Among Universal Studios classic monster movies is Creature from the Black Lagoon. The film premiered in 1954 and starred Richard Carlson and Julie Adams in the lead roles. The creature feature tells the tale of scientists traveling to the Amazonian jungle, where they soon discover a terrifying monster. The film was directed by Oscar-nominated director Jack Arnold, who previously worked on the Science Fiction movies It Came from Outer Space and The Incredible Shrinking Man.
The film was popular upon its release, causing Universal to give it two sequels: Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us. Like many of Universal’s classic monsters, the Gill-Man has become a fixture in American pop culture. Here are 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Creature from the Black Lagoon.
The Film Was Originally Presented In 3D
While films like Avatar helped re-popularize 3D technology, the “Golden Era” of 3D was between 1952 and 1954. Creature from the Black Lagoon came out when the hype over 3D films was fizzling out but was still advertised with the gimmick. There were several ads for the movie boasting 3D terror as well as being the first underwater 3D film.
Since the fad was already dying out by this time, many theaters just played the film in the 2D format. The film was also shown in 3D when it was re-released in 1975 and released on Beta and VHS.
The Creature Was Designed After The Academy Award
The Gill-Man from Creature from the Black Lagoon is one of the most recognizable movie monsters today, but he almost looked very different. With the direction from Jack Arnold, the makeup department created a creature that looked like an Academy Award with gills and fins.
The outcome came out looking rather feminine and Julie Adams even said the creature looked very “eel-like.” In the featurette Back to the Black Lagoon, it was revealed that Universal told Chris Mueller that the original design would be used as a female creature in a sequel if they decided to go that route, which obviously they didn’t.
Two Actors Played The Creature
While you’d never know from watching the film, but two actors actually played the Gill-Man. Ricou Browning played the character in the underwater scenes featuring the creature, while Ben Chapman was the actor in the suit above land. Ben Chapman filmed his scenes in Hollywood and Browning filmed many of the underwater scenes at Wakulla Springs State Park.
Since two different actors played the character, two suits had to be made. This resulted in slight differences in the head and chest pieces so that the suit would fit on each actor. While Chapman stopped acting in 1955, Browning returned as the creature for the two sequels.
The Gill-Man Once Appeared On The Munsters
In 1964, Universal released a show called The Munsters, which was based on their classic monster characters. The series saw strong competition from The Addams Family, but The Munsters often did better with viewers because the character resembled characters people were familiar with.
In the episode “Love Comes to Mockingbird Lane,” Herman’s relative Uncle Gilbert comes to town to pick up $120,000 he had sent to the Munsters. In The Munsters, the Gill-Man could talk and used to be a politician, but became rich after finding lost treasures underwater.
Glenn Strange Almost Played The Creature
Neither Ricou Browning nor Ben Chapman had very long careers in Hollywood after Creature from the Black Lagoon, but a much more famous actor almost took on the role. Boris Karloff may be known for playing Frankenstein, but Glenn Strange also played the monster in House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Universal then approached Strange to play the creature in Creature from the Black Lagoon, but the actor turned down the role since he wasn’t a good enough swimmer for the part. This must have been before Universal decided to have two actors play the character, as Strange could have just played the on land Gill-Man.
Julie Adams Was Injured On Set
Julie Adams has nearly 150 film and television credits to her name today, but she is most known for playing Kay Lawrence in Creature from the Black Lagoon. Kay was, of course, the woman that the creature took and fell in love with. In one of the scenes, the creature is carrying an unconscious Kay through a cave.
The set was apparently freezing so Adams was trying to not shake while being carried by Ben Chapman. Due to the poor visibility in the Gill-Man suit, Chapman accidentally scrapped Adams' head on the side of the set. Thankfully her injury wasn’t serious, so shooting was able to resume soon after the accident occurred.
There Was A Big Feud Between Two Of The Creature Designers
Milicent Patrick had been working in the horror genre prior to 1954, but Creature from the Black Lagoon is a film where her work really comes to life. Patrick was in charge of designing the Gill-Man, although she rarely gets credit for it. Patrick had even gotten to promote the movie as the “Beauty who created the Beast”, but all that quickly changed when makeup artist Bud Westmore got jealous of her attention.
Westmore’s family had become famous makeup artists, so Bud was able to get his co-worker’s name out of the opening credits and take the credit for the creature’s design.
The Gill-Man Wasn’t Really A Monster
On the surface, Creature from the Black Lagoon just looks like any other Universal monster movie, but it also had environmental undertones as well. When Kay flicks her cigarette into the lagoon, the camera follows it underwater to show the Gill-Man watching her from below. The next scene shows all of the fish floating at the top of the water due to the chemicals the crew poured into the water.
David also just wants to get pictures of the creature rather than bringing it back to the city, which suggests a rather progressive sensibility. It’s clear upon a second viewing that the creature really isn’t a monster, just a creature trying to protect its home. Creature from the Black Lagoon is no doubt a film that has themes that are still relevant to this day.
Orson Welles And The Gill-Man
Orson Welles didn’t really have anything to do with Creature from the Black Lagoon, but he was there when the idea was created. The movie was inspired by a Mexican folk tale, which cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa told to Orson Wells and William Alland at a dinner party for Citizen Kane.
The folk tale dealt with creatures that were half-man, half-reptile, which was fascinating to Alland. Alland liked the story so much that he decided to make Creature from the Black Lagoon. With that in mind, Creature from the Black Lagoon came out 13 years after Citizen Kane, so Alland had clearly been thinking about the idea for quite some time.
Executives Controlled The Theme
When it came to the score for Creature from the Black Lagoon, three men were actually in charge of the music: Henry Mancini, Herman Stein, and Hans J. Salter. Whenever the Gill-Man comes on screen, his monster theme can be heard. This refrain doesn’t just come on every once in a while, but every single time the Gill-Man comes on screen.
Some may say that they overdid it with the effect, but that’s the way executives wanted it. In the featurette Back to the Black Lagoon, it was revealed that the executives at Universal told the editors to include the theme every time the monster appeared.