Universal has released a treasure trove of golden age sci-fi classics in a new boxed set for British fans. UK contributor Mark Mawston delved into the unknown and presents his findings.
Scan the
net and you’ll find hundreds of “Classic
Sci Fi Collections†which are mostly made up from terrible killer B’s and films
that have fallen into public domain. Now however, I’m glad to say, we’ve
finally found some form of intelligence out there with the release of this
wonderful collection of some of the most outstanding sci-fi films of the 50’s.
This set is
essentially the crème de la crème of the studio most associated with fans of
the genre- Universal International. Every single one of the movies included
here deserves the title “classicâ€.
First in
the line up is the last truly great monster in the Universal ranks to match the
classic roster of previous monsters such as Dracula,
Frankenstein, The Mummy and The Wolfman.
Look at any “classic horror†merchandizing and you’ll see The Creature From The Black
Lagoon holding its own in this venerable Batpack of horror stars. The
story goes that the inspiration for this movie came about when producer William
Alland (a friend of Orson Welles and a Mercury player who’d starred as the reporter
in Citizen Kane) discussed the story
he’d been reading regarding a half man half fish creature of Amazonian myth. He
was in good company as the initial design for The Creature, which Welles said
he should make, was based on that of the Oscar! After talented artist Millicent
Patrick became involved, along with veterans Jack Pierce Jack Kevan and Bud
Westmore, the creature transformed from a smooth looking alien figure of Oscar to
the Gill-Man we all know and love today. In the film, a scientific
expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River
discover a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers
capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to
kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one of the expedition, with whom it has
fallen in love.
In essence CFTBL
is a remake of King Kong, but is
still one of the most original of all monster movies. As it was made in the
50’s it can be classed as a sci-fi film, which had, in essence, replaced the
“horror†movie even though this is one of the few monsters that wasn’t woken or
mutated by an atomic explosion of sorts.