Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) Rated: Unrated. This movie has not been rated by the MPAA. Runtime: 79 mins. Director: Jack Arnold Writer: Harry Essex, Arthur A. Ross Tagline: Not since the beginning of time has the world beheld terror like this! Cast: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning....complete cast Genre: Horror
Most memorable quote: " I can tell you something about this place. The boys around here call it "The Black Lagoon." Only they say nobody has ever come back alive to prove it."
By 1954, the end a very popular and successful genre of movies was coming to an end - The Creature Feature. Universal Studios had pulled itself from extinction in the 1930's with Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy. The success of these pictures spawned the creation of an entire genre that even today's filmmakers look to for inspiration. By the 1950's, the creature feature had begun to be replaced by science fiction themed movies like The War of the Worlds and It Came From Outer Space. Television had also begun to encroach upon the entertainment attention of Americans. In an effort to win back the movie going audience, studios began experimenting with the 3-D format in the 1950s. One of the most successful and memorable 3-D format movies to emerge from this genre was Universal Studios' Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a story about a scientific expedition, lead by Dr. Reed (Richard Carlson), Dr. Williams (Richard Denning), and Dr. Maia (Antonio Moreno) that discovers a fossilized hand of some sort of amphibious-humanoid creature buried in a Cliffside of the Amazon River. The expedition ventures to the head of a tributary known to the locals as the Black Lagoon. "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 alive to prove it."
Accompanying the scientists are Dr. Reed's beautiful fiancee, Kay Lawrence (Julia Adams) and Lucas, the captain of the boat The Rita played by Nestor Paiva who, I'm convinced, is the only actor in the whole bunch. They encounter a living version of the "gill man" and wish to capture it for their scientific studies.
We get our first good look at the creature as Kay dives in the lagoon for a swim. In a beautifully choreographed display we see the creature lurking in the depths just below Kay's body as she swims, the light flickering through the waves and the seaweed. In one scene, said to be an inspiration for Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the gill man swims circles around her feet, gently touching her toes as she treads water.
Members of the expedition begin to disappear one-by-one as the creature takes exception to the encroachment of his territory. Bullets, spear guns and anesthetizing poison dispersed into the water fail to stop his reign of terror. We begin to sympathize with the creature as we learn about the evil intentions of Dr. Williams and as we begin to understand the creature's attraction to the beautiful Kay.
Creature from the Black Lagoon is definitely a B-movie with classic B-movie characteristics - poor acting, (save for the performance of Nestor Paiva as the Popeye like captain) second rate screenwriting, low-tech creature costume, and the female lead falls down when encountered by the creature. The film to DVD transition of Creature From the Black Lagoon is spectacular however. Universal Studios has included Creature in its Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection along with Dracula, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Mummy and many more. The quality of the digitization is flawless and the Soundtrack is crystal clear. The DVD is chock-full of extras like Back to the Black Lagoon, a 30-minute featurette that includes a brief history of the 3-D movie phenomenon, interviews with the original actors, shooting locations, original sketches, Julie's swimsuit and much more. Also included on the DVD is a fascinating commentary by film historian Tom Weaver, photo stills, production notes and more. The charm in watching this movie is its historical appeal and the nostalgic sense of a bygone era. I sit there watching, thinking about the people who saw it when it first came out. They watched it with their goofy white 3-D glasses and I'm sure many of them sat through it four or five times in a row. There was a time when you could do that. I wonder what movie from my generation will invoke the same wonderment to movie watchers 50 years from now? Frank Wilkins
Creature From the Black Lagoon was recently featured in Frank's Reel Reviews Creature Feature of the Month. Click here to view the details.
Other Features: Black/white; interactive menus; scene access; Audio Commentary by film historian Tom Weaver; Production stills; "Back to the Black Lagoon" The Making of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Commentary:
Feature commentary with film historian Tom Weaver.
Documentary/Interview: Back to the Black Lagoon - A Creature Chronical - with host David J. Skal who interviews several of the original cast members including Julie Adams and Ben Chapman the real "Gill Man."
Art/Photo Gallery: Production photographs - animated with audio.
Trailers: Three original theatrical trailers for The Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Production Notes: Five title cards that highlight key scenes and costume construction - text over movie stills with audio.
Cast and Filmmakers: Brief textual biographies of the filmmakers with archival photos. Those highlighted include: Richard Carlson as Dr. David Reed; Julie Adams as Kay Lawrence; Richard Denning as Dr. Mark Williams; Antonio Moreno as Dr. Carl Maia; writers Harry Essex and Arthur Ross; Director jack Arnold
Recommendations: One of those "If you enjoyed Creature From the Black Lagoon, we recommend" title card panels. Recommendations include: The Bride of Frankenstein Dracula; Frankenstein; Phantom of the Opera; The Invisible Man; The Mummy; The Wolf Man.
Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)
