The film""s screenplay was adapted by Frank S.Nugent (director Ford""s son-in-law) from Alan Le May""s 1954 novel of the same name, that was first serialized as a short story in late fall 1954 issues of theSaturday Evening Post, and first titledThe Avenging Texans.Saunders: Daniel in the lion""s den.During the Senate""s proceedings, Smith""s credentials are presented to the dry-witted President of the Senate (Harry Carey), and he is brought forward to have the oath of office administered o him.He called himself "Frankenstein""s Monster" before killing the third man.A framed picture on the wall identified Schmidt as being on his yacht, theCaspartina, moored in Miami, Florida.In the stirring conclusion, human-being Decker offered himself up tophysicallymerge with V""Ger (symbolized by uniting with its android probe Ilia) to provide a "human quality" - to merge man and machine; the merging took place in a dazzling, explosive shower of white light, creating a new glowing alien entity or non-corporeal life form ("We witnessed a birth.