Creature from the Black Lagoon
prev.
play.
mark.
next.

:47:00
with titles like Chicken of Tomorrow
for the Agriculture Department,

:47:03
while at the same time
continuing to act on stage.

:47:06
In 1950, he directed a public-relations film
:47:08
for the International Ladies' Garment
Workers' Union, With These Hands.

:47:12
It starred Broadway actors Sam Levine,
Arlene Francis and Joseph Wiseman.

:47:16
With These Hands went into general
release, became a critical success,

:47:21
and received an Oscar nomination
as best documentary feature.

:47:24
Off of that project,
he was discovered by Universal,

:47:27
who placed him under contract in 1952.
:47:29
As well as the movies he directed,
he also produced and directed for TV,

:47:33
including such series as
It Takes a Thief and Gilligan's Island.

:47:36
He was one of the first major
sci-fi directors, and as a result,

:47:40
his work was, in later years,
honoured at film festivals,

:47:43
in Mill Valley, California,
France, Spain and Brazil.

:47:46
In 1982, Creature from
the Black Lagoon was to be remade

:47:49
in colour and 3-D, a big budget,
and with Jack Arnold at the helm.

:47:53
John Landis brought the project to Arnold.
:47:55
Landis was going to executive
produce, Rick Baker was chosen

:47:58
to furnish the creature, based on the
classic design and make-up effects,

:48:02
and Nigel Kneale wrote the screenplay,
but this Creature was never made.

:48:05
Universal decided to put their money
behind Jaws 3-D instead.

:48:09
Jack Arnold died in 1992.
:48:12
I never understood how they could dive
down, down, down to the creature's lair

:48:16
and wind up in a cave that's at
sea level, with a beach entrance.

:48:19
You'd also think it would be as dark
as the ace of spades in there.

:48:31
This hand-on-the-shoulder
gimmick is a cliché today,

:48:34
but it still worked in 1954.
It got a great reaction.

:48:37
Ernest Nims remembered a scene in
It Came from Outer Space

:48:39
where Barbara Rush did the same thing
to Carlson - came up and touched him.

:48:43
It worked there, so Nims suggested they
do it in Creature. Again it got a scream.

:48:48
People who saw Creature at a preview
mentioned it on their comment cards.

:48:51
When something worked,
Universal never let go.

:48:54
They used it in Tarantula,
with John Agar on the receiving end,

:48:57
The Deadly Mantis with Craig Stevens,
Cult of the Cobra with David Janssen,


prev.
next.