It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

Director:

Robert Gordon

Writers:

George Worthing Yates (screenplay) &
Hal Smith (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

July 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

IT CRUSHES! KILLS! DESTROYS! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A Giant Octopus, whose feeding habits have been affected by radiation from H-Bomb tests, rises from the Mindanao Deep to terrorize the California Coast.

Plot Keywords:

Octopus | Scientist | Golden Gate Bridge | Submarine | San Francisco California

Cast

Kenneth Tobey	...	Cmdr. Pete Mathews
Faith Domergue	...	Prof. Lesley Joyce
Donald Curtis	...	Dr. John Carter
Ian Keith	...	Adm. Burns
Dean Maddox Jr.	...	Adm. Norman
Chuck Griffiths	...	Lt. Griff, USN
Harry Lauter	...	Deputy Bill Nash
Richard W. Peterson	...	Capt. Stacy

Also Known As:

Monster from Beneath the Sea

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #17332) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Clover Productions

Trivia:

This is the film that brought together producer Charles H. Schneer and special effects legend Ray Harryhausen. Their professional relationship would last until Clash of the Titans (1981), the final feature for both men.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the octopus's tentacles are waving behind and over one of the buildings near the Embarcadero, the tentacles cannot be seen through the building's open windows.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: From her beginnings on a Navy drawing board, through the months of secret field experiments out on the Western desert, then through the desperate search for new metals with the properties she needed, she was designed to be the nation's greatest weapon of the seas - the atom-powered submarine...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Big Chill (1983)

One of the First "Disaster" Movies

When an atomic-powered submarine runs afoul of something most bizarre on their radar, its Commander Pete Matthews decides not to risk the $ 55 million dollar naval submarine he commands and tries to head out of the area but suddenly the submarine is unable to move while something outside them is emitting radiation. Eventually after a considerable struggle, they do escape and later discover that what had held them down was in fact a giant Octopus!

From scientists Dr. John Carter (Donald Curtis) & Dr. Leslie Joyce (Faith Domergue), working along with the military's Commander Matthews, we learn that this Octopus has undergone an atomic mutation and has now come to prey on man instead of fish and is all set to ravage the West Coast of America. Eventually it surfaces and attacks the Golden Gate Bridge while San Francisco panics in fear! Can It be stopped?

The real star of this film is Harryhausen's Giant Octopus, who even with only six tentacles, manages to make a more lasting impression on the viewer than most of the cast. That said, the theme of feminism is also an important undercurrent of this story and I felt Faith Domergue did a wonderful job with what she was given to work with. The moments she coaxes the trans-steamer survivor into admitting it was a giant Octopus that attacked his ship is a great one for her.

While this movie is much too slow getting to its eventual pay-off for most viewers, it's never bothered me as much because I felt Domergue and Tobey had a great chemistry on screen together and I actually liked the addition of their romance here. Still this has to be one of the first disaster films really considering how a giant Octopus nearly does in San Francisco...and well that's a cool and fun premise for a movie in my book (even if one does have to swallow one's disbelief).