The Giant Behemoth (1959) Behemoth the Sea Monster (original title)

Directors:

Douglas Hickox
Eugène Lourié

Writers (WGA):

Robert Abel (story) &
Allen Adler (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 March 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The Biggest Thing Since Creation!

Plot:

Marine atomic tests cause changes in the ocean's ecosystem resulting in dangerous blobs of radiation and the resurrection of a dormant dinosaur which threatens London.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Dinosaur | Electric Shock | Radiation | Paleontologist

Cast

Gene Evans	...	Steve Karnes
André Morell	...	Prof. James Bickford
John Turner	...	John
Leigh Madison	...	Jean Trevethan
Jack MacGowran	...	Dr. Sampson, the Paleontologist
Maurice Kaufmann	...	Mini Submarine Officer
Henri Vidon	...	Tom Trevethan
Leonard Sachs	...	Scientist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Neal Arden	...	TV Newscaster (uncredited)
Max Faulkner	...	PLA Radio Operator (uncredited)
Arthur Gomez	...	Fisherman on Quayside (uncredited)
Neil Hallett	...	Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
Patrick Jordan	...	Photo Lab Aide (uncredited)
Lloyd Lamble	...	Adm. Summers (uncredited)
Howard Lang	...	Naval Commander (uncredited)
André Maranne	...	French Radio Officer (uncredited)
Derren Nesbitt	...	Radio Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Douglas Hickox
Eugène Lourié

Writing credits (WGA)
Robert Abel		(story) &
Allen Adler		(story)
Eugène Lourié		(screenplay) &
Daniel James		(screenplay) originally uncredited

Produced by
David Diamond	....	producer
Ted Lloyd	....	producer

Original Music by
Edwin Astley

Cinematography by
Desmond Davis
Ken Hodges

Film Editing by
Lee Doig

Production Design by
Eugène Lourié

Art Direction by
Harry White

Makeup Department
Jimmy Evans	....	makeup artist
Bernadette Ibbetson	....	hair stylist (as Bernie Ibbetson)

Production Management
Jacques de Lane Lea	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kim Mills	....	assistant director
Ron Purdie	....	third assistant director

Sound Department
Richard Marden	....	sound editor
Sydney Wiles	....	sound (as Sid Wiles)

Visual Effects by
Irving Block	....	special effects designer and creator
Louis DeWitt	....	special effects designer and creator
Willis H. O'Brien	....	special effects designer and creator (as Willis O'Brien)
Pete Peterson	....	special effects designer and creator (as Pete Petterson)
Jack Rabin	....	special effects designer and creator
Phil Kellison	....	miniatures (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Desmond Davis	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Frede Gibson	....	wardrobe supervisor

Production Companies

• Artistes Alliance Ltd.
• Diamond Pictures Corp.

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Eros Films (1959) (UK) (theatrical)
• NWDF (196?) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Anolis Entertainment (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
• Lorimar (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Behemoth the Sea Monster" - UK (original title)

Runtime:

80 min | UK:72 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Unrated | UK:X (original rating) | Norway:16 | West Germany:16 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Artistes Alliance Ltd.

Trivia:

Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson completed a significant amount of the stop motion animation on a table in Peterson's garage.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the monster comes ashore, a car with the license plate 911-MMF stops, the driver gets out and flees, leaving the door open and colliding with a pedestrian. In the close-up shot, the driver exits the vehicle but the door swings closed and there is not a pedestrian close enough to run into him. When the scene goes back to wide angle, the car door is wide open again.

Quotes:

Steve Karnes:[solemnly] One thing is sure. Something has happened here that isn't in the book. Something came out of the ocean and now has gone back into.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Not bad, but the people who made this film had done better work elsewhere and the plot offers little that is new.

When it comes to this film, some people love it, while others despise it. There seems to be no middle ground. Actually, BEHEMOTH, THE SEA MONSTER (aka THE GIANT BEHEMOTH) is not a bad giant monster on the loose flick. I enjoyed it when was a kid and I have this film on video and I still enjoy viewing it today. The special effects are pretty good for a quickly made low budget picture, the cast including Gene Evans turn in solid performances and Eugene Lourie's direction is quite good. The radiation scarred victims of the behemoth's radioactive aura (?) shocked me as a kid.

However, the main problem with this film is that we have seen it all before. The film is almost a remake of Lourie's BEAST FROM TWENTY THOUSAND FATHOMS. The original script for this film was about an invisible radioactive monster that dwelled in the ocean. The backers of this film turned the script down, saying they didn't like the idea of an invisible monster. So Lourie went with a radioactive dinosaur and simply rewrote BEAST FROM TWENTY THOUSAND FATHOMS.

The special effects are pretty good. The stop motion effects by Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson look pretty good for a low budget picture. The main problem is that O'Brien and Peterson had done much more impressive work elsewhere. The effects are not bad, but the effects here are not up to the work O'Brien and Peterson did in KING KONG or even THE BLACK SCORPION. The mechanical and pyro-technical effects by Jack Rabin and Irving Block are pretty ambitious for a picture of this nature.

BEHEMOTH, THE SEA MONSTER is a decent late fifties monster on the loose picture. It is just that we have seen this before and the people who made this film had done better work elsewhere.