The Thing from Another World is an American feature film of the science fiction and horror genres. It is based on the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. The film was directed by Christian Nyby with a screenplay written by Charles Lederer. It was produced by Howard Hawks & RKO Pictures and released theatrically in the United States on April 6th, 1951. The premise of the film involves a scientific research station set up at the North Pole aimed at studying a downed U.F.O. space saucer. After uncovering the frozen remains of an alien humanoid body, the researchers found out they bit off more than they can chew - but not more than the alien can chew. After thawing out, this plant-based alien jerk begins tearing through dogs and humans alike. Unfortunately, Kurt Russell is still in diapers at this point, and won't be ready to save the day for another thirty years or so.
There are a total of eleven credited cast members in this film. Nine are male cast members, and two are female cast members. The full cast listing for this film at IMDB lists an additional fifteen actors who play minor roles in the film.
There are 20 named characters in this film, including uncredited cast members.
This film marks the directorial debut of Christian Nyby. Well done, sir.
This is Charles Lederer's nineteenth feature film work as either a screenplay writer or story developer.
Fun Facts[]
The tagline for this film is "Where did it come from? How did it get here? What is it? Will it destroy us all? Can we escape it?"
For the 1957 re-release of the film, promotional materials included the phrase "No One In This World Can Match The Menace Of The Thing".
The Thing from Another World is the film that Tommy Doyle was watching on Halloween night in 1978 in Halloween.
Actor Kurt Russell, who will go on to play the role of R.J. MacReady in the 1982 remake was born almost two weeks before the premiere of The Thing from Another World.
