The Creature from the Black Lagoon

Not since the beginning of time has the world beheld terror like this!


Plot Synopsis: A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discover 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 of the expedition, with whom it has fallen in love.
Director: Jack Arnold
Screenwriter: Harry Essex and Arthur A. Ross
Date Released: March 5, 1954
Company: Universal International Pictures

 Color: BW
Language: English
Places used in filming: Universal Studios Backlot, Various locations in Florida and California
Original Movie Poster The Creature from the Black Lagoon - Original Movie Poster
Cast
Actors
Richard Carlson
Julie Adams
Richard Denning
Antonio Moreno
Nestor Paiva
Whit Bissell
Bernie Gozier
Henry A. Escalante
Ricou Browning
Ben Chapman 		Characters
Dr. David Reed
Kay Lawrence
Dr. Mark Williams
Carl Maia
Captain Lucas
Dr. Edwin Thompson
Zako
Chico
"The Gill Man" (in water)
"The Gill Man" (on land)
Other Images From the Film
Fun Facts
  1. Ricou Browning, a professional diver and swimmer, was required to hold his breath for up to 4 minutes at a time for his underwater role as the "Gill Man." The director's logic was that the air would have to travel through the monster's gills and thus not reveal air bubbles from his mouth or nose. Thus, the costume was designed without an air tank. In the subsequent films, this detail was ignored and air can be seen emanating from the top of the creature's head.
  2. In this film, the eyes of the Creature were a fixed part of the rubber construction of the suit. The actors who played the part of the "Gill Man" could barely see, if at all. In the second film, the eyes have been, somewhat ludicrously, replaced with large, bulbous fish-eyes to assist in the actor's vision.
  3. Jenny Clack (University of Cambridge) discovered a fossil amphibian, found in the remnants of what was once a fetid swamp and named it Eucritta melanolimnetes - literally "the creature from the black lagoon".
  4. When William Alland was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre, he heard famed Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa tell of a legend about a humanoid creature that supposedly lived in South America. That legend became the origin of this film.
  5. The Creature, using the name "Uncle Gilbert", appeared in an episode of the TV series "The Munsters" (1964) The episode is titled "Love Comes to Mockingbird Heights."
  6. The physical appearance of the Creature was modeled after a likeness of the Oscar, the figurine awarded annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  7. Two different stuntmen were used to portray the creature and therefore two different suits were used in the movie. Ricou Browning played the creature when it was in the water and wore a lighter suit. Ben Chapman played the creature when it was out of the water with a darker suit.
  8. Milicent Patrick created the design of the Creature, although Bud Westmore, who was the head of Universal's makeup department at the time, would take credit publicly for the Creature's design.
  9. When the Creature attacks Zee, the script called for him to pick him up and throw him into the camera for the 3-D effect. Unfortunately, the wires used to lift Zee up to make it appear as though he was actually being picked up by the Creature kept breaking. After two tries, Jack Arnold decided to just have Zee get strangled to death.
  10. Originally produced in 3-D.
  11. Historically, the first script for this film was commissioned by Adolf Hitler in Germany. The script was to depict a 'Golem' that comes out of a swamp and kills 'Good' Germans. The script was 60 percent the same as the finished American universal film.
  12. Ingmar Bergman watched this film every day on his birthday.
  13. Originally titled simply: "The Black Lagoon".