Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

A strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Harry Essex (screenplay), Arthur A. Ross (screenplay) (as Arthur Ross)

Stars:

Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Carlson	...	David Reed
Julie Adams	...	Kay Lawrence (as Julia Adams)
Richard Denning	...	Mark Williams
Antonio Moreno	...	Carl Maia
Nestor Paiva	...	Lucas
Whit Bissell	...	Dr. Thompson
Bernie Gozier	...	Zee
Henry A. Escalante	...	Chico (as Henry Escalante)

Storyline

A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discovers a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one in the expedition, with whom it has fallen in love.

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Plot Keywords:

b movie | amazon | swimming | scientist | fossil | 

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Taglines:

From the Amazon's forbidden depths came the Creature from the Black Lagoon

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Lagoon

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,300,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer William Alland was attending a 1941 dinner party during the filming of Citizen Kane (in which he played the reporter Thompson) when Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa told him about the myth of a race of half-fish, half-human creatures in the Amazon River. Alland wrote story notes titled "The Sea Monster" 10 years later. His inspiration was Beauty and the Beast. In December 1952 Maurice Zimm expanded this into a treatment, which Harry Essex and Arthur Ross rewrote as The Black Lagoon

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Goofs

When the Gill-Man tries to climb aboard the Rita after being drugged and is discovered by Kay, he is clearly standing on a platform before diving back into the water.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the Earth was without form and void. This the planet Earth, newly born and and cooling rapidly from a temperature 6,000 degrees to a few hundred in less than 5 billion years. Heat rises, meets the atmosphere, the clouds form, and rain pours down upon the hardening surface for countless centuries. The restless seas rise, find boundaries, are contained. Now, in their warm depths, the miracle of life begins. In infinite ...

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder (1999)

User Reviews

Da da Daaaaa

(There are Spoilers) Finding embedded in a rock, along the Amazon River in Brazil, what looks like a over-sized catchers mitt Prof. Carl Maia, Antono Morero, feels that he made the rock-hard discovery or the century: the remains of an aquatic human-like creature, dating back to the Devonian Era. This discovery can be the the very first link to what turned out to become the human race.

Getting an expiation together and going into the uncharted, and undiscovered, Amazon Basin Prof.Maia together with a crew of scientists lead by Dr. Mark Williams, Richard Dennings,get to his campsite. There they find that his two Indian guides were butchered by some strange monster from the deep. It turns out that this creature has been living in the lagoon for millions of years without any contact with the outside world. Now that his domain had been invaded and disturbed he's out for blood and won't stop until all those who trespassed into his kingdom, the Black Lagoon, are eliminated.

The "Gillman" at first is a bit confused of what's happening and just goes out in the water to observe what the humans are doing. When it becomes obvious that their out to get him,dead or alive, and bring him back to civilization, as the scientific find of the century, he goes bananas and sets out to attack and kill everyone on board the science ship Rtia. The Gillman has just one weakness, he gets distracted by the beautiful assistant of Dr. Williams Kay (Julie Adams)whom the Gillman, or creature, wants to keep alive all for himself as a playmate as well as a mate.

Even though Dr.Williams wants to go as far as killing the creature the sensitive second-in-command of the expiation Dr. David Reed, Richard Carlson, is dead set against it. Dr. Reed wants to leave the creature alone and just bring back photographic proof that he exists. This causes great friction between the two explorers.

The creature meanwhile barricades the Rita into the Black Lagoon by blocking the exit route ,with logs and tree branches. Setting up the movie's finale conflict between man and beast or creature. The creature goes on the attack killing a number of Rita crewmen and almost rips Dr. Thompson's (Whit Bissell), another member of the expiation, face off Later the creature is put to sleep with the underwater knock-out drug Rotenone that Dr. Reed sprays in his face in a tense and deadly underwater encounter.

Put in an underwater cage, on the Rita, the creature easily breaks out, after the effects of the drug wears off. Goes back into attack mode the creature has it out in an underwater battle royal with both Dr. Reed and Dr. Williams who he ends up killing. By dragging him down to the bottom of the lagoon and cutting off his air supply.

The creature finally gets what he's been after all along, Julie, by boarding the Rita and snatching her up, while everyone else on board is looking the other way. In the end the effects of the Rotenone and a number of spear-gun wounds have taken the wind out of "The Gillman", or creature. After taking Julie to his secret hideout or "pad", an underground cave, the creature just about had it staggering along the shore, like a drunk, and plopping into the river with David and the crew of the Rita letting him get away.

Eye-popping underwater photography makes the movie "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" one of the best horror films released in the 1950's. The Gillman does return in two more sequels, " Revenge of the Creature" in 1955 and "The Creature Walks Among Us" in 1956, until he was finally put out to pasture, or sea, by the Universal Pictures Studios.