Santa is not the only one lurking at the North Pole.

James Arness plays a rampaging, extraterrestrial “carrot,” who feeds off U.S. scientific and military personnel at a remote Arctic outpost, in “The Thing from Another World” (1951). This knockout thriller was the first film adaptation of John W. Campbell’s durable novella, “Who Goes There?”

“The Thing” stands apart from the standard B-movie science-fiction of the era, building genuine suspense and verisimilitude through its claustrophobic setting, realistic, post-World War II military equipment, and revolutionary use of overlapping dialogue. This is one surprisingly contemporary film!

Producer Howard Hawks reportedly had a hand in every aspect of the production, doing an uncredited rewrite of the screenplay with the great Ben Hecht, and always on the set to offer his “advice” on every scene. Essentially, he directed the film himself, and it shows. Furthermore, the eerie title design and Dimitri Tiomkin’s go-for-broke, theremin-laden score are not to be undersold.

Keep watching the skies! And leave your comments, as Roy Bjellquist and I dissect “The Thing,” on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, live-streamed on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EST!

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What’s for Christmas? THE THING.