When I was a kid growing up in the woods of Dargan, life was pretty exciting. We were surrounded with so many interesting things, and one of them was a ‘black and white’ television.
As a young lad, we for sure, roamed the hills and traveled down paths deep in the woods. We played the normal games in our youth: cowboys and Indians, baseball, football etc.
We climbed trees and looked at the night sky filled with millions of stars. And after a busy day especially in the summer when school was out, we reserved our energy by watching some old black and white movies on our TV.
Some of my favorite movies were those ones about travelers from out of space. Were you ever interested in those science fiction movies?
Have you ever thought about space travelers when you were a kid?
Now I know, that you know, that sounds a little far-fetched?
There can’t be any other worlds where ‘strange’ beings live and fly around in strange space ships, right?
That is just some weird thought.
It’s just a wild imagination on our part as we search the dark night with bright stars and wonder if there is a ‘stranger from a strange land’ somewhere out there.
One late night as a young lad I sat down in my grandma’s dark living room, turned on the TV and there was a movie called ‘The Thing.’
It captured my interest.
‘The Thing’ is a 1951 American black-and-white science fiction horror movie directed by Chirstian Nyby.
As I sat in my dark room, with my black and white TV, I watched as this flying machine from the sky crashed into the ice of the Antarctic.
Shortly afterward, a crew of Air Force military men and scientists show up there to investigate.
This movie was adapted from a 1938 short story by John W. Campbell Jr titled ‘Who Goes There?’
As the movie begins, this group of investigators finds a ‘humanoid’ from the space ship frozen in the ice. Strange music and sounds are found throughout the movie and the suspense of the story is earth shaken.
I sat glued to the TV and jumped on several occasions as the movie proceeded and unfolded.
Captain Hendry was in charge of the expedition and Scientist Dr. Carrington was along with the team.
The space alien was removed from the ice and taken to their research outpost, covered with an electric blanket and guarded by security.
During the night the ice melts, and the space alien escapes, returns to the cold outside and kills some sentry dogs for their blood; later two scientists are killed and their blood consumed by the invader too.
Dr. Carrington, soon learns this alien survives on blood as his severed hand renews itself in an experiment.
Soon the movie’s plot becomes to protect the staff and destroy the monster before it destroys them, or as the scientist suggested, ‘Let’s study this creature and become friends.’
The monster from outer space was played by the 6 foot 7-inch James Arness of Gunsmoke fame. It was a most tense movie as the security team battled with this space alien through events.
I remained on the edge of my seat throughout as this black and white drama unfolded.
After several physical skirmishes with the creature, the alien sabotages the camp’s oil supply and the team’s heat is turned off.
Now the team becomes cold, and you can actually see the ‘frosty air’ being blown from their mouths into their quarter’s air space as the heat departs the room.
I began to shiver in my own warm seat on the couch.
A journalist, Ned Scott, from Anchorage is woven into the plot as a traveling reporter looking for a good story to report to the world, but this was ‘top secret’.
As the story continues it becomes a test of survival for the group. Scotty, the reporter, was most anxious to share this story with the world and become famous.
As the alien becomes bolder with his enormous strength he decides to confront the team in one final battle; the movie’s climax was phenomenal.
As he enters the team’s living quarters, a plan is developed to electrocute the monster on a man-made trap.
He comes into the quarters, the switch is hit, and he is electrocuted and reduced to ashes.
Captain Hendry is exalted, peace arrives, and Scotty shares his ‘story of a lifetime’ to the world and ends it with this:
‘Tell the world. Tell this to everybody, wherever they are. Watch the skies everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.‘
Perhaps this is still good advice for us even today.
Look up!!!!
