ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - March 5th
"CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON"
released in 1954
released in 1954
A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discovers a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon, in Jack Arnold's classic Universal Monster movie, Creature from the Black Lagoon!
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A geology expedition in the Amazon uncovers fossilized evidence from the Devonian period of a link between land and sea animals: a skeletal hand with webbed fingers. Expedition leader Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) visits his friend and former student, Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson), an ichthyologist. He works at an aquarium in California and has also been a guest at Maia's marine biology institute in Brazil for more than a month. Reed persuades his boss, the financially minded Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning), to fund a return expedition to the Amazon to look for the remainder of the skeleton.
The group goes aboard the tramp steamer Rita, which is captained by crusty old Lucas (Nestor Paiva). The expedition consists of David, Carl, and Mark, as well as Reed's girlfriend and colleague, Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams), and another scientist, Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell). When they arrive at the camp, they discover that Maia's entire research team has been mysteriously killed while he was away. Lucas suggests it was likely done by a jaguar, but the others are unsure. In fact, the camp was attacked by a piscine amphibious humanoid, a living member of the same species from which the fossil originated and when its sudden appearance frightens the members, they attack it, and in response the enraged creature killed them. Unaware of their fate, Mark is ready to give up the search, but David suggests that perhaps thousands of years ago the part of the embankment containing the rest of the skeleton fell into the water and was washed downriver, broken up by the current. Lucas says that the tributary empties into a lagoon - which Lucas calls it the "Black Lagoon" - a paradise from which no one has ever returned. The scientists decide to risk it, unaware that the amphibious "Gill-man" that killed Carl's assistants earlier has been watching them!
The group goes aboard the tramp steamer Rita, which is captained by crusty old Lucas (Nestor Paiva). The expedition consists of David, Carl, and Mark, as well as Reed's girlfriend and colleague, Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams), and another scientist, Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell). When they arrive at the camp, they discover that Maia's entire research team has been mysteriously killed while he was away. Lucas suggests it was likely done by a jaguar, but the others are unsure. In fact, the camp was attacked by a piscine amphibious humanoid, a living member of the same species from which the fossil originated and when its sudden appearance frightens the members, they attack it, and in response the enraged creature killed them. Unaware of their fate, Mark is ready to give up the search, but David suggests that perhaps thousands of years ago the part of the embankment containing the rest of the skeleton fell into the water and was washed downriver, broken up by the current. Lucas says that the tributary empties into a lagoon - which Lucas calls it the "Black Lagoon" - a paradise from which no one has ever returned. The scientists decide to risk it, unaware that the amphibious "Gill-man" that killed Carl's assistants earlier has been watching them!
Lucas: There are many strange legends in the Amazon. Even I, Lucas, have heard the legend of a man-fish...
Top and Above: The scientific crew onboard the steamer Rita, including Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno), Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson), as well as Reed's girlfriend and colleague, Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams), discover "something" is under the surface of the Black Lagoon!
Producer and writer William Alland was attending a dinner party during the filming of Citizen Kane (in which he played the reporter Thompson that investigates the meaning of "Rosebud") when Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa told him about the myth of a race of half-fish, half-human creatures in the Amazon River. Alland wrote story notes titled "The Sea Monster", and 10-years later hired writer Maurice Zimm to expand his notes into a treatment, which Harry Essex and Arthur Ross rewrote as The Black Lagoon. Following the success of 3-D film House of Wax the year before,
Universal-International assigned the picture to director Jack Arnold, who had made the hugely successful 3-D sci-fi film It Came from Outer Space the year before (using Universal's own 3-D camera system). Of course, 3-D production on Creature from the Black Lagoon would prove more technically difficult due to the huge amount of underwater footage required. Camera designer Clifford Stine devised a unique solution to the problem; two small Arriflex cameras (which were considered "inferior" cameras at the time) were placed in a compact, watertight housing side-by-side, with the camera motors synchronized, and inverting the second camera facing the angled mirror.
With an appearance based on old seventeenth-century woodcuts of two bizarre creatures called the Sea Monk and the Sea Bishophe, the designer of the approved Gill-man was Disney animator Millicent Patrick - though her role was deliberately downplayed by make-up artist Bud Westmore (who was the head of Universal's makeup department at the time), who for half a century would receive sole credit for the creature's conception. Jack Kevan, who worked on The Wizard of Oz (1939) and made prosthetics for amputees during World War II, created the bodysuit, while Chris Mueller, Jr. sculpted the head. Unfortunately, the eyes of the Creature were a fixed part of the rubber construction of the suit making the actors who played the part of the "Gill Man" barely being able to see, if at all. This extreme limitation was to cause numerous mishaps on set!
Universal-International assigned the picture to director Jack Arnold, who had made the hugely successful 3-D sci-fi film It Came from Outer Space the year before (using Universal's own 3-D camera system). Of course, 3-D production on Creature from the Black Lagoon would prove more technically difficult due to the huge amount of underwater footage required. Camera designer Clifford Stine devised a unique solution to the problem; two small Arriflex cameras (which were considered "inferior" cameras at the time) were placed in a compact, watertight housing side-by-side, with the camera motors synchronized, and inverting the second camera facing the angled mirror.
In taking the assignment, director Jack Arnold stated that his main goal in the making of this film was to create a sense of dread; "... it plays upon a basic fear that people have about what might be lurking below the surface of any body of water. You know the feeling when you are swimming and something brushes your legs down there - it scares the hell out of you if you don't know what it is. It's the fear of the unknown. I decided to exploit this fear as much as possible."
With an appearance based on old seventeenth-century woodcuts of two bizarre creatures called the Sea Monk and the Sea Bishophe, the designer of the approved Gill-man was Disney animator Millicent Patrick - though her role was deliberately downplayed by make-up artist Bud Westmore (who was the head of Universal's makeup department at the time), who for half a century would receive sole credit for the creature's conception. Jack Kevan, who worked on The Wizard of Oz (1939) and made prosthetics for amputees during World War II, created the bodysuit, while Chris Mueller, Jr. sculpted the head. Unfortunately, the eyes of the Creature were a fixed part of the rubber construction of the suit making the actors who played the part of the "Gill Man" barely being able to see, if at all. This extreme limitation was to cause numerous mishaps on set!
TRIVIA: Leading actress Julie Adams noted that while making the film she felt sympathetic toward the monster, explaining, "there always is that feeling of compassion for the monster. I think maybe it touches something in ourselves, maybe the darker parts of ourselves, that long to be loved and think they really can't ever be loved. It strikes a chord within us."
Top and Above: Having kidnapped Kay, the Gill-man confronts Reed in his cave when he comes to rescue her!
A severe accident was narrowly avoided while filming the fight scene between the creature and Zee. Ben Chapman, the stuntman who acted as the creature on land, and Bernie Gozier, who played Zee, rehearsed the fight scene for several days. There was a particular need for the extended rehearsal since the creature costume allowed for very little mobility or visibility. The scene called for Zee to swing at the creature with a machete and for the creature to grab his hand before he could complete the motion. When the scene was filmed with the actors in costume, Chapman missed Gozier's hand when he swung the machete at him. The blade connected squarely with the creature's head. Luckily, the machete was not extraordinarily sharp and the thick rubber foam the formed the creature's head prevented Chapman from receiving any serious injury. Later in the scene where the Creature attacks Zee, the script called for him to pick him up and throw him into the camera for the 3-D effect. Unfortunately, the wires used to lift Zee up to make it appear as though he was actually being picked up by the Creature kept breaking. After two tries, Jack Arnold decided to just have Zee simply get strangled to death!
In one sequence where Julie Adams' character is captured by the creature and carried into a cave, the stuntman misjudged where the side of the entrance was and accidentally struck Adams' head against the wall, knocking her unconscious - although Adams later stated that she was not knocked out when she was being carried into the cave by the creature. Rather, Adams claims that she scraped her head against the plaster wall of the cave while the stuntman was carrying her. Ricou Browning, a professional diver and swimmer, was required to hold his breath for up to 4 minutes at a time for his underwater role as the "Gill Man." The director's logic was that the air would have to travel through the monster's gills and thus not reveal air bubbles from his mouth or nose. Thus, the costume was designed without an air tank! To solve these issues in the subsequent films, this detail was ignored and air can be seen emanating from the top of the creature's head (as well as the suits "eye's" replaced with large, bulbous fish-eyes to assist in the actor's vision).
Ricou Browning, the stuntman who provided the underwater shots of the creature, once had to make an emergency bathroom visit while he was filming a scene. Browning had been underwater for several minutes and breached the water, in full costume, next to an unsuspecting mother and her young daughter on the nearby shore. Browning said that they fled in terror once they saw him. He recalled, "they took off, and that's the last I saw of 'em!"
In one sequence where Julie Adams' character is captured by the creature and carried into a cave, the stuntman misjudged where the side of the entrance was and accidentally struck Adams' head against the wall, knocking her unconscious - although Adams later stated that she was not knocked out when she was being carried into the cave by the creature. Rather, Adams claims that she scraped her head against the plaster wall of the cave while the stuntman was carrying her. Ricou Browning, a professional diver and swimmer, was required to hold his breath for up to 4 minutes at a time for his underwater role as the "Gill Man." The director's logic was that the air would have to travel through the monster's gills and thus not reveal air bubbles from his mouth or nose. Thus, the costume was designed without an air tank! To solve these issues in the subsequent films, this detail was ignored and air can be seen emanating from the top of the creature's head (as well as the suits "eye's" replaced with large, bulbous fish-eyes to assist in the actor's vision).
TRIVIA: Before the original script was finished, plans had already been made to leave the Creature's fate uncertain at the end of the picture, in order to leave an opening for a sequel.
Top: The special underwater 3-D camera rig designed by Clifford Stine;
Above: Director Jack Arnold (top left) and cast watch over actress Julie Adams after she is injured on set.
Creature from the Black Lagoon received positive reviews from critics upon its release, and grossed an impressive $1,300,000 at the US box office (nearly $12 million 2017 dollars), it is now considered a creature-feature classic. Leonard Maltin awarded the film three out of a possible four stars, writing, "Archetypal '50s monster movie has been copied so often that some of the edge is gone, but ... is still entertaining, with juicy atmosphere and luminous underwater photography sequences." The TV Guide wrote in 2007 the Creature from the Black Lagoon was, "Imbued with great atmosphere by director Jack Arnold, the film is genuinely frightening, but also elicits a certain amount of pathos for the creature".
Two sequels - Revenge of the Creature (1955), which was also filmed and released in 3D in hopes of reviving the format, and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), filmed in 2D - soon followed and was later considered a staple in the the classic Universal Monsters line-up (which included Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, and Frankenstein).
Since 1982, there have been efforts to remake the movie, with numerous directors attached, including; John Landis (1982), John Carpenter (1992), Peter Jackson (1995), Ivan Reitman (1996), Gary Ross (2001), and Breck Eisner (2005). Eisner was inspired to shoot on location by the film Fitzcarraldo, and the boat set had been built. Eisner continued to rewrite the script, which was to be a summer blockbuster full of "action and excitement, but [still] scary". Eisner spent six months designing the new incarnation of the Gill-man with Mark McCreery (Jurassic Park, and Davy Jones' designer). The director said the design was "very faithful to the original, but updated" and that the Gill-man would still be sympathetic. Then in August 2015, Universal announced a reboot of the film was again in development in their new Universal Monsters Shared Universe series (which will begin with the release of The Mummy on June 9, 2017). The Amazing Spider-Man 2 writer Jeff Pinkner was announced to write the screenplay, with actress Scarlett Johansson being offered to star in the film.
Two sequels - Revenge of the Creature (1955), which was also filmed and released in 3D in hopes of reviving the format, and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), filmed in 2D - soon followed and was later considered a staple in the the classic Universal Monsters line-up (which included Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, and Frankenstein).
Since 1982, there have been efforts to remake the movie, with numerous directors attached, including; John Landis (1982), John Carpenter (1992), Peter Jackson (1995), Ivan Reitman (1996), Gary Ross (2001), and Breck Eisner (2005). Eisner was inspired to shoot on location by the film Fitzcarraldo, and the boat set had been built. Eisner continued to rewrite the script, which was to be a summer blockbuster full of "action and excitement, but [still] scary". Eisner spent six months designing the new incarnation of the Gill-man with Mark McCreery (Jurassic Park, and Davy Jones' designer). The director said the design was "very faithful to the original, but updated" and that the Gill-man would still be sympathetic. Then in August 2015, Universal announced a reboot of the film was again in development in their new Universal Monsters Shared Universe series (which will begin with the release of The Mummy on June 9, 2017). The Amazing Spider-Man 2 writer Jeff Pinkner was announced to write the screenplay, with actress Scarlett Johansson being offered to star in the film.
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 84%
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