The skeleton crew at the South Pole Telescope station have a tradition every winter-over of watching this movie, and the other two adaptations on the very first night after the departure of the final plane of the season.
Close-ups of "The Thing" were removed. It was felt that the make-up could not hold up to close scrutiny. However, the lack of close-ups gave the creature a more mysterious quality.
The final line of dialogue, where Scotty admonishes his radio audience to "Keep watching the skies," became an iconic quote considered to be emblematic of the 1950s sci-fi film genre, as it evokes the flying saucer hysteria of the day as well as the Red Scare and the threat of nuclear war. It has been reused as is and referenced in modified form countless times by movies, TV shows, theatrical productions, song lyrics, book titles, and websites, usually with humorous intent.
Originally, it was intended to make the creature a shapeshifter, as in the novel, but the limited budget forced the filmmakers to drop the idea. Early conceptual sketches depict a very plant-like looking creature, with one of its limbs seemingly undergoing a transformation into a human hand.
When Barnes is left to guard The Thing in the block of ice, he nervously whistles "Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie".
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Top Gap
By what name was The Thing from Another World (1951) officially released in India in English?
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