Various media outlets are reporting that Kevin McCarthy, the actor who starred in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) has passed away at the age of 96. As fans of the history of science fiction cinema know, Invasion of the Body Snatchers stands out as one of the classics of 1950s science fiction/horror. McCarthy’s work as the lead character, Dr. Miles Bennell, coupled with a great story and the direction of Don Siegel, made this a great piece of cinema that still holds up today. Further information on McCarthy’s career can be found at the Internet Movie Database. For an overview of his work within his obituary see the article at We Are Movie Geeks.
Quite seriously, McCarthy’s portrayal of Mile Bennell in the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers ranks among my favorite American film performances. I could watch, and in fact have watched, that movie over and over, and he’s one of the best parts of it.
R.I.P., Mr. McCarthy, and thanks.
(Please make that “MileS Bennell.” Sorry about the typo. Yeah, I really loved Kevi McArthy.)
I knew who you meant, and appreciate your passion for this fine actor and this classic film, Matt.
The much poorer remake with Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy did have McCarthy have a brief cameo as an older man who is bumped into by a car, saying “They’re here; they;re coming.”
The original book story by Jack Finney had a different end (a) Miles’ girl is not taken over as a pod person (b) they manage to set enough pods on fire to convince the pods to leave earth (they float up in the sky) (c) the left over pod people just die off suddenly as they have only a limited lifespan; the duplication is not perfect.
No version I’ve seen as a film (there have been several variants) have opted for the upbeat ending; and the girl is always duplicated.