A strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.
You voted for it, you got it! This is one I’ve really been looking forward to!
Before the script was even 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. Hollywood hasn’t changed much over the years as this is still standard practice.
Two different stuntmen were used to portray the ‘Creature’ and therefore two different suits were used in the movie. Ricou Browning played the creature when it was in the water and wore a lighter suit. Ben Chapman played the creature when it was out of the water with a darker suit.
This film was one of my first experiences with black and white features and helped kickstart my love for monster movies, I’ve honestly never looked back since. I credit the success this film to some amazing cinematography, heck it was the same with a-lot of the Universal Monster films.
I’ve always found the underwater sequences breathtaking (no pun intended) and even to this day I still find them mesmerising, it’s the same with a-lot of the film, and the monster is just amazing on screen which proves that you don’t need CGI.
“Creature From The Black Lagoon” is a classic and for good reason, it will continue to be for a long time.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
Ingmar Bergman watched this film every year on his birthday.
The Creature’s appearance was based on old seventeenth-century woodcuts of two bizarre creatures called the Sea Monk and the Sea Bishop. The Creature’s final head was based on that of the Sea Monk, but the original discarded head was based on that of the Sea Bishop.
Originally produced in 3-D.
The Creature, using the name “Uncle Gilbert”, appeared in an episode of the TV series The Munsters (1964) The episode is titled “Love Comes to Mockingbird Heights.”
Jenny Clack (University of Cambridge) discovered a fossil amphibian, found in the remnants of what was once a fetid swamp and named it Eucritta melanolimnetes – literally “the creature from the black lagoon”.
When William Alland was a member of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre, he heard famed Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa tell of a legend about a humanoid creature that supposedly lived in South America. That legend became the origin of this film.
In one sequence Julie Adams’ character is captured by the creature and carried into a cave. During the filming the stuntman misjudged where the side of the entrance was and accidentally struck Ms. Adams’ head against the wall, knocking her unconscious.
Milicent Patrick created the design of the Creature, although Bud Westmore, who was the head of Universal’s makeup department at the time, would take credit publicly for the Creature’s design.
When 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 get strangled to death.
The physical appearance of the Creature was modeled after a likeness of the Oscar, the figurine awarded annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
When the movie is projected in the correct aspect ratio the telephone pole showing above the trees isn’t visible. Unfortunately, on TV, a different aspect ratio is normally used, revealing the pole.
Frank Lovejoy was considered for Dr. Reed.
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