Creature From The Black Lagoon was released in 1954 in glorious black and white and in 3-D no less. It must've been a sensation. Not only was this the last great Universal monster, joining the ranks of vintage types such as Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy and Wolfman, but the Creature brought a whole new and modern vibe to the admittedly musty misadventures of Universal's monster crew. Accounts are that the 3-D effects were sensational, though I have no real sense of that now. They did try to present these on TV many years ago in that format but it was a so-so result.
Adding to the zest of the new and quite impressive monster is a real babe in distress, the lovely Julia Adams looking beyond fetching in her (at the time) somewhat scandalous bathing suit. The scene in which the Creature and Kay (Adams' character) are swimming alongside each other (though she is unaware) is mesmerizing each time I see it. The way they add allure to that sequence is not matched by any movie since King Kong. Also on hand are the usual gang of monster chasers including an idealistic hero (Richard Carlson) and an avaricious anti-hero (Richard Denning) who debate the merits of capturing or killing the Creature. Nestor Paiva as the boat captain adds some real salt to the roster which is a bit overcome by eggheads.
And I'm always impressed by the special effects. The Creature costume is one of the great accomplishments of cinema. I cannot think of another suit more convincing in all the years since. Sure there have been creatures created by other means, but no one wearing a suit was more menacing nor more absolutely realistic. There cannot be such a creature, but if there was one you can be certain it would look like this.
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a triumph from its' title to its eerie last scene showing the Creature sliding into the depths, seemingly dead. But of course he wasn't as the sequel will show. More on that a later date.
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