Editing The Thing from Another World (section)

===Director===
There is debate as to whether the film was directed by Howard Hawks, with [[Christian Nyby]] receiving the credit so that Nyby could obtain his [[Directors Guild of America|Director's Guild]] membership<ref>Weaver 2003, p. 346.</ref><ref>Carpenter, John (speaker). [https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/88193 "Hidden Values: The Movies of the '50s."] ''[[Turner Classic Movies]]'', September 4, 2001.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130618193821/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/104767/Christian-Nyby "Christian Nyby: About This Person."] ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved: January 10, 2015.</ref> or whether Nyby directed it with considerable input from producer Hawks<ref>Mast 1982, p. 344.</ref> for Hawks' Winchester Pictures, which released the film through [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures Inc.]] Hawks gave Nyby only $5,460 of RKO's $50,000 director's fee and kept the rest, but Hawks always denied that he directed the film.{{r|fuhrmann19970525}}

Cast members disagree on Hawks' and Nyby's contributions: Tobey said that "Hawks directed it, all except one scene"<ref name="matthews2007">Matthews [https://books.google.com/books?id=2du2fVYT8ewC&pg=PA14 1997, p. 14.]</ref> while, on the other hand, Fenneman said that "Hawks would once in a while direct, if he had an idea, but it was Chris' show". Cornthwaite said that "Chris always deferred to Hawks&nbsp;... Maybe because he did defer to him, people misinterpreted it."{{r|fuhrmann19970525}}

One of the film's stars, [[William Edwin Self|William Self]], later became President of [[20th Television|20th Century Fox Television]].<ref>"Self Promoted to Presidency of 20th-Fox TV" ''Daily Variety'' (1968-11-01) pp. 1;26</ref> In describing the production, Self said, "Chris was the director in our eyes, but Howard was the boss in our eyes."<ref name=fuhrmann19970525>Fuhrmann, Henry [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-25-ca-62224-story.html "A 'Thing' to His Credit."] ''Los Angeles Times'', May 25, 1997. Retrieved: April 20, 2012.</ref> Although Self has said that "Hawks was directing the picture from the sidelines",<ref name=self2003>Weaver [https://books.google.com/books?id=jFkWaFYqzuQC&pg=PA272 2003, p. 272.]</ref> he also has said that "Chris would stage each scene, how to play it. But then he would go over to Howard and ask him for advice, which the actors did not hear&nbsp;... Even though I was there every day, I don't think any of us can answer the question. Only Chris and Howard can answer the question."

At a reunion of ''The Thing'' cast and crew members in 1982, Nyby said: {{Blockquote|Did Hawks direct it? That's one of the most inane and ridiculous questions I've ever heard, and people keep asking. That it was Hawks' style. Of course it was. This is a man I studied and wanted to be like. You would certainly emulate and copy the master you're sitting under, which I did. Anyway, if you're taking painting lessons from [[Rembrandt]], you don't take the brush out of the master's hands.<ref name=fuhrmann19970525 />}}