The robbery is planned with little suspense. The only tension in the film comes from the relationships between the members of the gang who plan to rob the ship. There is a love triangle between Mark, Vic, and Rosa, but she obviously prefers Frank Sinatra to Tony Fran-ciosa (though Franciosa is much closer to her age, at 37) and the expected confrontation over the beautiful Italian woman never materializes.
The robbery of the Queen Mary is also rather different on film than in the novel. On film, Mark, Vic, and Eric board the luxury liner and rob the bank and the bullion room. Mark and Eric escape by boat after Vic is distracted by a large diamond ring on a female passenger's hand. He tries to pull it off of her finger and is shot by a chivalrous sailor. Gone is the plan to rob the passengers one by one; gone, too, is the Nazi subplot of the magazine serial.
Mark and Eric make it back to the sub but leave the money in the boat in their haste to escape a U.S. Coast Guard destroyer that has spotted them. There is an effective sequence where the sub hides underneath the Queen Mary, but the film ends with a cliché as Eric wants to torpedo the Coast Guard cutter and Mark tries to stop him. Eric pulls a gun, Rosa deflects his arm, and Tony Moreno is shot in the back. Mark, Linc, and Rosa escape by diving off of the sub's deck into the ocean, leaving Eric to be killed as the Coast Guard cutter rams the sub full steam ahead.
Assault on a Queen ends with a sequence where the three survivors climb aboard a raft and start paddling for South America, happy to have escaped with their lives.
Assault on a Queen was a novel with problems, and it was made into a movie that wasted the talents of writer Rod Serling and a number of good actors. Jack Finney's works would not be filmed again for twelve years, until a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers appeared in 1978. The world of 1978, as depicted in Philip Kaufman's reworking of Don Siegel's original film, is much different than the world of 1956. Viewers of the new film were expected to have some familiarity with the story already, and the mystery of whether the main characters were sane or insane is not a part of the new film.
Instead, it opens with a scene where the space spores drift away from their own planet and across outer space, landing on Earth and sticking to plants in San Francisco. The entire film has a strange, disoriented feeling right from the start, courtesy of director Kaufman's penchant for using odd camera angles and spooky music. Instead of a small-town doctor, Matthew (not Miles) Bennell is now a big-city health inspector, and Elizabeth Driscoll (no longer Becky) also works for the city. Matthew's job is to look below the surface of things to find the disease and decay that lie beneath — as is shown when he finds a "rat turd" in the kitchen of a fancy restaurant.
From the start of the film, nothing in San Francisco seems right, but no one notices. People run through the streets in fear and there is a general sense of paranoia and unease. Soon enough, characters begin to suspect that loved ones are not themselves. One of the many updates to the 1970s is the suspicion— voiced by various characters — that a conspiracy is afoot, much like the government conspiracies that were widely believed to exist at the time. Symbolism is plentiful in the film, including Matthew's cracked windshield through which he sees the world. Yet the jaded health inspector is so used to things being broken that he doesn't notice anymore.
Director Kaufman pays homage to the 1956 film twice: with actor Kevin McCarthy, who runs in front of Matthew's car, still warning drivers that "you're next!" as if he has been doing it since the prior film ended; and with director Don Siegel, who plays a sinister taxi driver who tries to turn Matthew and Elizabeth over to the pod people.
The basic plot remains the same, as Matthew and Elizabeth are slowly drawn into the horror of realization that people are being replaced by emotionless pods. This time, Jack and Nancy (not Theodora) Belicec run "The Belicec Mud Baths" and psychiatrist Mannie Kaufman is now best-selling pop psychiatrist David Kibner, played by Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy. Kibner tries to rationalize his friends' concerns with 1970s psychobabble; Nancy's biggest concern upon discovering the replacement pod for her husband is that it is infected with some sort of disease.
The film as a whole is disquieting, featuring color, shock, and gore, where the original succeeded through subtlety and suspense. About two-thirds of the way through, it becomes an elongated chase, losing any mood and thoughtfulness that it had built up in exchange for an attempt at excitement. The mood of the era surfaces again when Kibner and Jack Belicec trap Matthew and Elizabeth in Matthew's office; Kibner tells Matthew, "you'll be born again into an untroubled world," and suddenly the pods seem like members of a religious cult.
Near the end, Matthew destroys a large greenhouse full of pods in a series of explosions and fires. While this scene somewhat recalls the conclusion of the novel, where Miles sets fire to a field full of pods, the visuals and the sound are so shrill that the effect is lost. True to form for a 1970s film, the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers ends on a downbeat note — Nancy Belicec meets Matthew on a San Francisco street, only to learn that he has been replaced by a pod. His scream that reveals her as human fades in to the closing credits.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers would be remade a second time in 1993, but first one of Jack Finney's latter novels, Marion's Wall, would be adapted as Maxie and released in 1985. Maxie is as bright and cheerful as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, released only seven years before, was dark and gloomy. It stars Glenn Close as Jan Cheney, who is possessed by the spirit of deceased silent movie actress Maxie Mal-one (Marion Marsh in the novel). The story has been changed considerably in the transition to film. Jan is now an efficient secretary to a bishop, and Nick is a librarian pursued by an amorous female boss.
The character of Nick's father, who provides the link to Marion/ Maxie in the novel, is replaced by that of Mrs. Lavin, played by Ruth Gordon. She is the Cheneys' eccentric landlady, and six decades before she was Maxie's dancing partner. The film's plot generally parallels that of the novel, with one important alteration in tone. Where Marion Marsh was saddened and eventually disgusted by what she saw of the modern world, Maxie Malone is delighted and finally vindicated by her experiences. Glenn Close switches back and forth from Jan to Maxie effortlessly, changing her accent and her behavior to suit each character.
The film's point, which is rather different than that of the novel, is that Jan needs to wake up and start enjoying life. This is expressed humorously by her boss, the bishop, when she tells him of her actions upon first being possessed. He tells her in reply: "that's not known as possession, that's known as living." The characters of Hugo Dahl, the former prop boy, and Ted Bollinghurst, the aged film collector, have been eliminated and, while Maxie does succeed in getting a part in a movie (this time, as the star of a remake of Cleopatra), she is entranced by the filmmaking experience. This is quite a contrast to the scene in the novel, where Marion performs nude in a movie and is disgusted by modern film.
The conflagration that ends the novel is also absent; in the film, Maxie voluntarily fades off into the spirit world, leaving Nick and Jan to drive off happily into the California sun. Maxie is an entertaining, funny film, but it has little in common with the novel Marion's Wall beyond the general premise and the skeleton of the plot. Still, it would have been a much better farewell on film to Jack Finney's works than the abominable Body Snatchers. Released in 1993, the third and final adaptation of Finney's novel, The Body Snatchers, is the last film adapted from his works to date.
The story is nearly unrecognizable, and it must have been puzzling for those viewers unlucky enough to see this film without knowing the premise in advance. This time, the story has been updated to 1993, and takes place almost entirely at a military base somewhere in the U.S.A. Instead of Dr. Miles Bennell or Matthew Bennell, the main character is teenaged Marti Malone, whose voiceover narration is heard briefly at the beginning and end of the film.
Marti moves to a military base with her family and problems begin right away. Her father is a rather weak man who is there to test chemi
cal waste for the Environmental Protection Agency. Her stepmother is a poorly-drawn character, played by Meg Tilly, who demonstrates some of the film's worst acting when she tells Marti about halfway through that there is nowhere to run or to hide. There is also a little brother, Andy, who is in preschool. The child actor playing Andy is unappealing, and the viewer is not moved when his replacement is thrown from a moving helicopter near the end of the film.
Many words could be wasted explaining what is wrong with this film, which features considerable nudity, four-letter words, and graphic violence, but which is devoid of a single likeable character. Suffice it to say that the screenwriters and director appear to have watched Philip Kaufman's 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and tried to spice it up. Forrest Whitaker plays Dr. Collins, overacting wildly in his few scenes, and when he shoots himself in the head (filmed in loving detail and living color), the viewer wishes he could share the doctor's fate rather than watch another minute of this miserable film.
Fortunately, Body Snatchers was not the end for admirers of Jack Finney's work. The television adaptation of "The Love Letter" aired in 1998, and the musical version of Time and Again finally made it to the New York stage in 2001. As of this writing, in 2006, no more of Finney's works have appeared on screen or stage, but his many short stories and novels remain a rich source of material that may be mined again in the future, hopefully to good result.
Appendix I.
Writings by Jack Finney
NOVELS
1954 5 Against the House
1955 The Body Snatchers
1957 The House of Numbers
1959 Assault on a Queen
1963 Good Neighbor Sam
1968 The Woodrow Wilson Dime
1970 Time and Again
1973 Marion's Wall
1977 The Night People
1995 From Time to Time
SHORT STORIES AND SERIALS
1943
"Someone Who Knows Told Me…". Cosmopolitan. December, 1943.
1947
Manhattan Idyl. Collier's. April 5, 1947.
The Widow's Walk. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. July 1947.
I'm Mad at You. Collier's. December 6, 1947.
1948
Cousin Len's Wonderful Adjective Cellar. Ladies' Home Journal. April 1948.
Breakfast in Bed. Collier's. May 15, 1948.
It Wouldn't Be Fair. Collier's. August 28, 1948.
Long-Distance Call. Collier's. November 6, 1948.
1949
Something in a Cloud. Good Housekeeping. March 1949.
You Haven't Changed a Bit. Collier's. April 16, 1949.
The Little Courtesies. Collier's. June 25, 1949.
1950
Sneak Preview. Collier's. April 29, 1950.
Week-end Genius. Collier's. May 20, 1950.
I Like It This Way. Collier's. June 24, 1950.
My Cigarette Loves Your Cigarette. Collier's. September 30, 1950.
The Third Level. Collier's. October 7, 1950.
1951
Such Interesting Neighbors. Collier's. January 6, 1951.
Husband at Home. Ladies' Home Journal. April 1951.
One-Man Show. Collier's. June 30, 1951.
Swelled Head. Collier's. July 14, 1951.
Quit Zoomin' Those Hands Through the Air. Collier's. August 4, 1951.
I'm Scared. Collier's. September 15, 1951.
Sounds in the Night. Collier's. November 24, 1951.
1952
Stopover at Reno. Collier's. January 5, 1952.
Obituary. Collier's. February 2, 1952 (with C.J. Durban).
Tiger Tamer. Collier's. May 31, 1952.
There Is a Tide. Collier's. August 2, 1952.
Man of the Cocktail Hour. Collier's. September 20, 1952.
Diagnosis Completed. Collier's. October 18, 1952 (with F.M. Barratt).
Behind the News. Good Housekeeping. November 1952.
1953
5 Against the House (part one). Good Housekeeping. July 1953.
5 Against the House (part two). Good Housekeeping. August 1953.
5 Against the House (part three). Good Housekeeping. September 1953.
1954
The Body Snatchers (part one). Collier's. November 26, 1954.
The Body Snatchers (part two). Collier's. December 10, 1954.
The Body Snatchers (part three). Collier's. December 24, 1954.
1955
Legal and Tender. Good Housekeeping. February 1955.
Of Missing Persons. Good Housekeeping. March 1955.
Tattletale Tape. Collier's. March 4, 1955.
A Man of Confidence. Good Housekeeping. August 1955.
1956
Second Chance. Good Housekeeping. April 1956.
The House of Numbers. Cosmopolitan. July 1956.
Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket. Collier's. October 26, 1956.
1957
Rainy Sunday. Good Housekeeping. April 1957.
Expression of Love. Good Housekeeping. June 1957.
Fast Buck. Good Housekeeping. September 1957.
A Dash of Spring. The Third Level. 1957.
1958
Vive La Différence! Good Housekeeping. June 1958.
1959
Seven Days to Live. Saturday Evening Post. January 10, 1959.
Bedtime Story. Good Housekeeping. May 1959.
All My Clients Are Innocent. Cosmopolitan. July 1959.
The Love Letter. Saturday Evening Post. August 1, 1959.
The U-19's Last Kill (part one). Saturday Evening Post. August 22,1959.
The U-19's Last Kill (part two). Saturday Evening Post. August 29,1959.
The U-19's Last Kill (part three). Saturday Evening Post. September 5, 1959.
The U-19's Last Kill (part four). Saturday Evening Post. September 12, 1959.
The U-19's Last Kill (part five). Saturday Evening Post. September 19, 1959.
The U-19's Last Kill (part six). Saturday Evening Post. September 26, 1959.
Take One Rainy Night ... McCall's. October 1959.
1960
The Other Wife. Saturday Evening Post. January 30, 1960.
Crazy Sunday. McCall's. February 1960.
I Love Galesburg in the Springtime. McCall's. April 1960.
1961
An Old Tune. McCall's. October 1961.
1962
Where the Cluetts Are. McCall's. January 1962.
The Man with the Magic Glasses. McCall's. March 1962.
Old Enough for Love. McCall's. May 1962.
Hey, Look at Me! Playboy. September 1962.
The Sunny Side of the Street. McCall's. October 1962.
Time Has No Boundaries. Saturday Evening Post. October 13, 1962.
1963
No Time for the Billiard Ballet. Playboy. October 1963.
1965
Double Take. Playboy. April 1965.
NONFICTION
Where Has Old-Fashioned Fun Gone? New York Times. Sept. 24, 1970: 47.
Off to the Golden West. New York Times. Oct. 29, 1970: 43.
St. Nicholas Monthly's Xmas List. New York Times. December 18,1970: 39.
When Felony Had Style. New York Times. February 5, 1971: 31.
Getting It Right This Time. New York Times. June 11, 1973: 35.
Man's First Flight: Over Manhattan, 1876. New York Times. Aug. 1, 1973: 39.
Esprit de Postal Corp. New York Times. Dec. 21, 1973: 35.
Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories. 1983.
SHORT STORY AND NOVEL COLLECTIONS
The Third Level. 1957.
Contents: The Third Level. Such Interesting Neighbors. I'm Scared. Cousin Len's Wonderful Adjective Cellar. Of Missing Persons. Something in a Cloud. There Is a Tide ... Behind the News. Quit Zoomin' Those Hands Through the Air. A Dash of Spring. Second Chance. Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets.
I Love Galesburg in the Springtime. 1962.
Contents: I Love Galesburg in
the Springtime. Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere. Where the Cluetts Are. Hey, Look at Me! A Possible Candidate for the Presidency. Prison Legend. Time Has No Boundaries. The Intrepid Aeronaut. The Coin Collector. The Love Letter.
About Time: Twelve Stories. 1986.
Contents: The Third Level. I Love Galesburg in the Springtime. Such Interesting Neighbors. The Coin Collector. Of Missing Persons. Lunch-Hour Magic. Where the Cluetts Are. The Face in the Photo. I'm Scared. Home Alone. Second Chance. Hey, Look at Me!
Three by Finney. 1987.
Contents: The Woodrow Wilson Dime. Marion's Wall. The Night People.
PLAYS
Telephone Roulette. Dramatic Publishing. 1956.
This Winter's Hobby. 1966.
FILM ADAPTATIONS
Five Against the House. 1955.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 1956.
House of Numbers. 1957.
Good Neighbor Sam. 1964.
Assault on a Queen. 1966.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 1978.
Maxie. 1985.
Body Snatchers. 1993.
The Invasion. 2007.
TELEVISION ADAPTATIONS
"Time Is Just a Place." (Adaptation of "Such Interesting Neighbors.") Science Fiction Theatre. First broadcast on April 16, 1955.
Stealing Through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney Page 22
