The Thing From Another World: Movies about Writing

You know The Thing - the cult classic John Carpenter film which is a must for all horror movie collectors? This is not that. But it did inspire that film. In turn, all of this was inspired by a short story by John W. Campbell Jr. from a science fiction pulp magazine.

Ned Scott (called Scotty) is a journalist invited to interview a team of scientist and military personal stationed at North Pole. Weirdly, the air force led by Captain Pat Hendry greatly outnumber the men there for the sake of science. Maybe I miscounted, but maybe the science team just didn’t have as many lines of dialogue, other than Dr. Carrington and his secretary Nikki. The other aspect of the film even more unbelievable than the alien life form determined to destroy the men and women is how thin their clothing is! No one should have survived in those clothes!

Scotty is overwhelmed when the team find a flying saucer trapped in the ice. They free it, only for the object to escape, living behind a large, human-like form in a giant ice cube. It really does kind of look like an ice cube at first, then looks longer when they thaw it out some. As this is a horror movie, I don’t want to give away very much since so many people have not seen it. Understand that is WAY different than the John Carpenter movie, but it has some good jumps. Also, the alien is played by the guy from Gunsmoke, so I just kept yelling at the screen, “Marshall Dillon! Marshall Dillon”.

Therefore, I’m just going to focus on Scotty. At first, he is angry that no one will let him radio the story of the UFO and creature back to his editor. Really? He can read his editor from the North Pole? That is a good radio. This leads into an argument about protection of the people by the government versus the first amendment. Second, everyone teases Scotty about how gruesome his news story will have to me and he confesses to being pretty desensitized. He does not use these words, but almost jokingly explains how he got to see a couple executed by electric chair (an event really did happen some 20 years earlier). Lastly, when the creatures start killing people and (spoiler/trauma alert) sled dogs, Scotty lets go of his argument to focus on the problem at hand. He is not so obsessed with the “un-gettable story” as he is with helping to solve the crisis. At the end of film, he gets to have the last words because, after it all is over, it’ll be his job to share the encounter and convince the world that what they saw was real.

Batman (1989): Movies about Writing

Vicki Vail, the forgotten Batman love interest! This movie gets me right in the childhood (but not Batman Returns because I wasn’t allowed to watch it - my mom thought the Penguin was too violent and scary). It’s a little upsetting that I haven’t watched this in probably twenty years, but I can still quote parts of it. Why hasn’t my brain reused these memory cells for something useful like math. But seriously, HAVE you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

In case you don’t know, Batman is about the rise of . . . Batman (Michael Keaton), the vigilante who is attempting to protect Gotham City from a general crime wave and specifically from the newest villain The Joker (Jack Nicholson). Meanwhile, Batman’s true identity, billionaire Bruce Wayne, struggles with childhood trauma and finding a work-life balance.

But this is a blog about writers, not heroes. That brings us to Alexander Knox and Vicki Vale, a journalist and photographer attempting to prove that this “Batman” terrified criminals keep ranting about is real. Knox is played by Robert Wuhl (look him up and you’ll say, “Oh! That guy” because you’ve probably seen him in something) and Kim Basinger plays Vale. Vicki and Knox are being mocked by the rest of their co-workers and the police, so they decide to start some undercover work. They get into a party at Wayne manor where Knox tries to interview the top politicians including Harvey Dent (Billy Dee Williams) who never get to see as Two-Face. Wayne is amused by the pair who make jokes about his wealth without knowing he’s listening. He even tells Alfred (Michael Gough) to give Knox a grant.

One of the key plots of this movie is the power of the press. Joker is annoyed that about Knox and Vicki focusing on Batman in the papers. He decided that Knox “has no style”, so he threatens Vicki multiple times insisting on his face being splashed across the paper. Both journalist characters are very stereotypical. They do research. They wisecrack. They put their feet up on the office furniture. Knox is the wise cracker who seems to annoy everyone he interviews and Vale is a serious photographer who is more upset that Batman steals her film of him than she is about a near death experience.

Keeper of the Flame: Movies about Writing

1942 was a time of high ideals in the midst of war. This is a film about truth versus ideals which may be why it’s somewhat forgotten now. Keeper of the Flame stars Spencer Tracey as Steven O’Malley, a war correspondent back in the United States in time for the public funeral of beloved civic leader whom he wants to write biography of. However, the man’s grieving widow, Christine Forrest (Katherine Hepburn), is so determined to keep her husband’s memory pristine that she objects to reporters writing anything beyond his heroism and tragic death in a car accident.

In his pleas to convince Christine Forrest, Steven meets several people wrapped up in the end of a public figure. Even before encountering Christine, he is verbally accosted by her cousin Geoffrey (hey! it’s the Sargent from FTroop!) who has taken the death particularly hard. The house has a gatekeeper who was once Mr. Forrest’s superior officer and claimed to have been rescued by his now deceased boss. His son is Jeb, a distraught little boy who blames himself for Mr. Forrest’s death and missus his older sister who used to work for Mr. Forrest.. There is an elderly Mrs. Forrest, Christine’s mother-in-law who rambles in code. Dr. Fielding provides a more human version of Mr. Forrest, critical of the hero-worship the man inspired in others and blames him for institutionalizing Jeb’s sister. And lastly, there is Clive Kerndon, the family’s private secretary who is on Steven’s side (and I’m pretty sure had a crush on Mr. Forrest despite everything).

Despite the politically inspired youth groups, the pride of everyone in town, and the liberal and lofty idea Forrest left behind, Steven has difficulty writing the biography. He discovers that so much of the “great man’s” life is shadowed. He never expected perfection, yet he starts to suspect more sinister secrets about everyone involved. Christine and Kerndon are guarded about Mr. Forrest’s past and personality except the same rehearsed lines of his greatness and devotion to causes. I won’t give away the ending.

As far as writers go, I like the imagery in this movie of reporters all rushing with their little suitcase typewriters, fighting for a place at a hotel table and typing like mad to reach a deadline. My favorite is Jane, a secondary character who is slightly more fleshed out than the typical “lady reporter”. Tracey’s character represents what trying to print truth can do to a person over time. He’s a man with conviction and empathy who saw World War II first hand and comes home with a broader view of heroes and villains. He wanted to write the biography for other people so they could have more home in something good, hope he knew he was losing throughout the war. I like the idea of a writer wanting to give something to others even if he no longer had it himself. Christine states that she wondered if Steven “spoke as he wrote” and responded, “I speak as I feel and I feel very deeply about this”. Despite everything, he still thought truth was most important.