History Trivia / TheThingFromAnotherWorld

* BillingDisplacement: Margaret Sheridan (Nikki) got top billing, despite having a less important role -- and less film experience -- than Kenneth Tobey (Hendry). Sheridan was a protégée of Howard Hawks, who thought she had the potential to become a major star. (He had offered her the female lead in ''Film/RedRiver'' three years earlier, but she turned it down after becoming pregnant.)

* CreatorBacklash: James Arness reportedly regarded his role as so embarrassing, that he didn't attend the premiere.

* ScienceMarchesOn: A mundane example. One of the crew comes in from the cold with a frostbitten hand. Hendry tells him to get it in ice water and rub it. A common treatment at the time, but basically the worst thing you can do in that situation.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Six minutes were cut for the film's reissue, and for years, that footage only survived in low quality television prints. As a result, transfers of the film were a patchwork job of various sources, and the quality heavily fluctuated from scene-to-scene. Higher quality copies of the cut scenes were discovered in 2018, and the film was more seamlessly restored for Warner Archive's Blu-ray.

* FollowTheLeader: The film influenced Creator/JohnCarpenter in a ''big way'', as well as Creator/JohnFrankenheimer, Creator/TobeHooper and Creator/RidleyScott.

* SequelInAnotherMedium: ''The Thing From Another World'' essentially kickstarted the comic book sequels for the movie which in turned lead into ''Climate of Fear'' and ''Eternal Vows''. ''Questionable Research'' can be see as a stand-alone ContinuityReboot.

* BillingDisplacement: Margaret Sheridan (Nikki) somehow got top billing, despite having a less important role -- and less film experience -- than Kenneth Tobey (Hendry). Sheridan was a protégée of Howard Hawks, who thought she had the potential to become a major star. (He had offered her the female lead in ''Film/RedRiver'' three years earlier, but she turned it down after becoming pregnant.)

* UncreditedRole: Creator/HowardHawks and Ben Hecht did uncredited work on the script.

* StuntDouble: Veteran stuntman Tom Steele replaced James Arness in the fire scene. Steele wore an asbestos suit with a special fiberglass helmet with an oxygen supply underneath. He used a one hundred percent oxygen supply, which was highly combustible. It was pure luck he didn't burn his lungs while breathing in the mixture.

* BigNameFan: Creator/JohnCarpenter, who uses footage of the movie in ''Film/Halloween1978'' and even paid tribute to it in [[Film/TheThing1982 his take of the film]].

* FollowTheLeader: ''The Thing from Another World'' influenced Creator/JohnCarpenter in a ''big way'', as well as Creator/RidleyScott.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Six minutes were cut for the film's reissue, and that footage only only survives in low quality 16mm television prints. As a result, existing transfers of the film are a patchwork job of various sources, and the quality heavily fluctuates from scene-to-scene. Warner Archive has confirmed that this is the reason why the film is not available on Blu-ray, despite them wanting to release it.

* BillingDisplacement: Margaret Sheridan (Nikki) somehow got top billing, despite having a less important role - and less film experience - than Kenneth Tobey (Hendry). Sheridan was a protégée of Howard Hawks, who thought she had the potential to become a major star. (He had offered her the female lead in ''Film/RedRiver'' three years earlier, but she turned it down after becoming pregnant.)

* BillingDisplacement: Margaret Sheridan (Nikki) somehow got top billing, despite having a less important role - and less film experience - than Kenneth Tobey (Hendry).
** Sheridan was a protégée of Howard Hawks, who thought she had the potential to become a major star. (He had offered her the female lead in ''Film/RedRiver'' three years earlier, but she turned it down after becoming pregnant.)