Cast/Notable Credits:
Jack Arnold (Director) - It Came From Outer Space (1953), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Jack Carlson (David Reed): It Came From Outer Space
Julia Adams (Kay Lawrence): Lost T.V. series
Richard Denning (Mark Williams)
Nester Paiva (Lucas)
Ricou Browning (The Creature in water)
Ben Chapman (The Creature on land)
Trailer:
Lucas: I can tell you something about this place. The boys around here call it "The Black Lagoon"; a paradise. Only they say nobody has ever come back to prove it.
Out in the Amazon, a scientist finds a fossilized hand that may be a link to an evolutionary fork in the road. As he brings this to the attention to Drs. Reed and Williams, his camp, and all his stereotypes…er…assistants…are massacred by something mysterious. The scientific team, including Reed’s main squeeze, Kay, arrive and find a living Fish-man-thing! A Fish-man-thing who is madly in love with Kay! A disagreement follows, as Reed initially wants to go back for reinforcements and Williams dreams of the headlines for him if he brings back the Gillman alive. Williams wins out, but at the cost of most of the boat crew, and a couple of fellow scientists. Lucas and Reed try to lead an escape, but The Gillman, a hopeless (murderous) romantic at heart, blocks the river, and kidnaps Kay. The scientists rescue Kay, shoot the creature, stab him in the heart (symbolism!), and then the creature sinks into the lagoon, fate unknown (sequel!).Bookie’s Take: Full Disclosure-
Creature from the Black Lagoon was originally a 3-D movie; In fact, it’s held by most historians as one of the most famous 3-D movies of that era. BUT….I have never seen it in 3-D. I have seen it in glorious 2-D, and It has remained one of my favorite 50’s genre movies. Why? Not because of the cast. They’re all fine, but largely paint-by-numbers; Carlson made a career of playing good-hearted scientists, Denning does a adequate job of making
you dislike him when he goes crazy with the thought of capturing the Gillman, and Julia Adams (pictured right) is pretty much what you would expect from the female lead in these movies. (Hottie + Good Scream = Monster Bait)The one deviation is Paiva, who does elevate Lucas above the normal 50’s ethnic type, if only slightly. Arnold’s direction also falls into the “good, but not great” category, He does much better in “It Came from Outer Space” and “The Incredible Shrinking Man”; “Creature” has its moments, but the visual elements are not awe-inspiring, with one major exception.
That exception is one of the reasons that I love “Creature”. The underwater scenes pop, like no other movie up to that point. Unlike the rest of the movie, all underwater scenes were filmed on location in Florida, and it shows on the screen. The sub aquatic moment that everybody remembers, and rightly so, is the “dance” between an unsuspecting Kay, under the impression she’s swimming alone, and the Gillman, inches below her, mimicking her moves. This is arguably one of the top 5 scenes in 50’s sci-fi/horror, and it sets up the unrequited love story that dominates the rest of the movie. “Black Lagoon” did not invent the monster love story category (That would be King Kong), but it may have come closer to perfecting it than anybody.
The other reason I enjoy “Lagoon” so much is extremely simple, but unbelievable important; The Monster. The Gillman looks so much better than other monsters of the era that, honestly, it’s unfair. The majority of 50’s beasts are not well put together, usually more attention given to the face than the rest of the body (leading to many “find the zipper” games), and lacking the little details that make the
difference. The “Creature”, however, is terrifically designed, with foam pieces glued to a wet suit, and given touches that bring him to life. The Creature’s breathing, made by air bladders on the gills, give him the appearance that on land, he’s gasping for every breath as he stalks his victim, which is a truly creepy effect. It is the attention to detail like this that makes “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” one of the best genre movies of its era, and a fitting addition to the Universal monster pantheon.3 Lessons I learned from “Creature from the Black Lagoon”.
1. ♫Creature’s got People Fever♫, ♫Creature’s got People Fever♫
2. Julia Adams’s bathing suit is really pointy. Before you accuse me of being a pig (Correct!), watch the movie (or look at the picture to the right). Her suit is literally pointy. Was this the fashion back then? Why aren’t there more men with eye-patches?
3. Lucas is, by far, the most interesting person on the boat. It’s not even close. If there were a TV show back then where Lucas went around, helping gringos make interesting scientific discoveries and generally being a wise Latin bad-ass, yeah, I’d watch that. If they made that show now, I’d watch that. Somebody get Aaron Sorkin on the phone.
Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on March 5, 1954 and made $1.5 million at the Box Office
-Ricou Browning had to hold his breath for over four minutes underwater to hide possible air bubbles during filming
-Originally produced in 3-D
-The creature appeared on an episode of the Munsters T.V. show as Uncle Gilbert
Special thanks to Book and his reviews!
* Guest Review #1 Link *
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