It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

Director:

Robert Gordon

Writers:

George Worthing Yates (screenplay) &
Harold Jacob Smith (screenplay) ...
(more)

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 | Radiation | Giant Octopus | Scientist | Submarine

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tol Avery	...	Navy Intern (uncredited)
William Bryant	...	Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
Del Courtney	...	Naval Asst. Sec. Robert David Chase (uncredited)
Roy Engel	...	Control Room Officer Ordering Drop Nets (uncredited)
Eddie Fisher	...	McLeod (uncredited)
Sam Hayes	...	Himself - Radio Newscaster (uncredited)
Jules Irving	...	King (uncredited)
Jack Littlefield	...	Aston (uncredited)
Rudy Puteska	...	Seaman Hall (uncredited)
Ray Storey	...	Reporter (uncredited)
William Woodson	...	Opening Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Gordon

Writing credits
George Worthing Yates		(screenplay) &
Harold Jacob Smith		(screenplay) (as Hal Smith)
George Worthing Yates		(story)

Produced by
Sam Katzman	....	executive producer
Charles H. Schneer	....	producer

Original Music by
Mischa Bakaleinikoff		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Henry Freulich		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jerome Thoms

Art Direction by
Paul Palmentola

Set Decoration by
Sidney Clifford

Production Management
Leon Chooluck	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Leonard Katzman	....	assistant director

Sound Department
J.S. Westmoreland	....	sound (as Josh Westmoreland)

Special Effects by
Jack Erickson	....	special effects
Ray Harryhausen	....	technical effects creator

Visual Effects by
Ray Harryhausen	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard H. Kline	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Mischa Bakaleinikoff	....	conductor
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Ross DiMaggio	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Herschel Burke Gilbert	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Werner R. Heymann	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Clover Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2013) (Argentina) (DVD) (Presentación Doble Grandes Monstruos) (Double feature with "It Came from Outer Space" [1953])
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

Clover Productions

Trivia:

Ray Harryhausen purchased the model for the ship that the octopus sinks from a five and dime store.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the helicopter carrying Carter lands, he gets into a police car, which drives off with the Golden Gate Bridge in full view in the background. This is right after the octopus has begun pulling itself up on the bridge's south tower, yet in the shot the octopus is plainly not on the bridge. Soon after, Carter drives that same police car out onto the bridge, but when he arrives in mid-span, the car is a different make, model and year, matching the (miniature) police car subsequently crushed by the octopus's tentacle.

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 American Grindhouse (2010)

One of the best giant octopus on the rampage films I've seen.

Having already starred in 'The Thing from Another World' (1951) and 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' (1953), Kenneth Tobey completed a memorable treble of classic Sci-Fi films with this offering.

Make no mistake, 'It Came from Beneath the Sea' is one of the classics of the genre and as such is above the mundane criticism about poor script, narrative, performances etc. We all know that these monster-flicks from the 50's and 60's had their shortcomings, but they were made to a formula for a target audience and in this respect there is little to fault and much to commend.

Here we have a giant octopus, disturbed from it's Pacific lair by atomic testing, heading for San Francisco in a foul mood. The Harryhausen effects are great, the narrative follows a course of some scientific logic and Faith Domergue, if a little too old, looks good enough in her tight blouse.

Director Robert Gordon did little else of note which is surprising - he did a good enough job here and whilst not up to the standard of '20 Million Miles to Earth' (1957), 'It Came from Beneath the Sea' is still superior for its type.

BEST SCENE - no contest; the octopus trashing the Golden Gate Bridge.