Creature from the Black Lagoon

Creature from the Black Lagoon, American science-fiction film released in 1954 about the discovery of a prehistoric amphibious humanoid in the waters of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. Directed by Jack Arnold and shot in black-and-white 3-D, the film spawned two sequels, Revenge of the Creature (1955), also directed by Arnold, and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), directed by John Sherwood. Creature from the Black Lagoon is notable for being one of the first films to feature a monster designed by a woman, special effects artist Milicent Patrick.

The film was one of a spate of popular science-fiction films released in the 1950s. It was the last film to add to Universal Studios’s pantheon of beloved movie monsters that includes Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Mummy, and the Wolf Man, who were introduced in a series of films that began being released in the 1930s.

Summary

Archeologist Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) and his crew discover the fossilized claw of a long-extinct prehistoric creature while digging in limestone deep in the Brazilian Amazon. Maia brings the claw to the nearby Instituto de Biologia Maritima and leaves his crew member Luis (Rodd Redwing) to guard their camp. The artifact draws the attention of marine expert Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson) and his girlfriend, Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams). Their boss, Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning), is equally intrigued and an expedition to the site where the claw was found is quickly arranged.

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When the expedition members arrive at the camp, they are dismayed to discover that Luis has been mauled to death. After further excavation fails to yield any more fossils at the site, the expedition travels downriver by boat to a lagoon, where they hope to find more evidence. Unbeknownst to the scientists, the lagoon is home to a humanoid Gill-Man creature. Lawrence later swims across the lagoon while the creature languidly shadows her from below, at one point even touching her foot. When Lawrence swims back, the Gill-Man follows and becomes tangled in the ship’s net. As the scientists struggle to bring the net aboard, the Gill-Man escapes.

Williams becomes determined to kill the creature, which attacks him and Reed while they are underwater. Later, while the scientists argue among themselves, the Gill-Man kills crew member Chico (Henry Escalante). An attempt to capture the creature by sprinkling a sedative powder in the water fails. Later that evening, the creature tries to abduct Lawrence from the boat but is driven back into the water by her screams. Reed chases it to a grotto, but the creature circles back in another attempt to kidnap Lawrence, killing another crew member in the process. When the Gill-Man collapses, Williams wants to kill it but is overruled by the other scientists, who decide to keep the creature in a water tank for study.

Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell) is badly mauled when the creature escapes from its tank. The scientists decide to leave, only to discover that the creature has placed fallen logs in the boat’s path. Reed jumps into the water to remove the obstacles, followed by Williams, still intent on killing the ancient creature. The creature attacks the men, and Williams shoots it with a speargun, only to be killed by the enraged creature. Reed uses the rest of the sedative powder to keep the creature at bay while he removes the logs, but before they can escape, the creature abducts Lawrence and brings her to a grotto. Reed follows and is attacked but is saved by Maia and the ship’s captain Lucas (Nestor Paiva), who shoot the creature. The film concludes with an image of the dead creature slowly sinking to the bottom of the lagoon.

Production

The basic story for Creature from the Black Lagoon came from producer William Alland, who, during a dinner party at the home of filmmaker Orson Welles in the early 1940s, heard a wild story from Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa about a mythical fish-man that supposedly lived in the Amazon region and abducted women from nearby villages. In 1952 Alland wrote a script treatment based on the tale titled “The Sea Monster,” in which an amphibious creature falls in love with a woman and ultimately perishes, a nod to the monster film King Kong (1933), which Alland acknowledged. Universal executives loved Alland’s take on the classic monster story and put it into development. The screenplay, originally titled Black Lagoon, went through several iterations before arriving at the final shooting script, which was written by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross, based on a story by Maurice Zimm.

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The studio understood that the film’s success would depend on the effectiveness of its monster. Milicent Patrick, a freelance employee in Universal’s makeup department under chief make-up artist Bud Westmore, was tasked with developing the creature’s fish-man look. She researched prehistoric animals and fish and fleshed out the creature’s menacing appearance. The studio was so pleased with Patrick’s work that it sent her on a successful publicity tour prior to the film’s release. Westmore became jealous of Patrick’s growing popularity and fired her a week after the film was released. Evidence of Patrick’s essential role in Creature from the Black Lagoon was effectively erased until the publication of her 2019 biography, The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara.

Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed mainly in Wakulla county and Silver Springs, Florida. Stuntperson Ricou Browning portrayed the Gill-Man in the underwater scenes, and actor Ben Chapman portrayed the creature when it appeared on land. Stuntperson Ginger Stanley doubled for Adams in the swimming sequences and also for actress Lori Nelson in Revenge of the Creature.

Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed on a budget of $650,000 (which would be equivalent to approximately $7.4 million in 2023) and premiered in Detroit on February 12, 1954. It was a critical and financial success, and Universal immediately put a sequel into production.

Cultural impact

The film quickly became a pop culture phenomenon. The Gill-Man appeared in a wide range of media, including comic books, toys, posters, and Halloween masks. In a scene from the romantic comedy film The Seven Year Itch (1955), stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell emerge from a movie theatre that is showing Creature from the Black Lagoon. The Gill-Man also made an appearance as Uncle Gilbert in a 1965 episode of the television situation comedy The Munsters titled “Love Comes to Mockingbird Heights.” Versions of the Gill-Man were featured in the stop-motion animated comedy film Mad Monster Party? (1967), the horror comedy film The Monster Squad (1987), and the Hotel Transylvania animated franchise. Director Guillermo del Toro acknowledged that Creature from the Black Lagoon was a direct inspiration for his fantasy film The Shape of Water (2017), about an aquatic creature held captive in a government facility who falls in love with a woman who cannot speak.

Production notes and credits

• Studio: Universal-International
• Director: Jack Arnold
• Producer: William Alland
• Writers: Harry Essex, Arthur Ross, Maurice Zimm
• Music: Henry Mancini, Hans Salter, Herman Stein (uncredited)
• Running time: 79 minutes

Cast

• Richard Carlson (Dr. David Reed)
• Julie Adams (Kay Lawrence; credited as Julia Adams)
• Richard Denning (Dr. Mark Williams)
• Antonio Moreno (Dr. Carl Maia)
• Whit Bissell (Dr. Edwin Thompson)
• Nestor Paiva (Captain Lucas)
• Bernie Gozier (Zee)
• Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman (The Gill-Man)
• Henry Escalante (Chico)
• Rodd Redwing (Luis, uncredited)
• Perry Lopez (Tomas, uncredited)