1956 Kevin McCarthy Classic, Picked for the National Film Registry, Has a Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

Kevin McCarthy spent days running for his life in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He played Dr. Miles Bennell in Don Siegel’s 1956 sci-fi chiller.

The film was adapted from Jack Finney’s magazine serial The Body Snatchers. The title changed to avoid confusion with RKO’s 1945 film The Body Snatcher, per the AFI Catalog.

The film ranks ninth on the American Film Institute’s Top 10 list in the best sci-fi category. 

Invasion of the Body Snatchers was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 1994 as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Rotten Tomatoes also gave the movie high praise in its critics’ consensus. 

“One of the best political allegories of the 1950s, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an efficient, chilling blend of sci-fi and horror,” it read. 

The film found an audience upon release, although its critical reputation grew considerably over time. The ending audiences saw wasn’t the one its director intended.

The heroes, Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter, hold each other in a scene from the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

John Springer Collection / Getty Images

Why Allied Artists Forced a Happier Ending on Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Siegel’s version ended on a bleak note, with the pods winning, per The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Its final scene has Bennell screaming “You’re next!” at cars on a highway.

The scene took a toll, per Mental Floss. McCarthy had been running for days and wasn’t sleeping well. Siegel told the stunt drivers to stay alert in case he stumbled.

Producer Walter Wanger and Allied Artists executives reportedly wanted a framing prologue and epilogue. Screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring was brought back to write them.

There was even a failed attempt to land Orson Welles for the prologue.

Film Stories reports the studio planned to add the framing scenes regardless of whether Siegel cooperated. The added epilogue lets the authorities finally believe Bennell’s story.

The film is sometimes shown without the framing scenes, American Cinematographer notes. It holds a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 58 reviews.

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