"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is one of the very good sci-fi films of the 1950s. The golden age of sci-fi films ran from the 1930s to 1946, but I think many of the better sci-fi flicks came out in the 1950s. Certainly, the decade had far fewer of the stinkers – the very low budget, poor script, funny creature films. Most of those were more laughable than they were scary. This film had an original, solid idea for a plot. And, it's a superb example of writing and acting that can create an interesting and entertaining film – without a single scary monster. The screenplay, directing, and camera work give it a film noir look and feel. Combined with the intrigue, it makes for a thrilling horror element without any ugly faces or the gore that so often populates such stories in more modern times.The movie takes place in the small fictional town of Santa Mira, California. It is based on a 1955 sci-fi novel, "The Body Snatchers," by Jack Finney. The idea proved so appealing that Hollywood has remade the movie three times, and it has had various TV series adaptations. This original film with Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter most closely follows the novel and is the best. A 1978 version under the same title was based on the revised book by Finney. It starred Donald Sutherland and included Leonard Nimoy and some of the people from the original film in small roles – including Kevin McCarthy. It was set in San Francisco and had a different approach that also was successful. But subsequent revisions have been poor in comparison. Here are some of the better sci-fi films of the 1950s and of all time. 1951 had two very good sci-fi flicks: "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal, and "The Thing from Another Planet" with James Arness. Three very good 1953 sci-fi films included the all-time great "The War of the Worlds" with Gene Barry, and "It Came from Outer Space" and "Invaders from Mars." In 1954, the top sci- fi was a horror film, "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." Besides this film, 1956 yielded "Forbidden Planet" with a big cast that included Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen. Next was "The Incredible Shrinking Man" of 1957; and in 1958, two sci-fi thrillers, "The Blob" with Steve McQueen, and "The Fly" with Vincent Price made very good date movies.

For a truly insightful look at America's pervasive "Red Scare" culture of the 1950s, one need look no further than Don Siegel's (original) 1956 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", wherein the pod people are metaphors for the near universal fear of a "Godless, soulless" Communist takeover coming from within via sleeper agents born, raised, and trained to seamlessly blend in with American society (they look, talk, and seem just like us, but are alien and out to destroy us). Everything one needs to know about America's fear of Communism in the 1950s is contained in this film. This is Scifi at its very best, as social commentary as well as a potent art form and a valuable historical source.

Dr. Miles Bennell (superbly played by Kevin McCarthy) suspects that something might be amiss in the sleepy small town of Santa Cruz after various people start behaving in an odd and detached manner.Director Don Siegel grounds the fascinating fantastic premise in a thoroughly believable workaday rural reality, adroitly crafts a supremely creepy and unsettling atmosphere, and likewise creates with equal expertise a quietly unnerving sense of mounting dread and paranoia that gradually builds to a shattering fever pitch in the harrowing last third. Daniel Mainwaring's ingenious script makes a profound and powerful statement on how our capacity to feel all kinds of emotions and desire for individual identity are two key important traits that make all of us special and human (if deprived of these two traits, we are reduced to the level of bland and emotionless automatons). McCarthy and Dana Wynter as the smitten Becky Driscoll make for personable leads; they receive excellent support from Larry Gates as the skeptical Dr. Dan Kauffman, King Donovan as the worried Jack Belicec, Carolyn Jones as the shaken Theodora, and Virginia Christine as the distraught Wilma Lentz. Both the crisp noir-like black and white cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks and Carmen Dragon's spirited shivery score are up to par. Worthy of its classic status.

Jack Finney's serialized novel came to the screen for the first time with this extremely memorable sci-fi thriller. It exploits the paranoia of the Cold War era for full effect, offering up an intelligent exploration of what it means to be human. The themes of falling victim to mindless conformity, and the loss of individuality and identity, still resonate 60 years later. Directed with maximum efficiency by Don Siegel, who at this time hadn't yet graduated to big budget, A pictures, it has a wonderfully stark atmosphere, and an intense, breakneck pace. It can also appeal to more modern genre fans due to some nice "eww" moments and decent special effects. It's all heightened by the excellent black & white SuperScope photography by Ellsworth Fredericks and ominous music by Carmen Dragon.Kevin McCarthy stars as Dr. Miles Bennell, returning home to the small town of Santa Mira in time to experience a mass hysteria. Citizens are concerned that their friends & family are no longer recognizable as the people they love; that they now lack human emotion. Hooking up with the lovely Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter), Miles must race against time to stop this "disease" from spreading."Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is a wonderfully sensational title, and the film delivers on its promise of good, old fashioned genre entertainment. It's cast with fine actors and actresses from top to bottom: Larry Gates as a psychiatrist, King Donovan and Carolyn Jones as Miles' friends the Belicecs, Jean Willes as Miles' nurse Sally, Ralph Dumke as the police chief, Virginia Christine as Becky's friend Wilma, and Dabbs Greer as Mac the service station proprietor. Keep your eyes peeled for future director Sam Peckinpah, who plays Charlie the meter reader.The studio-imposed prologue and epilogue with Whit Bissell and Richard Deacon is the only real drawback, diminishing the effectiveness of what would have been a pretty chilling conclusion.Nine out of 10.