The Alligator People (1959)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

Orville H. Hampton (screenplay)
Orville H. Hampton (story) ...

Release Date:

July 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Terror in the Bayou!

Plot:

A newlywed couple sit in a train. The husband receives a frantic telegram. He gets off at a station to make a phone call...

Plot Keywords:

Alligator | Mutant | Experiment | Nurse | Swamp

Cast

Beverly Garland	...	Joyce Webster, aka Jane Marvin
Bruce Bennett	...	Dr. Eric Lorimer
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Manon (as Lon Chaney)
George Macready	...	Dr. Mark Sinclair
Frieda Inescort	...	Mrs. Lavinia Hawthorne, Henry's Wife
Richard Crane	...	Paul Webster
Douglas Kennedy	...	Dr. Wayne MacGregor

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Louisiana, USA

Company:

Associated Producers (API)

Trivia:

This film was made because Twentieth Century-Fox needed a low-budget "monster movie" in the CinemaScope format to play on the bottom of a double bill with Return of the Fly (1959), the sequel to its "sleeper" hit The Fly (1958). Fox did not produce this film, however. It was made by independent producer Jack Leewood and bought by Fox.

Quotes:

Joyce Webster, aka Jane Marvin: What secret was Mrs. Hawthorne hiding in this strange, unfriendly house?
Joyce Webster, aka Jane Marvin: Why had she told me not to leave my room?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect (2000) (TV)

Not what you expect, but not that bad

OK, first off, if you have ever seen any 1950s or 1960s sci-fi films, then you should know that titles can be misleading and rarely live up to what the audience expects in their mind. This one has very little monster footage (and most of it is ridiculous!), but Beverly Garland and Lon Chaney, Jr. are always a pleasure on screen. Beverly Garland's husband runs away on their wedding night and is never found. She goes to investigate at his Louisiana childhood home and finds resentment from his mother, a secret that no one will tell here, and a strange hooked drunk, played by Chaney. A lot of this movie is built on acting, which most of the time isn't very good. Frieda Inescort as Beverly's mother-in-law, George McReady as the "mad doctor", and Bruce Bennett as Beverly's husband are all wooden, which is unfortunate. That leaves Beverly and Chaney to save the movie, which they almost do. The alligator is laughable rubber, which ruins the entire ending of the film in what could have been a powerful sci-fi drama. But it all goes down the crapper in the end. I would recommend it to Beverly Garland and Lon Chaney, Jr. fans only.