After a brief meeting with King Kong vs Godzilla, this is the second installment of our month-long poster series of our homage to monster films. Today we bring to you Creature from Black Lagoon(1954).

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Universal – International © 1954
Starring: Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell
Screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross
Produced by William Alland
Directed by Jack Arnold

The Black Lagoon was the last film in the series of classic monster movies produced by Universal Pictures. The 1950s saw a shift in the studios attitude towards producing more science fiction films. Creature from the Black Lagoon was conceived as an amalgamation of two genre: horror and science-fiction. The film starred Richar Carlson who went on to act in many more studio produced sci-fi films as the role of hero scientist.  Ricou Browning played The Gill-Man(Underwater) and Ben Chapman as The Gill-Man(On Land) but neither were credited for their performances as the titular monster.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon was shown originally in 3-D. 3-D pictures were becoming popular in Hollywood in the middle 1950’s and Creature was filmed to fit this format. A special underwater 3-D camera was developed exclusively for use in this production. Viewers would remark on how they felt like they were underwater with the monster. It was a very unique experience. However showing a film in 3-D was a difficult process. If the two cameras needed to produce the effect were not aligned properly the image would turn blurry and the 3-D effect would be ruined. This forced later releases of the film to abandon 3-D for a more conventional showing.

TRIVIA :

Producer William Alland was attending a dinner party during the filming of Citizen Kane (in which he played the reporter Thompson) in 1941. 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 entitled “The Sea Monster” ten 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. Following the success of the 3-D film House of Wax in 1953, Jack Arnold was hired to direct the film in the same format.

Former Disney animator Milicent Patrick designed the Gill-Man. Jack Kevan, who worked on The Wizard of Oz and made prosthetics for amputees during World War II, created the bodysuit, while Chris Mueller, Jr. sculpted the head. Ben Chapman portrayed the Gill-man for the majority of the film, which was shot at Universal City, California. He was unable to sit down for the fourteen hours of each day he wore it, and it overheated easily so he stayed in the back lot’s lake, and often requested to be hosed down. He also could not see very well, which caused him to scrape Julie Adams’ head against the wall when carrying her in the grotto scenes. Ricou Browning played the Gill-Man in the underwater shots, which were filmed by the second unit in Wakulla Springs, Florida.

Gillman Stats:-

1. Able to breathe surface air for only a few minutes before returning to a watery habitat.
2. Is around 6 feet 5 inches in height on land and 5 feet 8 inches in the water! (due to actors of different height playing the creature)
3. Blood composition is approximately 35% white corpuscles, or “halfway between marine life and mammal.” It is also important to note that these white corpuscles have no nucleus.
4. The Gillman falls in love with Kay (Julia Adams), the lone female in the party.
5. Outer layer of marine scales cover a layer of mammalian epidermis.
6. Living primarily in the dark depths of the sea, the GillMan reacts adversely to bright light.
7. Although it has been known to exhibit violent tendencies, such actions can be classified as defensive. Typically, it usually hunts fish for its food.
8. The film was originally shot in 3-D.

( source: wiki and the reel-gillman.com)

FURTHER READING:

A fabulous tribute to Ben Chapman

(Also the source of the color film stills)

A brief History on Creatures from Black Lagoon

Monster Series:

KING KONG VS GODZILLA

Tags: Ben Chapman, Creatures from Black Lagoon, Monster Series, Posters.

Posted By Gautam | Sunday, November 8th, 2009 | Filed under La Gallerié, News, World Cinema