Revenge of the Creature

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Revenge of the Creature
Revenge creature.jpg
Directed by Jack Arnold
Produced by William Alland
Screenplay by Martin Berkeley
Story by William Alland
Starring John Agar
Lori Nelson
John Bromfield
Nestor Paiva
Ricou Browning
Tom Hennesy
Music by Herman Stein
Cinematography Charles S. Welbourne
Edited by Paul Weatherwax
Production
company
Universal-International
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
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  • March 23, 1955 (1955-03-23)
(Denver premiere)[1]
May 13, 1955 (general release)[2]
Running time
 82 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1.1 million (US)[3]
File:Ricou Browning in his movie costume at Wakulla Springs (15055100304).jpg
Ricou Browning played the "Gill Man" in the underwater scenes of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Revenge of the Creature (1955), and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956).

Revenge of the Creature (a.k.a. Return of the Creature and Return of the Creature from the Black Lagoon) is the first of two Universal-International sequels to Creature from the Black Lagoon. It was the only 3D film released in 1955 and the only 3D sequel to a 3D film released during "the golden age of 3D". Produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold (the director of the first Creature film), the film stars John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield and Nestor Paiva. The Creature was played by Tom Hennesy on land, and once again, portrayed by Ricou Browning underwater. It marked an early role for Clint Eastwood, in his film debut.

Revenge of the Creature premiered in Denver on March 23, 1955[1] and a "flat", non-3D sequel, The Creature Walks Among Us, followed in 1956. Revenge was released as a double feature with Cult of the Cobra.

Plot

Having previously survived being riddled with bullets, the Gill-man is captured and sent to the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida, where he is studied by animal psychologist Professor Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and ichthyology student Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson).

Helen and Clete quickly begin to fall in love, much to the chagrin of Joe Hayes (John Bromfield), the Gill-man's keeper. The Gill-man takes an instant liking to Helen, which severely hampers Clete's efforts to communicate with him. Ultimately, the Gill-man escapes from his tank, killing Joe in the process, and flees to the open ocean.

Unable to stop thinking about Helen, the Gill-man soon begins to stalk her and Clete, ultimately abducting her from a seaside restaurant where the two are at a party. Clete tries to give chase, but the Gill-man escapes to the water with his captive. Clete and police arrive just in time and when the creature surfaces, police shoot him as Clete saves Helen.

Cast

Actor Role
John Agar Prof. Clete Ferguson
Lori Nelson Helen Dobson
John Bromfield Joe Hayes
Nestor Paiva Lucas
Grandon Rhodes Jackson Foster
Dave Willock Lou Gibson
Robert Williams George Johnson
Charles Cane Police Captain
Robert Hoy Charlie
Brett Halsey Pete
Ricou Browning Gill-man (Underwater)
Tom Hennesy Gill-man (On Land)
Jere A. Beery, Sr. News Photographer (tank side)
Patsy Lee Beery Girl Necking in Car
Clint Eastwood Lab Technician Jennings (Uncredited)

Production

Ginger Stanley did underwater stunts in the first two Creature films.

Using the working titles of Return of the Creature and Return of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, filming took place at Marineland of Florida which played the part of the film's Ocean Harbor Oceanarium. The St. Johns River stood in for the Amazon in the film.[4]

The Lobster House restaurant where the Creature kidnaps Helen was located in Jacksonville, Florida. It was destroyed by fire in 1962. The Diamondhead Restaurant (now the River City Brewing Co.) was built adjacent to the site where the old Lobster House once stood. Friendship Park was built on the vacant land near where the Lobster House stood.[5]

Revenge of the Creature marks the screen debut of Clint Eastwood, who appears uncredited as a lab technician named Jennings early in the story. He is shown having a discussion with Professor Ferguson, accusing a test subject cat of eating a lab rat, only to find the rat in his lab coat pocket.[2]

Reception

Critically reviewed in The New York Times, Revenge of the Creature was dismissed as a fourth-rate sequel with the comment, "... away we go, as before". Other than some interesting sequences involving the setting, "what is probably the most unusual aquarium in the world makes a nice, picturesque background indeed ..." the review was dismissive of the production.[6][7] Writing for AllMovie, author Hal Erickson reported that although the film is "[n]ot nearly as good as the first Creature [from the Black Lagoon], this followup is saved by the underwater photography".[8] Although describing the film as a "minor effort" with "not much that's original or engaging", Craig Butler wrote that "audiences may feel more sympathy for the Creature in this [film], as they see him chained up, starved and otherwise mistreated", and that the film contains "a rare (for the period) attempt to humanize the female lead".[9]

Although Revenge of the Creature has been broadcast on television in red-and-blue-glasses anaglyph form (e.g., in 1982 in the San Francisco Bay area), it was originally shown in theaters by the polarized light method and viewed through glasses with gray polarizing filters. A "flat" version without 3D was also released.[10]

In 1997, Revenge of the Creature was mocked on the comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, marking its first episode on the Sci-Fi Channel.[11]

Home media

Universal Studios released Revenge of the Creature on VHS in Universal Monsters Classic Collection and DVD in a boxed set, along with Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Creature Walks Among Us. A bonus behind-the-scenes documentary was added for the set. The film was re-released on Blu-ray, along with both other films in the "Creature" trilogy. Revenge of the Creature was also released on LaserDisc as a double feature with The Creature Walks Among Us.

See also

References

Notes

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Bibliography

  • Schickel, Richard. Clint: A Retrospective. New York: Sterling, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4027-9704-0.
  • Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies, American Science Fiction Movies of the 50s, Vol. I: 1950 - 1957. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1982. ISBN 0-89950-032-3.
  • Weaver, Tom, David Schecter and Steve Kronenberg. The Creature Chronicles: Exploring the Black Lagoon Trilogy. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc., 2014. ISBN 978-0-7864-9418-7.

External links

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Furmanek, Bob and Greg Kintz. "An In-Depth Look at Creature from the Black Lagoon". 3dfilmarchive.com, 2012. Retrieved: November 19, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Schickel 2012, p. 283.
  3. ↑ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
  4. ↑ "Locations: 'Revenge of the Creature' (1955)". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved: July 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Former site of The Lobster House (Jacksonville, Florida); destroyed". Wikimapia. Retrieved: July 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ Thompson, Howard, H. "Movie review: 'Revenge of the Creature' (1955); Gill Is loose, again". The New York Times, May 14, 1955.
  7. ↑ Weaver et al. 2014, p. 205.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Weaver et al. 2014, p. 203.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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