Pencil This In: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers At The Portage Theater

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 5, 2012 4:30PM

Don Siegel's 1956 classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a psychological thriller masquerading as a science fiction film. The tale of humans being replaced by a race of emotionless aliens, based on Jack Finney's novel The Body Snatchers, has been remade numerous times in the ensuing decades with varying degrees of success. Largely ignored when it was originally released but now considered a classic, Seigel's version, released at the height of the HUAC witch hunts, can be taken as either an anti-authoritarian tale or red scare propaganda. Siegel, for what it's worth, downplayed an overt message.

The Northwest Chicago Film Society will screen Invasion of the Body Snatchers at 7:30 p.m. tonight in a new 35 mm print from Paramount Pictures. Admission is $5 and the air conditioning at the Portage is quite frigid.

Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-736-4050.

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