I've tried every combination of title, actor, director, etc. and cannot get the 1951 version of THE THING to come up at Deep Discount DVD. Maybe they don't have it but if someone can get it to come up in a search please post how you did it.

They don't appear to carry it at the moment. The full title is "The Thing from Another World", but DDD does not show up as a listed vendor even searching on DVDPriceSearch.

Yes, you're right - it seems to be missing - no results when searching by director's name, cast members, etc. Strange, since it's not some little obscure title ....

Isn't that version the one where James Arness (of later Gunsmoke fame) was The Thing ?

That's the one!