The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.

Director:

Eugène Lourié

Writers:

Lou Morheim (screenplay), Fred Freiberger (screenplay)

Stars:

Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway

2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paul Hubschmid	...	Prof. Tom Nesbitt (as Paul Christian)
Paula Raymond	...	Lee Hunter
Cecil Kellaway	...	Prof. Thurgood Elson
Kenneth Tobey	...	Col. Jack Evans
Donald Woods	...	Capt. Phil Jackson
Lee Van Cleef	...	Corp. Stone
Steve Brodie	...	Sgt. Loomis
Ross Elliott	...	George Ritchie
Jack Pennick	...	Jacob Bowman
Ray Hyke	...	Sgt. Willistead
Paula Hill	...	Miss Ryan (as Mary Hill)
Michael Fox	...	ER Doctor
Alvin Greenman	...	First Radar Man
Frank Ferguson	...	Dr. Morton
King Donovan	...	Dr. Ingersoll

Storyline

As a result of an arctic nuclear test, a carnivorous dinosaur thaws out and starts making its way down the east coast of North America. Professor Tom Nesbitt, only witness to the beast's existence, is not believed, even when he identifies it as a "rhedosaurus" to paleontologist Thurgood Elson. All doubts disappear, however, when Elson is swallowed whole during an oceanic bathysphere excursion to search for the creature. Soon thereafter the rhedosaurus emerges from the sea and lays waste to Manhattan Island until Nesbitt comes up with a plan to try to stop the seemingly indestructible beast.

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Plot Keywords:

atomic test | atomic weapon | monster | arctic | dinosaur | 

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Taglines:

A Thrill-Story Beyond All Imagining !

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

13 June 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Monster from Beneath the Sea

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$210,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$5,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jack Dietz Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before the film was sold to Warner Brothers, it contained an original music score composed by Michel Michelet. Execs at Warners felt Michelet's score wasn't powerful enough so they replaced it with an original score by David Buttolph.

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Goofs

During the diving bell sequence, there is a fight between an octopus and a shark. Early on, as the octopus tries to get away, it can be seen that it is using the glass wall of its aquarium to move itself.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Opening Narrator: This is Operation Experiment, a secret base far north of the Arctic Circle. Experiment was the codename for a top priority scientific expedition. These men arrived here on X-day minus 60. It has taken them the full two months to get ready. Today is X-day.

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Alternate Versions

The original 1953 version cuts the shot where the cop is swallowed whole. This shot is restored in the video version of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Godzilla (1954)

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Soundtracks

Don't Take Your Love From Me
(uncredited)
Written by Henry Nemo

User Reviews

50's monster action at its best.

Ray Harryhausen's first solo effort at stop-motion resulted in one of the best monster movies of the 1950's.

This was the first of the many rampage films of the 1950's and was a great success at the box office. Ray's stop-motion Redosaurus is magnificent, considering the low budget.

One of the best scenes in this movie is where the Rhedosaurus eats the policeman. The acting is rather good and the cast includes Kenneth Tobey (The Thing From Another World) and an early appearance from Lee Van Cleef before he stared with the 'carrot' in It Conquered the World.

I enjoyed this movie and rate it 5 stars out of 5. Great stuff.