The Thing from Another World

Journalist Nedd Scott is looking for a story and visits the Air Force in the North Pole. He reunites with Captain Patrick Hendry and meets Lieutenant Dykes and Ken MacPherson. Then, Captain Hendry is ordered to fly around a supposed aircraft crash and find out what happened. He gathers up his crew and they arrive at the lab of Dr. Carrington. Hendry meets Nikki Nicholson, Carrington’s secretary, and they fly to the crash site. They find a circular flying saucer with a frozen alien body. They attempt to melt the ice with explosives and end up destroying the saucer. Hendry takes the alien, still frozen in ice, to the lab where the two sides have an argument about what to do. Dr. Carrington believes that the alien should be preserved for scientific research while Captain Hendry thinks that the danger is too risky and that they should kill the alien. However, General Fogarty, who ordered Captain Hendry the assignment, denies Nedd Scott permission to publish his story about the extraterrestrial creature. While taking shifts to watch the frozen alien, one of them finds the appearance of the body unsettling, causing him to cover it with an electric blanket. The ice melts and the alive creature escapes out of the base into the storm. The airmen find one of its arms and they conclude that the alien is closer to plants than animals. Then, the men on Carrington’s side discover that the creature feeds on blood because they find dead dogs that are drained of their own blood. Later, someone tells the others that General Fogarty is asking for information about the discovered alien. The alien then kills Auerbach and Olson. Carrington, now unable to sleep, plants the alien parts to make fetus like plants. Then, the creature attacks the airmen while they douse it with kerosene and try to burn it but the alien escapes through the greenhouse. For the final time, with their heater cut off, they make an electrical “flytrap”. Dr. Carrington attempts to talk to the alien but it hurts him. The creature walks into the electrical trap and becomes electrocuted. Lastly, Scott tells the entire story to the radio men and Nikki and Hendry end up settling down with each other.

Kenneth Tobey as Captain Patrick Hendry

Captain Patrick Hendry has extremely strong morals. He respects his elder army officials and never deceives their orders. The entire movie, Hendry greatly disagrees with Dr. Carrington because the doctor thinks that the monster should be preserved and studied. Captain Hendry believes that it should be killed immediately due to the possibility that “the thing” could be dangerous. He falls in love with Dr. Carrington’s assistant, Nikki, who he previously met before. Captain Hendry is extremely attentive and correctly follows orders from his superiors. However, his army nature causes him to give no compassion to the alien, which is portrayed as the right thing to do in this movie. Hendry is a born leader, knowing exactly what to do in times of distress. It is implied that he and Nikki will settle down at the end of the movie.

Robert Cornthwaite as Dr. Carrington

Unlike Captain Hendry, Dr. Arthur Carrington believes that the alien should be carefully examined and preserved. He wants to perform scientific experiences on it to gain so much information about the inhuman creatures. The alien is obviously super smart, with no emotions. Most of its characteristics are advantageous compared to humans. Despite being the ridiculed character in this movie, his interest in the extraterrestrial being makes sense. Throughout the entire movie, he and the other scientists try to convince the others about the importance of knowledge.