20. Creature from the Black Lagoon: Horror, Politics & Passion in 1954

As usual there are spoilers ahead!

 

Description

Creature from the Black Lagoon released in 1954 is in many ways the epitome of 1950s science fiction cinema. Jack Arnold (director), William Alland (producer) and Richard Carlson (the leading man) were all people who has become associated with the increasingly popular genre. It also has a beautiful and stylish Julie Adams as the heroine, scientists on a mission and of course the monster. But there are no themes of nuclear radiation, Russian invasion or small town shenanigans here. The film was filmed in 3D although the peak of 3D popularity had faded and most viewers saw this film in 2D. 

 

Two absolute heavyweights of sci-fi research join me to enlighten us.

 

The Experts

Jay Telotte is a Professor Emeritus of film and media studies at Georgia Tech. He has written/edited numerous books and articles about science fiction film.

 

Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has also written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema.

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the film and guests

02:16 Little Jay goes to the cinema

03:19 Universal monsters and comebacks

06:20 The mythical origin of the story

10:03 The monster, its maker and dangerous desires

21:37 Human invaders and Jack Arnold

23:22 Everybody loves Kay

28:59 Man, nature, science and the environment

29:12 Evolution: The Scopes Monkey Trial

33:32 1950s sci-fi: Space opera to the dangers of the deep

38:55 The Legacy: Sequels

45:00 Legacy continued: The Shape of Water

53:10 Recommendations for listeners

 

Show notes

• Universal Monsters are a range of movie monsters from Universal Pictures which have become their own franchise. Universal began having big hits with their monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula and the Invisible Man in the 1930s.

• The cinematographer that is supposedly the origin of the story of the mythical creature was Gabriel Figueroa. The story was apparently told at an Orson Welles party.

• To learn more about Milicent Patrick you can read the book The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara.

• You can find the images of some of the “enemy carrying a scantily clad woman” trope on my Instagram post here.

• There is a short overview of “White Flight” in the first half of the 20th century USA here.

• This is the research article that Jay Telotte wrote and references but like many academic papers it is sadly not free or cheap to access.

• Vivian Sobchack is a well known film and culture theorists from the USA. She was born in 1940. I believe Mark is referring to her first book The Limits of Infinity: The American Science Fiction Film which was published in 1980.

• This is the IMDB page for the blaxploitation western directed by Jack Arnold that Mark mentions.

• Tarantula (1955) features actress Mara Corday as Stephanie Clayton who is often referred to as Steve.

• You can learn more about the Scopes Monkey Trial here, here and here. The Wikipedia page on the trial is here.

• Clarence Darrow is also mentioned in the Mad Scientists episode of the podcast as he was the defence lawyer in the Leopold and Loeb case in 1924.

• You can listen or watch the Flash Gordon episode of the podcast that Jay refers to.

• IMDB pages for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Monster from the Ocean Floor, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It Came from Beneath the Sea, Attack of the Crab Monsters, and Godzilla.

• The sequels to the film are Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us.

• This Island Earth is a 1955 sci-fi film produced by William Alland.

• The IMDB page for The Shape of Water (2017).

• This is the Wired article I quote towards the end.

• Escape Velocity: American Science Fiction Film, 1950-1982 by Bradley Schauer.

• Rational Fears: American Horror in the 1950s by Mark Jancovich

• Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

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NEXT EPISODE!

Next episode we will be taking a closer look at Them! (1953). You can check Just Watch to see where it can be found in your region and the film is available to buy or rent at many outlets including Apple TV.