Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Synopsis: Dr. Miles Bennell returns to his small town practice to find several of his patients suffering the paranoid delusion that their friends or relatives are impostors. He is initially skeptical, especially when the alleged dopplegängers are able to answer detailed questions about their victim's lives, but he is eventually persuaded that something odd has happened and determines to find out what is causing this phenomenon. This film can be seen as a paranoid 1950s warning against those Damn Commies or, conversely, as a metaphor for the tyranny of McCarthyism (or the totalitarian system of Your Choice) and has a pro- and epilogue that was forced upon Siegel by the studio to lighten the tone.
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Director(s): Don Siegel
Production: Republic Pictures Home Video
  2 wins.
 
IMDB:
7.8
Rotten Tomatoes:
98%
NOT RATED
Year:
1956
80 min
894 Views


Dr. Hill.

Dr. Bassett.

Where's the patient?

I hated

to drag you out of bed.

Will you let me go

while there's still time?

You'll soon see why I did.

Will you tell

these fools I'm not crazy?

Make them listen to me

before it's too late!

I'll listen to you.

Let him go.

Who are you?

I'm Dr. Hill

from the state mental hospital.

I'm not insane!

Let him go!

Doctor,

now you must listen to me.

You must understand me.

I am a doctor, too.

I am not insane.

All right.

Suppose we sit down,

and you tell me what happened?

Well, it started--

for me,

it started last Thursday...

in response to an urgent

message from my nurse.

I'd hurried home

from a medical convention.

At first glance,

everything looked the same.

It wasn't.

Something evil had taken

possession of the town.

These two.

Here you are.

Thank you, sir.

There you are.

Thank you.

Morning, Mr. Fisher.

Doc!

Hiya, Sally.

Hi. Welcome home.

I'm glad you're back.

How's Mickey and the baby?

Fine, but everybody else

in Santa Mira needs a doctor.

You've got an office

full of patients.

Oh, no.

On my first day back?

Some of them have

been waiting for two weeks.

Why didn't you send them

to Pursey or Carmichael?

Most of 'em wouldn't go.

They want to see you.

Oh?

What's the matter with them?

They wouldn't say.

Usually people can't talk enough

about what's ailing them.

For instance,

Wally Eberhard was in twice...

and called three times,

but he wouldn't say about what.

That's funny.

Nobody would talk--

from Becky Driscoll...

down to that fat

traffic cop Sam Janzek.

Becky Driscoll?

I thought she was in England.

She got back a few days ago,

and she wanted to see you.

Are you still interested?

My interest in married women

is strictly professional...

or yours would have been

a lost cause long ago.

-How was the convention?

-Wonderful.

They wept with envy

when I read my paper.

Come back here!

Jimmy!

What's the matter,

Mrs. Grimaldi?

It's nothing. He just don't

want to go to school.

If I were you, I'd have

a talk with his teacher.

I will when I get time.

What's the matter?

Has Joe been sick?

No.

We gave the stand up.

-Too much work.

-Oh.

The boy's

panic should have told me...

it was more than school

he was afraid of...

and that littered,

closed-up vegetable stand...

should have

told me something, too.

When I last saw it,

less than a month ago...

it was the cleanest

and busiest stand on the road.

That's strange.

She was in to see you, too--

last Friday.

I tried to get her to see

Doc Pursey, but she wouldn't.

She said only you

could help her.

Whatever it was...

it couldn't have been

too serious, I guess.

One minor concussion,

two cases of the common cold...

and six canceled appointments.

Looks like you rushed me here

for nothing.

I don't understand it.

They couldn't wait to see you.

But you're still booked up solid

for the afternoon.

I bet they don't show.

Look, there's Wally Eberhard...

talking somebody

into buying some insurance.

There's nothing wrong with him.

Bill Bitner's taking

his secretary to lunch.

And speaking of lunch...

will you tell whoever that is

that I'm out having mine?

Is Dr. Bennell in?

Yes, he's here.

Do you suppose

he has time to see me?

If he hasn't,

something's wrong with him.

Go right in.

Becky.

Almost five years.

It's wonderful to be home again.

I've been away so long...

I feel almost like a stranger

in my own country.

Hope you don't mind my coming

without an appointment.

Not at all.

What'll you have?

We're pushing appendectomies

this week.

Oh, Miles.

I don't know,

maybe I clown around too much.

Pretty soon, my patients...

won't trust me

to prescribe aspirin for them.

Seriously, what's the trouble?

It's my cousin.

Wilma?

What's the matter with her?

She has a...

I guess you'd call it

a delusion.

You know her uncle?

Uncle Ira?

Sure. I'm his doctor.

She's got herself

thinking he isn't her uncle.

How do you mean?

That they're not really related?

She thinks

he's an impostor or something...

someone who only looks like Ira.

Have you seen him?

I just came from there.

Is he Uncle Ira,

or isn't he Uncle Ira?

Of course he is.

I told Wilma that,

but it was no use.

Please, would you stop by

and have a talk with her?

Sally says I'm booked up

for the afternoon...

but why don't you ask her

to come in and see me?

I'll try.

How about some lunch?

I can't.

I'm meeting Dad at the store.

When did you get back?

I came back from London

two months ago.

I've been in Reno.

Reno?

Reno.

Dad tells me

you were there, too.

Five months ago.

Oh, I'm sorry.

So was I.

I wanted it to work.

I guess that makes us

lodge brothers now.

Yes.

Except I'm paying dues

while you collect them.

Ha ha ha! Miles.

-Hello, doc.

-How are you?

Sam!

At it again, eh?

My nurse tells me

you were in last week...

and wanted very much

to see me.

It wasn't anything important.

Didn't he go to college with us?

Quit his second year

to get married...

like I wanted us to do.

Just be thankful

I didn't take you seriously.

You be thankful.

I found out

that a doctor's wife...

needs the understanding

of an Einstein...

and patience of a saint.

And love?

I wouldn't know about that.

I'm just a general practitioner.

Love is handled

by the specialists.

Here's where I leave you.

You know something?

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Daniel Mainwaring

Daniel Mainwaring (July 22, 1902 – January 31, 1977) was an American novelist and screenwriter. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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