"Dr. Miles Bennell, a general practitioner in the small California mountain town of Santa Mira, is called back to the town from a conference by a rash of appointments -- but then his patients cancel. He also encounters reports of people insisting members of their families are not who they really are -- though they eventually change their minds. Divorced himself, he meets his lovely former high school girlfriend Becky Driscoll (Wynter), also recently divorced, and together they unravel the mystery: seed pods from space have landed and created exact copies of the townspeople and gradually taken over their lives, bodies, and minds, then they distribute pods to take over neighboring towns in a similar way. Miles and Becky have to escape from Santa Mira and warn the rest of the country before they get taken over, too. This classic 1956 sci-fi thriller -- based on a Jack Finney novel and directed by Don Siegel, who later became famous for "Dirty Harry" and "The Shootist" -- remains sharp and tight, with generally better script and clearly better acting than most other '50s sf movies. Unfortunately, the nervous studio insisted Siegel slap on a framing epilogue and prologue instead of telling the stark tale that ends with Miles warning the viewer "they're coming!" but that's a minor spoiler. [Personal beef: early in the film, Miles and Becky misquote Oberon in "Midsummer Night's Dream" as speaking of "a bank where the wild thyme grows" -- it's "blows," in order to rhyme with Shakespeare's next line, in which "oxslips and the nodding violet grows."]"
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Overall Review
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dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie Actual chase scenes or violence - 30% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzle - 50% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
**Fantasy or Science Fiction?**
- science fiction story
Horror film?
Yes
Kind of Horror Story
- chased by body snatchers/duplicates
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- doctor
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/medium straight
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavy
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an entire race
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th Century (1950-1970)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Mountains?
Yes
Small town?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Tone of movie
- fearful
Check here if B&W
Yes
Any profanity?
- None
Kinds of F/X
- Things that change shape/morph
- exotic aliens
Is this movie based on a
- book
