Invasion of the Body Snatchers
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
In American History / American Film (1979), authors John E. O'Connor and Martin A. Jackson pose two provocative questions about a classic science fiction film. In what way can a seemingly absurd science fiction / horror film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, give us insight into the history and culture of America in the mid-1950's? How is a film about people being taken over by giant seed pods 'reflective of this critical period in our history?
The authors answer their questions.
Films embody beliefs, not by a mystic communion with the national soul, but because they contain the values, fears, myths, assumptions, point of view of the culture in which they are produced...The experience of the Depression, the rise and threat of totalitarianism, the loss of American insularity, the growth of technocracy all in one form or another challenged the integrity of the individual. It is therefore not surprising to note that film genres like science fiction or horror films proliferated in the 1950's. The central themes of these films show a preoccupation with depersonalization and dehumanization.
Don Siegel's directorial offering of the 1956 film classic exemplifies that preoccupation, perhaps unintentionally, unknowingly, and unconventionally. However, evidence indicates the original film version of Jack Finney's 1954 novel The Body Snatchers exists on a political level with deep meaning, importance, and messages. (The novel originally appeared in serialized form in 1954 in Collier's magazine.)
Various elements reinforce the film's arguable sociopolitical statement -- structure, language, setting, narrative, theme, and mise-en-scene. The film's components convey the twin themes of dehumanization and depersonalization. The themes are linked to the Russian way of life where citizens could not enjoy freedom of expression, political beliefs, or religion. Consequently, the political allegory of Communist infiltration in Invasion of the Body Snatchers appears credible, effective, and substantive.
Dr. Miles Bennell, the film's hero, attempts to save his hometown of Santa Mira from becoming a society devoid of love, feeling, or passion. A broad historical perspective may help parallel the pods in Invasion to Communist infiltration.
The film's story centers on 'seeds from the sky' coming to Earth. They first transform into pods and then into emotionless versions of humans. Herein is the first parallel to Communism. In Communist takeovers, the rulers plant the seeds of governmental controls, give them time to germinate, and use them to dominate.
In the 1950's, discerning who was a Communist proved very difficult because socioeconomic and political beliefs often lay beneath the surface. This concept emerges during Miles' first introduction to a pod.
Wilma, Miles' friend, confides her disturbance triggered by a seemingly normal Uncle Ira who exhibits a lack of certain qualities, for example, a special look in his eyes when he talks to Wilma. A pod has replaced Uncle Ira physically and emotionally.
Appearance of normalcy is crucial to the pods' success. Like the Red Scare of the 1950's where denoting Communists in the United States proved challenging, Miles can not see the difference in Uncle Ira even after a pod take over his body, spirit, and mind.
Another perspective with historical significance occurs during Miles' warning of a pod takeover.
It's a malignant disease spreading throughout the whole country.
Miles' warning mirrors Adlai Stevenson's 1952 speech about Communism.
It is a disease which may have killed more people in this world than cancer, tuberculosis, and heart disease combined. The result will be total conquest, not merely of the Earth, but of the human mind.
Similarly, the pods spread, grow in number, and inflict the disease of emotionlessness, "cell by cell" as one character explains. They cause a "death to the soul." Miles' alert does not meet understanding, acceptance, and action until the film's end when he remains the only true human being in Santa Mira.
Initially believe to be insane, Miles convinces hospital doctors of his story when a truck driver goes through the emergency room after running a red light and causing an accident. The cargo? Pods.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers allegorically suggests that Communist infiltration, growth, and domination will result in an emotionless society where everybody stays the same. No individuality of thought. Constraint of thought plays a key role because it clearly conveys a fear of society devoid of feeling. Siegel's cinematic techniques emphasize constraint in the film.
Story structure provides the first source of constraint. Siegel frames the story in a prologue-flashback-epilogue sequence. This enclosure constricts the narrative by further reinforcing the constraint of time.
The film's setting provides the second source of constraint. Hills and mountains surround Santa Mira. They physically contain the town and its people.
The pods provide the third source of constraint. The discoveries of pods take place in tight spaces, including a coffin-like structure in a basement.
A classic setup and payoff occurs when Miles kisses Becky early in Invasion during a date. He declares, You're Becky Driscoll. In the film's climactic scenes, Miles and Becky attempt to hide from Santa Mira's pod-citizens in a cave. Becky's exhaustion overtakes her. A few minutes' sleep is just the opening needed for a pod to replace her. When Miles kisses Becky, her emotionally cold response stuns Miles. He realizes that he is now the only human being in Santa Mira.
Siegel's successful portrayal of a society with constraints speaks directly to a view held by Dr. Stuart Samuels. American History / American Film cites him.
One of the major themes of life in the 1950's was the feeling of constraint -- people feeling enclosed within boundaries...There was a closing down of dissent, a shrinking of personal freedom. Silence became the acceptable response to oppression.
Language, and mise-en-scene intensify the story. For example, Santa Mira translates to Holy Look in English. Holy Look can mean a look vacant of any real life.
The opening shot of a cloudy sky foreshadows the story. It tells the audience that the initial invasion will come from outside, not within. Simply, the invaders are seeds in the sky. Miles and Becky have their first date at the Sky Terrace. The name implies a garden in the sky.
Another symbol lies in the main character's name. Miles denotes a great length. Bennell can be a variation on banal. The sum -- great lengths of banality.
The original title for Invasion of the Body Snatchers was Sleep No More. This title exemplifies an important message. The pods take over humans' bodies when the humans are asleep. If we sleep, we are susceptible to imminent danger.
However, the aforementioned analysis, theories, and insight may be moot.
Kevin McCarthy plays Miles Bennell. In an interview on the 1998 DVD of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, McCarthy says he did not think a political allegory was intended. Also, producer Walter Mirisch clarifies the possible futility of analyzing the film as an allegory in his 2008 autobiography I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History.
People began to read meanings into pictures that were never intended. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an example of that. I remember reading a magazine article arguing that the picture was intended as an allegory about the communist infiltration of America. From personal knowledge, neither Walter Wanger nor Don Siegel, who directed it, nor Dan Mainwaring, who wrote the script nor the original author Jack Finney, nor myself saw it as anything other than a thriller, pure and simple.