Revenge of the Creature (1955)

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Martin Berkeley (screenplay)
William Alland (story)

Release Date:

22 July 1955 (Finland)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Weird Monster Escapes! Terror Seizes City! ...a woman's beauty the lure for his dangerous desires!

Plot:

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is back! This time he's captured by scientists and transported to an aquarium in south Florida...

Plot Keywords:

Creature | Scientist | Florida | Aquarium | Female Scientist

Cast

John Agar	...	Prof. Clete Ferguson
Lori Nelson	...	Helen Dobson
John Bromfield	...	Joe Hayes
Nestor Paiva	...	Lucas
Grandon Rhodes	...	Jackson Foster
Dave Willock	...	Lou Gibson
Robert Williams	...	George Johnson (as Robert B. Williams)
Charles Cane	...	Police Captain (as Charles R. Cane)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Loretta Agar	...	Woman on Boat (uncredited)
Ricou Browning	...	The Gill Man - In Water / Lab Technician (uncredited)
Diane DeLaire	...	Miss Abbott (uncredited)
Mike Doyle	...	Cop (uncredited)
Clint Eastwood	...	Jennings - Lab Technician (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Mac - Reporter (uncredited)
Charles Gibb	...	Cop (uncredited)
Brett Halsey	...	Pete (uncredited)
Don C. Harvey	...	Skipper - Joe's Searchlight Partner (uncredited)
Tom Hennesy	...	The Gill Man (on land) / Marineland Diver (uncredited)
Don House	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Robert F. Hoy	...	Charlie (uncredited)
Ned Le Fevre	...	Institute Worker (uncredited)
Sydney Mason	...	Police Announcer (uncredited)
Robert Nelson	...	Dr. McCuller (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Man in Search Party (uncredited)
Charles Victor	...	Cop (uncredited)
Bob Wehling	...	Joe (uncredited)

Directed by
Jack Arnold

Writing credits
Martin Berkeley		(screenplay)
William Alland		(story)

Produced by
William Alland	....	producer

Original Music by
William Lava		(uncredited)
Herman Stein		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Scotty Welbourne		(director of photography) (as Charles S. Welbourne)

Film Editing by
Paul Weatherwax

Art Direction by
Alexander Golitzen
Alfred Sweeney

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman
Julia Heron

Costume Design by
Jay A. Morley Jr.		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Joan St. Oegger	....	hair stylist
Bud Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Edward Dodds	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred Frank	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Jack A. Bolger Jr.	....	sound (as Jack Bolger)
Leslie I. Carey	....	sound
Ben Hendricks	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Albert E. Kennedy	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Ginger Stanley	....	underwater stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Joseph Gershenson	....	music supervisor
Henry Mancini	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Milton Rosen	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Frank Skinner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Jack Kevan	....	creature design

Production Companies

• Universal International Pictures (UI)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1955) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal International Pictures (UI) (1955) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Marineland  we gratefully acknowledge the generous cooperation extended to us by: where scenes for this production were photographed (as The Marine Studios of Marineland, Florida)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #17220) | USA:Unrated (video rating) | West Germany:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

Reported to be the highest-grossing film of the "Creature" trilogy.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Early in the movie, when the men on the RITA II are shooting at the Creature, one of the projectiles meant to simulate bullets streaking through the water can clearly be seen bouncing off the Creature's back.

Quotes:

Lab Technician:I've lost my white mouse.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Scream Queens (1996) (V)

Revenge Of The Creature (1955) **1/2

The Creature was the last of the classic Universal monsters I got into, which only happened in 2001 via the original DVD release of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954). I loved the film immediately, however, and was very much interested in watching its two sequels - REVENGE OF THE CREATURE and THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US (1956).

Now that I've caught up with both of them, I'd say that Universal did well enough by this particular monster, and that having arrived so long after the Studio's other notables (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man) proved fortuitous, because The Creature wasn't allowed to become redundant in his own 'starring vehicles' as was the case certainly - and sadly - with both The Frankenstein Monster and The Mummy.

As for the film itself, it isn't up to the original (with which I should be re-acquainting myself over the week-end) - despite having the same director. The change in setting is interesting, and it works most of the time; the main problem, I guess, lies with The Creature's alarmingly limited characteristics: it can only either swim (in the water) or go on a rampage (on land) - although, to be fair, The Mummy is perhaps even duller! Still, the film offers reasonable entertainment and the leads are O.K. if, again, failing to match those of the original.