Precursor to 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' (1956)

Don Siegel's famous Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) seems to have deepened, broadened, and channeled many of the motifs present in It Came from Outer Space (Jack Arnold, 1953). Arnold's workmanlike film effectively serves as the precursor and kernel for Siegel's elegant, kinetic masterpiece. The idea of human beings retaining their physical form but losing their soul and humanity thanks to alien subversion begins in It Came from Outer Space but becomes far more creepy, pervasive, and frightening in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Still, It Came from Outer Space planted the seed (pun intended), and it essentially represents an innocent, barely benign version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Also consider that Dana Wynter, the gorgeous female lead in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, was a dark-haired, elegant beauty in the mold of Barbara Rush, the female lead in It Came from Outer Space. Wynter was 24 during the filming of Siegel's movie, and Rush was 25 during the filming of Arnold's movie. Likewise, Kevin McCarthy, the male lead in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, was 41 during the filming of Siegel's movie, while Richard Carlson, the male lead in It Came from Outer Space, was 40 during the filming of Arnold's movie. (Wynter and McCarthy, under Siegel's direction, offer more sophisticated and dexterous performances.)

And for a "six degrees" connection, Jack Arnold directed Clint Eastwood in his first two screen appearances, in Revenge of the Creature (1955) and Tarantula (1955). Years later, after he had become a major international movie star, Eastwood starred in five films directed by Don Siegel (which subsequently helped take Eastwood to an even higher level of stardom): Coogan's Bluff (1968), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), The Beguiled (1971), Dirty Harry (1971), and later Escape from Alcatraz (1979). Eastwood never has starred in or directed a science fiction film, though.