CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (Universal 3-D)
Sound format: Mono
(Black and white)
A scientific research team travels to a strange lagoon deep within the Amazon jungle in search of an ancient fossil which could provide evidence of a 'missing link', but their investigations disturb a humanoid creature which retaliates against their intrusion.
Jack Arnold's classic monster movie wraps its underlying plea for ecological tolerance around a typical B-movie narrative set within the Amazon rainforest, rendered all the more vivid by 3-D cinematography. Plot and characterizations are pretty basic (Julia Adams' heroine is a soppy wimp who screams at the slightest provocation and is barely able to function under duress without the presence of fiancé Richard Carlson), but the technical credits are superb, and Arnold pulls off more than a few classic set-pieces, notably the iconic sequence when Adams takes a swim in the lagoon and her movements are mirrored by the creature as it rises from the depths. Viewers are urged to seek out the original 3-D print, a masterpiece of dimensional photography and composition, especially the underwater sequences (supervised by Charles S. Welbourne), where characters appear to be suspended in vast spaces deep within the frame. Followed by REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955), also in 3-D.
NB. Though photographed in Universal's dual-strip process, the movie was exhibited theatrically in single-strip Pola-Lite format, with the left-right images configured side by side on the 35mm film, vertically aligned, creating a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. A separate dual-strip version was also made available.
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (Universal 3-D)
Sound format: Mono
(Black and white)
A scientific research team travels to a strange lagoon deep within the Amazon jungle in search of an ancient fossil which could provide evidence of a 'missing link', but their investigations disturb a humanoid creature which retaliates against their intrusion.
Jack Arnold's classic monster movie wraps its underlying plea for ecological tolerance around a typical B-movie narrative set within the Amazon rainforest, rendered all the more vivid by 3-D cinematography. Plot and characterizations are pretty basic (Julia Adams' heroine is a soppy wimp who screams at the slightest provocation and is barely able to function under duress without the presence of fiancé Richard Carlson), but the technical credits are superb, and Arnold pulls off more than a few classic set-pieces, notably the iconic sequence when Adams takes a swim in the lagoon and her movements are mirrored by the creature as it rises from the depths. Viewers are urged to seek out the original 3-D print, a masterpiece of dimensional photography and composition, especially the underwater sequences (supervised by Charles S. Welbourne), where characters appear to be suspended in vast spaces deep within the frame. Followed by REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955), also in 3-D.
NB. Though photographed in Universal's dual-strip process, the movie was exhibited theatrically in single-strip Pola-Lite format, with the left-right images configured side by side on the 35mm film, vertically aligned, creating a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. A separate dual-strip version was also made available.
