to humanity's problems must ultimately be achieved by humanity itself. Cast Peter Graves as Dr. Paul Nelson Lee Van Cleef as Dr. Tom Anderson Beverly Garland as Claire Anderson Sally Fraser as Joan Nelson Russ Bender as General James Pattick Taggart Casey as Sheriff N.J. Shallert Karen Kadler as Dr. Ellen Peters Dick Miller as Sgt. Neil Jonathan Haze as Corporal Manuel Ortiz Paul Harbor as Dr. Floyd Mason Charles B. Griffith as Dr. Pete Shelton Thomas E. Jackson as George Haskell Marshall Bradford as Secretary Platt David McMahon as General Carpenter Paul Blaisdell as The Monster (uncredited) Production Development The film was inspired by the box office success of Day the World Ended, also directed by Corman. It was written by Lou Rusoff (Sam Arkoff's brother-in-law), but before being completed, Rusoff's brother died and he had to leave for Canada. Corman then called in Charles Griffith to do a final rewrite, two days before filming began. Griffith does have a small part as a scientist. Griffith said Rusoff's script "was incomprehensible which was strange because he was quite meticulous. Lou's brother was dying at the time which most likely had something to do with it." Griffith said he "wrote streams of dialogue. The picture was terrible." Peter Graves' casting was announced in March 1956. Beverly Garland's casting was announced shortly afterwards. Shooting Filming began 3 April 1956. The design of the creature was Paul Blaisdell's idea, and he thought that coming from a big planet, It would have evolved to deal with heavy gravity and would therefore be low to the ground. Corman later admitted this was a mistake, saying the creature would have been more frightening had It been larger or taller. When Beverly Garland first saw the creature, she commented "That conquered the world?" and claimed she kicked It over (unlikely, since Blaisdell said in an interview that it took three men to turn the prop onto its side for the film's death scene finale). Paul Blaisdell, who made the creature, researched Venus and "came to the conclusion that if it would have any life — it would be vegetable. In trying to make it look as far removed from anything resembling animal-like, I whipped up a nightmarish creation resembling a pear-shaped, cucumber- like creature, with two mobile, branch- like arms." He created the monster with rubber skin over a wooden frame, latex antenna and carved pine