My buddy D.F. Rogers and I have been watching Elvis’ TV appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show from 1956-57, and thinking how everybody except Elvis really did seem to be Pod People. This weekend the umpteenth remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is out, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show a clip from the original movie.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/AUG07/BodySnatchers.flv 430 340]
In an interview done back in the 70’s, director Don Siegel (at left in the picture above) commented on the scene that’s in the video clip.
Allied Artists had an old-fashioned credo that horror pictures couldn’t have humor. I had a great deal of humor in the picture and though they cut out a lot, they didn’t totally succeed. As in the barbecue scene. King Donovan, Carolyn Jones, [Kevin] McCarthy and Dana Wynter have an outdoor barbecue even after they have accepted mentally that something is terribly wrong. Only when they see the pod do they panic.