The Thing From Another World

The Thing From Another World is a 1951 science fiction film which tells the story of scientists at a remote Arctic outpost who fight an alien being. It stars Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite and Douglas Spencer. James Arness plays The Thing, in unrecognizable costume and makeup.

The movie was loosely adapted by Charles Lederer from the story Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. It was directed by Howard Hawks (uncredited) and Christian Nyby. The film changes the fundamental nature of the alien as presented in Campbell's short story. Arness's "Thing" is a humanoid monster whose cellular structure is closer to vegetation; it must feed on human blood to survive. One character describes the Thing as an "animated carrot".

The Thing From Another World was remade by John Carpenter as The Thing in 1982. The remake was more faithful to the Campbell story. In 2001 the United States Library of Congress deemed the original film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. It was released on DVD in 2003.