Creature From the Black Lagoon was the last of the classic Universal horror movies. A person might think it can’t stand up to the other monsters. It does and very well. The story, written by Harry Essex and Arthur A. Ross is a good one. It resembles King Kong more than Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula or The Wolf-Man. The difference is that the main characters are not looking for a monster.
A group of scientists are on an expedition in The Amazon basin. They come across a fossil, that looks like a hand, but it has fingers that are webbed together. There are also claws. There are stories that a mysterious creature lives in the river, and walks like a man. The expedition, led by the pompous Dr. Mark Williams, (Richard Denning), continues on with its work. Also on board are Dr. David Reed, (Richard Carlson), Dr. Carl Maia, (Antonio Moreno) and Dr. Edwin Thompson, (Whit Bissell). Kay Lawrence, (Julie Adams), is also on board. She is the love interest of Dr. Reed. This sparks jealousy from Dr. Mark Williams. Julie tells David that everyone knows Dr. Williams is a jerk. He is with the expedition because he is good at what he does. Dr. Williams massive ego, will later cause problems for the team.
The fossilized hand is later examined, and there is nothing that matches it. The crew continue exploring the basin. Dr. Maia asks David and Mark to go diving for rocks. He wants to examine them to find out the age of the basin. They comply, and are spied on by the creature. He is commonly referred to as The Gillman. The two doctors surface with their rocks, for examination. They later encounter him and Mark recklessly shoots him. Dr. Williams is an example of a film character lacking common sense. He wants to capture the creature. Dr. Mark Williams has obviously never viewed horror movies where the monster is captured. It never works. This plan of course doesn’t sit well with Dr. Reed. He just wants to photograph the creature, and leave. Dr. Mark Williams has the final say, and devises a plan. They capture the creature, and build a floating cage. This of course can’t hold him and he breaks free. The gill man has been obsessed with Julie, ever since he saw her swimming in The Amazon.He grabs her and jumps in the water. Dr. Reed and Dr. Williams both go after the creature. This results in a dramatic underwater pursuit of the creature.
Everyone involved in the movie is good. Two men played the gill man. They were Ricou Browning and Ben Chapman. Browning played him in the water. Chapman played him on land. Neither man achieved stardom on a Boris Karloff level. Chapman did experience a level of discomfort like Karloff. He could barely move in the costume, and could barely see out of the mask. Browning was able to find work in movies and television, filming and directing underwater scenes. Chapman was able to capitalize on the film’s popularity. He appeared at shows and signed autographs. Richard Carlson made a name for himself in science fiction movies. Richard Denning was very good as Dr. Mark Williams. He grew tired of acting, and retired several years after this movie. He may be remembered as being considered to play Lucille Ball’s husband on I Love Lucy. He had played her husband on the radio, a few years before. The network sided with Lucy and chose her real life husband Desi Arnaz. He became one of many what if casting questions regarding actors. Jack Arnold became famous for his work making creature a true universal monster movie. He gives a great look making the viewer feel like they are in the Amazon with the expedition. There are a few scares, especially when the creature escapes. Jack Arnold became a director of ground breaking science fiction films like It Came From Outer Space, This Island Earth and The Incredible Shrinking Man.
The Creature From the Black Lagoon is a horror film. It could also be a science fiction film, because of the expedition’s primary purpose. It could even be classified as sci-fi horror. It doesn’t really matter, because in the end, it entertains. That is after all the original purpose of movies.