Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Thing

From the July-August 1982 issue of Cinefantastique, comes this extensive article on the original 1951 movie "The Thing." One of the great early sci-fi films, "The Thing" was actor James Arness' first genre role, only glimpsed fleetingly as the menacing alien. Another sci-fi role followed three years later in "Them!" This time he played the hero, his face not obscured in heavy makeup. The snappy overlapping dialog, a trademark of Director Hawks, helped make a film with a way-out premise seem more realistic and down-to-earth.This article is full of facts and behind the scene photos, so enjoy!

(Click on images to enlarge.)








Below, some of the (thankfully) unused makeup tests range from the hilariously thumb-like Thing (which shows they were once considering taking the "intellectual carrot" premise more literally) to a couple that seem to have inspired the look of the drag queen "Divine," without being quite as unappealing.







10 comments:

SheReads said...

Very cool! I really enjoy the old black and white horror films. The Thing being a favorite. Thanks for sharing this!

Prof. Grewbeard said...

great article, thanx for sharing Fred!

Monster Dad said...

That really IS a great article about a great old film. I'll have to check and see if I have that issue of Cinefantastique. Thanks for posting this and sharing it. Very informative!

Keith said...

Hi, glad to find your blog--cool article, too. Frame for frame, I still consider original The Thing one of the best. Not sure I get all the praise heaped on the remake.

Vicente said...

Great blog. Keep it alive!

Anonymous said...

sept 6th 2011. The Thing was on today on TCM.
Watched it many times.
George federman who played Host to Groucho Marx's TV Show called " Whats My Line" was in this movie.
When Ken Toby askes him to do something to prepare fo the Thing, he says, "Yes, thats my line."

The colorized version on VHS is GREAT.

Vince

Frederick said...

Vince,

I agree about the colorized version, I have that also. I wish it would come out on DVD that way. Another one that I enjoy in color is my old VHS of "Arsenic And Old Lae," but you can't find it in color on DVD.

RaroVHS said...

Hi there! I'm the owner of the http://www.rarovhs.com.ar/ blog. I just added you to my blogroll! I hope you can do the same! If you want a banner exchange also write to me at rarovhs@gmail.com

Aaron said...

Love this blog and I love that movie, so atmospheric. Still have the colorized VHS partly because the box makes for great monster decor.

Anonymous said...

Amazing movie!