Thing From Another World, The (1951) (1 Viewer)

[Chucky P]

I heard that when the film first came out there was a scene where they found the victims of The Thing, hung upside down, with their throats slit. I don't know if this is true but that's what my dad told me.

 

[Jay E]

I find it hard to swallow the studio's line that B & W classics are not economical. Warners & alot of other studios thought it was an economically smart thing to release these films on Laser Disk, which has a much smaller base of players.

The reason for this is that at that time, MGM owned their own film library as well as RKO's & Warner's pre 1950 film library. Warner also gave Image the right to release their films on Laser. That's why so many of those B & W & catalog films that Warner currently owns are on Laser. They themselves were never really committed to the laser disc market.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Ahh, man, I hate to arrive so late to a party. I, too, lust for The Thing on DVD. Crawdaddy, can you elaborate on the political situation at Warner? Is this title a victim of an internal power play at the studio?

And call me clueless: I was not aware that This Island Earth was OP. My copy is still in shrinkwrap--but I love the film dearly. Looks as if I have a collector's item on my hands.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Warner has done some very nice releases of classic B&W films, but for every "very high standard" release like Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and Little Women, there are "just OK" ones like The Maltese Falcon or Love in the Afternoon. All of these are great films, but not all have transfers of equal quality. I can't pretend to understand their strategy.

Regards,

 

[Gary Tooze]

Sorry for entering this late and asking this question, but are you guys talking about the LaserDisc of This Island Earth ? ... I too own, it , and love it, and had no idea of its worth... because I'm sure it has not come out on DVD... right ? Great Film...

 

[Jack Briggs]

Gary, if it hasn't come out on DVD, then Universal played one hell of a trick on me--as that shrinkwrapped DVD in my collection has the original poster art for Island, and the film's title stamped all across the packaging. What level will Universal stoop to next?

 

[RobertR]

Here is the clarification on the DVD of This Island Earth:

I can't speak for the copy Jack has, but TIE definitely WAS released on DVD (there is nothing "counterfeit" or illegitimate about the release). It was not released by Universal. Rather, it was one of the titles licensed to and done by Image Entertainment from Universal (another such title is The Andromeda Strain). I have both, and would love to see Universal do a high quality restoration/remaster job on them (the current versions aren't well done).

 

[Robert Crawford]

Ahh, man, I hate to arrive so late to a party. I, too, lust for The Thing on DVD. Crawdaddy, can you elaborate on the political situation at Warner? Is this title a victim of an internal power play at the studio?

Jack,
Like Ken has said, I just can't figure out Warners strategy regarding their catelogue releases. One day "The Thing from Another Planet" is on the proposed dvd schedule with "King Kong" and the next thing you know it's knocked off the list. Last year was the 50th Anniversary of it's theatrical run and you would've thought that 2001 was an excellent opportunity to release it. To pinpoint Warner's strategy you almost need a fortune teller.
By the way, over the years "The Thing from Another World" was trimmed from it's original 87 minutes to 81 minutes so be careful about purchasing that Region 2 dvd. TCM has been showing the 87 minute version which I have a super vhs copy of.
Crawdaddy

 

[Dick]

Chucky- a look at the way the sequence is edited (in which Tobey and his men open the door o the greenhouse and are confronted by the thing) precludes any shot showing the men hanging upside down. Many people describe shots within films which never existed - trick of the memory.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Regarding the men hanging upside down with their throats cut that was taken from a line of dialogue spoken by one of the scientist that escaped the Greenhouse and alerted the rest about "The Thing". Afterwards Tobey and his men confront "The Thing" at the doorway leading into the Greenhouse.

Crawdaddy