CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON 
Italian title: IL MOSTRO DELLA LAGUNA NERA
Production: 1954 - USA, Universal, b/w, 80 min.
Director: Jack Arnold
Screenwriter: Marion Zimm, Arthur A. Ross e Harry Essex
Special effects: Charles Wellbourne, Jack Kevan
Makeup: Bud Westmore
Music: Joseph Gersherson
Cast: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Whit Bissell, Bernie Gozier, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Henry A. Escalante
In the Amazon, an expedition tries to shed light on one strange sight: according to some reports, there is a gill-man in a swampy area, a monstrous amphibious being of human form, and covered with scales. On board the boat "Rita", a group of scientists - accompanied by the young Dr. Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams) and two divers (Richard Denning and Richard Carlson) - follow the current until they arrive at the mysterious Black Lagoon where the creature was reportedly sighted. The monster turns out to be real, and the men, deciding to capture it, throw some tranquilizer in the water to stun it and take it prisoner. The gill-man succeeds in escaping quickly and, unforeseeably, from being the hunted, is transformed into a ruthless hunter: He closes every route of escape for the boat, and kidnaps the beautiful Dr. Lawrence. The men track the monster and, after discovering him with the girl inside of a cove, they fire at it. The gill-man descends into the water . . . perhaps mortally wounded.

It is obligatory, when speaking about this key work by Jack Arnold, to focus on the erotic value of the film and to cite the famous scene with the girl in the tight, white bathing suit, swimming happily without suspecting that some distance below her the monster is swimming with her, watching her with desire; beautiful and rich with suspense is also the scene in the cove when the girl (still with the tight white bathing suit, but this time terrified) does not seem to have a way to escape from the grip of the monster.
Billy Wilder, in Seven Year Itch, commented to Marilyn Monroe who watched Creature from the Black Lagoon on television that, basically, the amphibious creature is a poor victim in need of affection. And, in effect, the gill-man was a defeated hero and recluse, destined to be overwhelmed by civilized society and repressed because of it. It would be interesting to explore the mechanism that releases in the public the emotional participation in the motives of the monster: sufficient phenomenon to emphasize that this is a film of good artistic quality. Like King Kong, this film of Arnold, even though of lesser impact, has entered among the movie classics.

The gill-man is played by Ricou Browning, underwater expert who came from amusement park shows and who will appear in later movies, as well, until becoming director for the submarine resumptions, among others, in Around the World Under the Sea and James Bond's "Thunderball". He also did stunt work in The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) and Opposing Force (1987).
The gill-man - work of Bud Westmore who created the costume, according to the design of Millicent Patrick, in green and gold rubber latex - has entered our collective imaginations on a par with other famous monsters and has been imitated many times.
The gill-man is the main character in a trilogy that also includes Revenge of the Creature (1955; Dir. Jack Arnold) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956; Dir. John Sherwood).
©
English version by Vince Mattaliano