomic Man]]'']] 
Both Siegel and Mainwaring were satisfied with the film as shot. The original ending did not include the flashback framing, and ended with Miles screaming as truckloads of pods pass him on the road.<ref name="LaValley4">LaValley 1989, p. 125.</ref> The studio, wary of a pessimistic conclusion, insisted on adding a [[prologue]] and [[epilogue]] suggesting a more optimistic outcome to the story, leading to the flashback framing. In this version, the film begins with Bennell in custody in a hospital emergency ward, telling a consulting psychiatrist ([[Whit Bissell]]) his story. In the closing scenes, pods are discovered at a highway accident, confirming Bennell's warning, and the authorities are alerted, likely stopping the pod distribution and resolving the extraterrestrial threat.<ref name="Warren"/>

Mainwaring scripted this framing story and Siegel shot it on September 16, 1955, at the Allied Artists studio.<ref name="LaValley3"/> In a later interview, Siegel complained, "The film was nearly ruined by those in charge at Allied Artists who added a preface and ending that I don't like."<ref>{{cite book|title=Don Siegel: American Cinema|url=https://archive.org/details/donsiegelamerica0000love|url-access=registration|first=Alan|last=Lovell|publisher=British Film Institute|year=1975|isbn=978-0-85170-047-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/donsiegelamerica0000love/page/54 54]}}</ref> In his autobiography Siegel added that "Wanger was very much against this, as was I. However, he begged me to shoot it to protect the film, and I reluctantly consented [...]."<ref>Siegel 1993 {{Page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref>

While the [[Internet Movie Database]] states that the film had been revised to its original ending for a re-release in 1979,<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049366/alternateversions "Alternate versions: 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917035549/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049366/alternateversions |date=2010-09-17 }} ''IMDb''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> Steve Biodrowski of ''[[Cinefantastique]]'' magazine notes that the film was still being shown with the complete footage, including a 2005 screening at the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] honoring director Don Siegel.<ref>Biodrowski, Steve. [http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2007/08/film-review-invasion-of-the-body-snatchers/ "Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers."] {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20170822185723/http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2007/08/film-review-invasion-of-the-body-snatchers/ |date=2017-08-22 }} ''Cinefantastiqueonline.com''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref>

Although most reviewers disliked it, George Turner (in ''American Cinematographer'')<ref name=georgeturner/> and Danny Peary (in ''Cult Movies'')<ref name=peary>Peary 1981 {{Page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref> endorsed the subsequently added frame story. Nonetheless, Peary emphasized that the added scenes changed significantly what he saw as the film's original intention.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peary |first=Danny |title=Cult Movies |publisher=Delta |year=1981 |isbn=9780385281867 |pages=158}}</ref>

===Theatrical release===
When the film was released domestically in February 1956, many theaters displayed several pods made of ''[[papier-mâché]]'' in theater lobbies and entrances, along with large lifelike black-and-white cutouts of McCarthy and Wynter running away from a crowd. The film earned more than $1&nbsp;million in the first month, and in 1956 alone earned more than $2.5&nbsp;million in the U.S.<ref name="Warren"/> When the film was released in the UK (with cuts imposed by the [[British Board of Film Classification|British censors]]<ref>[https://bbfc.co.uk/AFF019679/ "'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829125407/https://bbfc.co.uk/AFF019679/ |date=2012-08-29 }} ''BBFC Web site''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref>) in late 1956, the film earned the equivalent of more than half-a-million dollars in ticket sales.<ref name="LaValley3">LaValley 1989, p. 26.</ref>

==Reception and legacy {{Anchor|reaction}}==

===Critical reception===
Though ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' was largely ignored by critics on its initial run,<ref name="georgeturner">Turner, George. "A Case of Insomnia". ''American Cinematographer'' (American Society of Cinematographers), Hollywood, March 1997.</ref> [[Filmsite.org]] ranked it as one of the best films of 1956.<ref>[http://www.filmsite.org/1956.html "The Greatest Films of 1956."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113064707/http://www.filmsite.org/1956.html |date=2010-11-13 }} ''AMC Filmsite.org''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> The film holds a 98% approval rating and 9.1/10 rating at the film [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. The site's consensus reads: "One of the best political allegories of the 1950s, ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is an efficient, chilling blend of sci-fi and horror."<ref>[https://rottentomatoes.com/m/1010678-invasion_of_the_body_snatchers/ "Movie Reviews, Pictures: 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916005949/https://rottentomatoes.com/m/1010678-invasion_of_the_body_snatchers/ |date=2010-09-16 }} ''[[Rotten Tomatoes]]''. Retrieved: February 9, 2016.</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|92|16|access-date=March 10, 2025}}<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |title=Invasion of the Body Snatchers |id=invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956 |type=movie |access-date=March 10, 2025}}</ref>

In recent years, critics such as Dan Druker of the ''[[Chicago Reader]]'' have called the film a "genuine Sci-Fi classic."<ref name="druker">Druker, Dan. [http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers/Film?oid=2188855 "'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520151308/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers/Film?oid=2188855 |date=2013-05-20 }} ''[[Chicago Reader]]''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> [[Leonard Maltin]] described ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' as "influential, and still very scary."<ref name="Maltin"/> ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' called the film one of the "most resonant" and "one of the simplest" of the genre.<ref name="timeout">[https://timeout.com/film/reviews/76141/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers.html "'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202085456/https://timeout.com/film/reviews/76141/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers.html |date=2009-02-02 }} ''[[Time Out (magazine)]]''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> Mark Steyn described it as "a big film", despite its limited budget.<ref name="Steyn">[https://www.steynonline.com/11225/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers "'Review of Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."]</ref>

''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' was selected in 1994 for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049366/awards "Award Wins and Nominations: 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers',"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515152458/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049366/awards |date=2011-05-15 }} ''IMDb''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> In June 2008, the [[American Film Institute]] revealed its "[[AFI's 10 Top 10|Ten top Ten]]"—the best 10 films in 10 "classic" American film genres—after polling more than 1,500 people from the creative community. ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' was acknowledged as the 9th-best film in the science-fiction genre.<ref>[http://www.afi.com/10top10/scifi.html "AFI's 10 Top 10."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312075056/http://www.afi.com/10TOP10/scifi.html |date=2012-03-12 }} ''AFI.com''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> The film was also placed on AFI's ''AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills'', a list of America's most heart-pounding films.<ref>[http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/thrills100.pdf?docID=250 "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716072119/http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/thrills100.pdf?docID=250 |date=2011-07-16 }} ''AFI''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref>

The film was included on [[Bravo (U.S. TV channel)|Bravo]]'s ''[[The 100 Scariest Movie Moments|100 Scariest Movie Moments]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071030070540/http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/index.shtml  "Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments."] ''Bravo.com''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> Similarly, the [[Chicago Film Critics Association]] named it the 29th scariest film ever made.<ref>[http://www.altfg.com/blog/hollywood/chicago-critics-scariest-films/ "Chicago Critics' Scariest Films."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604013812/http://www.altfg.com/blog/hollywood/chicago-critics-scariest-films/ |date=2015-06-04 }} ''AltFilmGuide.com''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> IGN ranked it as the 15th-best sci-fi picture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://au.ign.com/articles/2018/11/15/top-25-sci-fi-movies-of-all-time?page=4|title=The 25 Best Sci Fi Movies|last=Fowler|first=Matt|date=January 22, 2020|website=IGN|access-date=January 22, 2020}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine included ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' on their list of 100 all-time best films,<ref name="Schickel">Schickel, Richard. [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953094_1953144_1953652,00.html "All-Time 100 Movies."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816053536/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953094_1953144_1953652,00.html |date=2011-08-16 }} ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', February 12, 2005. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> the top 10 1950s Sci-Fi Movies,<ref name="Corliss">Corliss, Richard. [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1866039_1866042_1865918,00.html "1950s Sci-Fi Movies."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330041004/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1866039_1866042_1865918,00.html |date=2009-03-30 }} ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', December 12, 2008; retrieved January 11, 2015.</ref> and Top 25 Horror Films.<ref name="TimeTop25">[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1676793_1676808_1676843,00.html "Top 25 Horror Films"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414110424/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1676793_1676808_1676843,00.html |date=2009-04-14 }}, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', October 29, 2007; retrieved January 11, 2015.</ref> In 1999, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' listed it as the 53rd best movie of all time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time by Entertainment Weekly|url=https://www.filmsite.org/ew100.html|access-date=2020-12-04|website=www.filmsite.org}}</ref> Similarly, the book ''Four Star Movies: The 101 Greatest Films of All Time'' placed the movie at #60.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kinn|first=Gail|title=Four-Star Movies: The 101 Greatest Films of All Time|year=2003|publisher=Running Press |isbn=1579123155}}</ref>

===Themes {{Anchor|themes}}===
Some reviewers saw in the story a commentary on the dangers facing the United States for turning a blind eye to [[McCarthyism]]. [[Leonard Maltin]] wrote of a [[Joseph McCarthy|McCarthy]]-era subtext,<ref name="Maltin">Maltin's 2009, p. 685.</ref> or of bland [[conformity]] in postwar [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]-era America. Others viewed it as an allegory for the loss of personal autonomy and individualism in the [[Soviet Union]] or [[Communism|communist]] systems in general.<ref>Carroll, Noel. "[...] it is the quintessential Fifties image of [[socialism]]", ''Soho News'', December 21, 1978.</ref>

For the [[BBC]], David Wood summarized the circulating popular interpretations of the film as: "The sense of postwar, anticommunist paranoia is acute, as is the temptation to view the film as a metaphor for the tyranny of the McCarthy era."<ref name="Wood">Wood, David. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/05/01/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers_1956_review.shtml "'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129185956/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/05/01/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers_1956_review.shtml |date=2009-01-29 }} ''[[BBC]]'', May 1, 2001. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> Danny Peary in ''Cult Movies'' pointed out that the studio-mandated addition of the framing story had changed the film's stance from anti-McCarthyite to [[anti-communist]].<ref name=peary/> Michael Dodd of ''The Missing Slate'' has called the movie "one of the most multifaceted horror films ever made", arguing that by "simultaneously exploiting the contemporary fear of infiltration by undesirable elements, as well as a burgeoning concern over homeland totalitarianism in the wake of Senator Joseph McCarthy's notorious communist witch hunt, it may be the clearest window into the American psyche that horror cinema has ever provided."<ref>Dodd, Michael. [http://themissingslate.com/2014/08/31/safe-scares-how-911-caused-the-american-horror-remake-trend-part-one/ "Safe Scares: How 9/11 caused the American Horror Remake Trend (Part One)."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011012106/http://themissingslate.com/2014/08/31/safe-scares-how-911-caused-the-american-horror-remake-trend-part-one/ |date=2014-10-11 }} ''TheMissingSlate.com'', August 31, 2014. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref>

In ''[[An Illustrated History of the Horror Film]]'', [[Carlos Clarens]] saw a trend manifesting itself in science-fiction films, dealing with dehumanization and fear of the loss of individual identity, being historically connected to the end of "the [[Korean War]] and the well-publicized reports of [[brainwashing]] techniques."<ref>Clarens 1968 {{Page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref> Comparing ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' with [[Robert Aldrich]]'s ''[[Kiss Me Deadly]]'' and [[Orson Welles]]' ''[[Touch of Evil]]'', Brian Neve found a sense of disillusionment rather than straightforward messages, with all three films being "less radical in any positive sense than reflective of the decline of [the screenwriters'] great liberal hopes."<ref>Neve 1992 {{Page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref>

Despite a general agreement among film critics regarding these political connotations of the film, actor Kevin McCarthy said in an interview included on the 1998 DVD release that he felt no political allegory was intended. The interviewer stated that he had spoken with the author of the novel, Jack Finney, who professed no specific political allegory in the work.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McMullen |first=E. C. Jr. |title=Invasion Of The Body Snatchers movie review |url=http://www.feoamante.com/Movies/GHI/invasion_bsnatch_56.html |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=Feo Amante's Horror Thriller |language=en}}</ref>

In his autobiography, ''I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History'', [[Walter Mirisch]] writes: "People began to read meanings into pictures that were never intended. ''The Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is an example of that. I remember reading a magazine article arguing that the picture was intended as an allegory about the communist infiltration of America. From personal knowledge, neither Walter Wanger nor Don Siegel, who directed it, nor Dan Mainwaring, who wrote the script nor original author Jack Finney, nor myself, saw it as anything other than a thriller, pure and simple."<ref>Mirisch 2008, pp. 39–40.</ref>

Don Siegel spoke more openly of an existing allegorical subtext, but denied a strictly political point of view: "[...] I felt that this was a very important story. I think that the world is populated by pods and I wanted to show them. I think so many people have no feeling about cultural things, no feeling of pain, of sorrow. [...] The political reference to Senator McCarthy and totalitarianism was inescapable but I tried not to emphasize it because I feel that motion pictures are primarily to entertain and I did not want to preach."<ref>Interview with Don Siegel in Alan Lovell: ''Don Siegel. American Cinema'', London 1975.</ref> Film scholar [[Jay Telotte|J.P. Telotte]] wrote that Siegel intended for pods to be seductive; their spokesperson, a psychiatrist, was chosen to provide an authoritative voice that would appeal to the desire to "abdicate from human responsibility in an increasingly complex and confusing modern world."<ref name="Telotte 1983 pp. 44–51">{{cite journal |last=Telotte |first=J. P. |author-link=Jay Telotte|title=Human Artifice and the Science Fiction Film |journal=Film Quarterly |publisher=University of California Press |volume=36 |issue=3 |year=1983 |issn=0015-1386 |doi=10.2307/3697349 |pages=44–51 |jstor=3697349}}</ref>

===Subsequent adaptations===
Three subsequent adaptations of ''The Body Snatchers'' have been made: ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)|Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1978), ''[[Body Snatchers (1993 film)|Body Snatchers]]'' (1993), and ''[[The Invasion (film)|The Invasion]]'' (2007).

An untitled fifth adaptation from [[Warner Bros.]] was reported to be in development in 2017. [[David Leslie Johnson]] was signed to be the screenwriter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-remake-warner-bros-1202500763/|title='Invasion of the Body Snatchers' Remake in the Works at Warner Bros.|first=Dave|last=McNary|date=19 July 2017|website=variety.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106192127/https://variety.com/2017/film/news/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-remake-warner-bros-1202500763/|archive-date=6 November 2017}}</ref>

==Home media==
The film was released on [[DVD]] in 1998 by U.S.-label Republic (an identical re-release by Artisan followed in 2002); it includes the Superscope version plus a 1.375:1 [[Academy ratio]] version. The latter is not the original [[full frame (cinematography)|full frame]] edition but a [[pan and scan]] reworking of the Superscope edition that loses visual detail.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

DVD editions exist on the British market (including a computer-colorized version), German market (as ''{{Lang|de|Die Dämonischen}}''), and Spanish market (as {{Lang|es|La Invasión de los Ladrones de Cuerpos}}).{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Several [[Blu-ray Disc]] versions have been released, including two bare-bones [[Blu-ray Disc]] editions by Olive Films in 2012 and German company Al!ve (under the title {{Lang|de|Die Dämonischen}}) in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s3910body.html|title=DVD Savant Blu-ray Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers|website=www.dvdtalk.com|access-date=2018-08-16}}</ref> Sinister Films released a Blu-ray in Italy on March 18, 2014. This version, under the title {{Lang|it|L'Invasione degli Ultracorpi}}, contained many special features, including an interview with lead actor Kevin McCarthy and the 1957 ''[[Studio One (American TV series)|Studio One]]'' episode entitled "[[The Night America Trembled]]", an unreleased filmed reconstruction of the famous Orson Welles radio transmission "War of the Worlds", starring [[Ed Asner]], [[James Coburn]], and [[Warren Beatty]]. Olive Films subsequently released a special-edition Blu-ray in 2018, containing extensive bonus features including several featurettes, two audio commentaries, one with film historian Richard Harland Smith and a second with Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter, and filmmaker [[Joe Dante]], and a 1985 archival interview with McCarthy.

==Related works==
[[Robert A. Heinlein]] had previously developed this subject in his 1951 novel ''[[The Puppet Masters]]'', written in 1950. ''The Puppet Masters'' was later plagiarized as the 1958 film ''[[The Brain Eaters]]'', and adapted under contract in the 1994 film ''[[The Puppet Masters (film)|The Puppet Masters]]''. A similar theme was used in the 1953 film ''[[Invaders from Mars (1953 film)|Invaders From Mars]]''.

Several thematically related works followed Finney's 1955 novel ''The Body Snatchers'', including [[Val Guest]]'s ''[[Quatermass 2]]'' and [[Gene Fowler, Jr.|Gene Fowler's]] ''[[I Married a Monster from Outer Space]]''.

The 1986 film [[Troll (1986 film)|''Troll'']] has a snippet of a movie seen on TV in which Spot (a dog) and Tweetie (a canary) are declared to be pod persons.

A [[Looney Tunes]] parody of the film was released, entitled ''[[Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers]]'' (1992). The adaptation was directed by [[Greg Ford]] and places [[Bugs Bunny]], [[Daffy Duck]], [[Elmer Fudd]], [[Yosemite Sam]], and [[Porky Pig]] in the various roles of the story.

In 2018, theater company [[Team Starkid]] created the musical parody ''[[The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals]]'', the story of a Midwestern town that is overtaken by a singing alien hivemind. The musical parodies numerous horror and musical tropes, while the main character also wears within the show a suit reminiscent of Bennell's wardrobe.

The May 1981 issue of ''[[National Lampoon (magazine)|National Lampoon]]'' featured a parody titled "Invasion of the Money Snatchers"; the [[gentile]] population of Whiteville is taken over by [[pastrami]] sandwiches from outer space and turned into [[Jews]].<ref name=NatLamp>[https://www.comics.org/issue/977128/ ''National Lampoon'' (May 1981)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013172453/https://www.comics.org/issue/977128/ |date=2017-10-13 }} at the Grand Comics Database</ref>

The Host segments of the ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode ''[[The Giant Spider Invasion]]'' parody this film. In the episode, as Pearl, Brain Guy, and ''[[Professor Bobo]]'' are out [[camping]], they end up discovering flowers that they nickname "Zucchini Throw Pillows" which are actually Body Snatcher Aliens in disguise. They end up getting sent to the Satellite of Love along with the titular movie, causing Pearl, Brain Guy, and all the Bots (except Mike and Bobo) to become affected. Per Mike's encouragement, Bobo manages to save everyone by destroying the mother body snatcher alien, killing all the aliens and turning everyone affected back to normal. But because Pearl missed out on the SOL Crew's reactions to the movie, she forces them to watch it again.

''[[Halloween III: Season of the Witch]]'', a 1982 film with similar themes involving androids, is also largely set in a California town named Santa Mira.

The film was also parodied in the 2012 ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' episode "Planet of the Jellyfish" (referencing ''[[Planet of the Vampires]]'' and ''[[Planet of the Apes]]'') featuring [[List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters|characters from Bikini Bottom]] being replaced by alien clones in their sleep.<ref>{{Citation|title=Are You Happy Now?/Planet of the Jellyfish|date=2012-03-31|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2337387/|type=Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy|others=Tom Kenny, Rodger Bumpass, Dee Bradley Baker, Bill Fagerbakke|publisher=United Plankton Pictures|access-date=2021-02-08}}</ref>

The film also inspired the 2025 [[Apple TV (streaming_service)|Apple TV]] series ''[[Pluribus (TV series)|Pluribus]]'', in which the entire world is rapidly dominated by an alien virus. The unaffected protagonist calls affected humans "pod people."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2025/11/pluribus-explainer-vince-gilligan-interview-apple-tv-1236611750/ |title=What Is ‘Pluribus’ About? Vince Gilligan Wants You To Find Meaning In His Prescient Sci-Fi Tale About A Beguiling Happiness Apocalypse |first=Natalie |last=Oganesyne |date=November 8, 2025 |accessdate=November 8, 2025 |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1956]]
* [[List of cult films]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* Bernstein, Matthew. ''Walter Wanger: Hollywood Independent''. St. Paul, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-52008-127-7}}.
* Clarens, Carlos. ''An Illustrated History of the Horror Film''. Oakville, Ontario, Canada: Capricorn Books, 1968. {{ISBN|978-0-39950-111-1}}.
* Grant, Barry Keith. 2010. ''Invasion of the body snatchers.'' New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
* LaValley, Al. ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-81351-461-1}}.
* Maltin, Leonard. ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2009''. New York: New American Library, 2009 (originally published as ''TV Movies'', then ''Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide''), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-451-22468-2}}.
* Mirisch, Walter. ''I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History''. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2008. {{ISBN|0-299-22640-9}}.
* Neve, Brian. ''Film and Politics in America: A Social Tradition''. Oxon, UK: Routledge, 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-41502-620-8}}.
* Peary, Danny. ''Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful''. New York: Dell Publishing, 1981. {{ISBN|978-0-385-28185-0}}.
* Siegel, Don. ''A Siegel Film. An Autobiography''. London: Faber & Faber, 1993. {{ISBN|978-0-57117-831-5}}.
* Warren, Bill. ''Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties'', 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009. {{ISBN|0-89950-032-3}}.
* Weddle, David. ''If They Move ... Kill 'Em!'' New York: Grove Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0-8021-3776-8}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 film)|Invasion of the Body Snatchers}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0049366|title=Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-am23510 ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' at AllMovie]
* {{TCMDb title|id=79341}}
* {{AFI film|51874}}
* ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' essay by [[Robert Sklar]] at [[National Film Registry]] [https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/invasion_body.pdf]
* ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 512-513 [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC]
* {{Internet Archive film|id=invasionofthebodysnatchers1956_201911|title=Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|id=1010678-invasion_of_the_body_snatchers|title=Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)}}
* [http://rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers_a_tale_for_our_times "''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'': A Tale for Our Times"], by John W. Whitehead, ''Gadfly Online,'' November 26, 2001; discusses the political themes of the original film
* [http://www.jacknilan.com/senatorjoe McCarthyism and the Movies]
* [https://denofgeek.com/movies/8781/versions_invasion_of_the_body_snatchers.html Comparison of novel to the first three film adaptations]
* [[Ann Hornaday]], [https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/01/23/34-best-political-movies-ever-made/ "The 34 best political movies ever made"] ''The Washington Post'' Jan. 23, 2020, ranked #17

{{The Body Snatchers}}
{{Don Siegel}}
{{Walter Wanger}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1956 films]]
[[Category:1956 horror films]]
[[Category:1950s monster movies]]
[[Category:1950s science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:Films about alien invasions]]
[[Category:Allied Artists films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic films]]
[[Category:Body Snatchers films]]
[[Category:Films about extraterrestrial life]]
[[Category:Films about McCarthyism]]
[[Category:Films directed by Don Siegel]]
[[Category:Films produced by Walter Wanger]]
[[Category:Films scored by Carmen Dragon]]
[[Category:Films set in California]]
[[Category:Monogram Pictures films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:1956 independent films]]
[[Category:1956 science fiction films]]