It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

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.

Director:

Robert Gordon

Writers:

George Worthing Yates (screenplay), Harold Jacob Smith (screenplay),

Stars:

Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

After an encounter at sea with an unknown underwater creature, a naval commander works with two scientists to identify it. The creature they are dealing with is a giant, radioactive octopus that has left its normal feeding grounds in search of new sources of replenishment. As the creature attacks San Francisco, the Navy tries to trap it at the Golden Gate Bridge but it manages to enter the Bar area leading to a final confrontation with a submarine.

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Plot Keywords:

octopus | radiation | giant octopus | scientist | submarine | 

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Taglines:

Can IT Be Stopped?

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Monster from Beneath the Sea

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clover Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The car miniatures and the Golden Gate Bridge miniature were both made out of lead.

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Goofs

Early in the film, the submarine is a SST-1 Mackerel class nuclear training and experimental sub. Subsequent shots of the sub diving and underwater are WWII diesel submarines.

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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. Her engines were to be a miracle of speed and power, her sides strong enough to withstand any blow, her armament and fire power of greater force than the worst enemy she might encounter. The ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Hammer Films (2007)

User Reviews

Two Men, One Woman And One Atomic Hextapus!

In the 1950s cinema was subjected to (graciously in my case) a number of things that came to wreak havoc on mankind. Be it nuclear enhanced spiders and ants marching forth from the desert or various beings from outer space come to deliver alien fury. Hell we even had giant water snails laying slimy waste to all in their way. But what of the ocean? So much potential down there. Rhedosaurus and Gojira had come from the sea to lay a marker down for the big lizard, but what of the natural creatures? Sharks? Well Spielberg's genre daddy was some 20 years away. Whales? Crabs? Squids? Ah what about a giant Octopus? Now there is scope for a riot. Lets make him a product of atomic blasting, awoken from the Mindanao Deep, keep it sympathetic 9it's just being natural after all), set up an attack on a bastion landmark of Americana and get stop-mo genius Ray Harryhausen to work his wonders.

So they did. It Came from Beneath the Sea, if you pardon the pun, holds its head above water in the creature feature, sci-fi schlockers genre. Starring Faith Domergue (This Island Earth), Kenneth Tobey (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) and Donald Curtis (Earth vs. The Flying Saucers), it has safe and solid genre credentials. Though guilty of being over talky, in that the science being offered up isn't worthy of such meanderings, the script does allow for a feminism angle that should be applauded for the time it was made. Even if it's almost smothered by the love tryst shenanigans of our three central players that is. Filmed on location in San Francisco to add some level of authenticity to the story and having a running time that doesn't let it outstay its welcome. It Came from Beneath the Sea is a fine genre piece worthy of yearly revisits. 7/10