(Corona-) Summer of Terror: Creature from the Black Lagoon

    The story of this film begins with, of all things, Citizen Kane. William Alland, a good friend of Orson Welles, played the role of the reporter investigating Kane in the film, making him the point of view character. At a party celebrating that film, he met Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, who had worked with filmmakers like Howard Hawks and John Huston. Figueroa told the story of a fishman in the Amazon who would come to villages once a year, steal women, and vanish. The idea stuck with Alland as he became a major producer of science fiction films in the 50's, including It Came from Outer Space, with a script from Harry Essex (based on a story treatment by Ray Bradbury) and directed by actor-turned-director Jack Arnold. Alland eventually wrote down the idea, which was expanded into a treatment and later script by Maurice Zimm, Essex and Arthur Ross. The story mostly took its cues from Beauty and the Beast as well as King Kong. The creature's legendary costume was designed by Milicent Patrick, who had been one of the first female animators at Disney before coming to Universal as part of their special effects and make-up department. Unfortunately, her assistant Bud Westmore became jealous, and overshadowed her contributions to the Gil-Man design, obscuring her role for decades. Released in 1954, it is something of a staple for the science fiction horror genre. Guillermo del Toro released his riff on the film with The Shape of Water in 2017, earning the Academy Award in the process. 

      After an intro describing evolution, basically, the film opens with the discovery of a strange fossil in the Amazon. A large claw fossil to be exact. (They could resurrect it at Pewter City if they wanted.) The discoverer, Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) soon brings in marine biologist Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson), and persuades his boss, Mark Williams (Richard Denning) to tag along. Sure enough, a real fish creature is swimming around nearby, and takes a particular liking to David's girlfriend Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams), who is tagging along. 

      The "Gill-Man" has an excellent, very monstrous look to it, thanks to Patrick's design. It helps sell the creature as a real creature and not just a guy in a costume (which it still does appear to be). Ben Chapman also does very well conveying the physicality of the creature as a fish who learned how to walk upright, basically. The sets, especially the caves and parts of the jungle is very well done, and I did like that they did attempt (however tenuous) to tie this to the idea of evolution. I did like that they took the main emotional core of King Kong (the "Beauty and the Beast" aspect) and spun it around in a different setting

      Like many of these films, after a good first act and a great third act, it has a really slow second act. It just sort of builds a lot of tension and we don't see a lot of Gill-Man. I drifted during this part. Luckily, as I said, it manages to pick up during the third act and does its iconic scene , which still holds up. 

     The biggest film that hangs over this one is The Shape of Water. Del Toro discusssed how that film was inspired by his sympathy towards the monster in this film. Honestly, I do see it. The creature is ultimately sympathetic, like Frankenstein, but is besieged by colonial forces beyond its control. There's a certain tragedy to its death at the very end. For that alone, I recommend this film. That, and it's still a pretty fun film. 

     Alright, after three months and many cancellations, we're finally at the end of this with an unorthodox choice (and not technically originally a Universal film, but bare with me): Psycho.

(Corona-) Summer of Terror- The Wolfman

    (So,  my anxiety got particularly bad since writing the last one, I was unable to write the planned entries I had intended, or see the films. It's been hard and its almost October. Thus, I've decided to just skip to the last three major films in this franchise to finish off. I may get to the sequels and spin-offs in later entries. With that...)

    This film was based on the experiences of its screenwriter Curt Siodmak. A minor writer and filmmaker in Germany, he was forced to flee when the Nazis came to power due to his Jewish heritage. He channeled the shock of this sudden chaos into a story about a relatively normal man who becomes a werewolf. Siodmak invented many werewolf myths for the film, including the poem cited in the film and was the first to depict a relatively uncommon myth about the werewolf being affected by a silver bullet. Directing the film was actor-turned-director George Waggner. The role of the werewolf (with make-up once again by Jack P. Pierce, reusing the unused make-up from Werewolf of London) was considered for stars Bela Lugosi (who ultimately appears in the film as "Bela", which must've been hard for him to remember) and Boris Karloff before going to Lon Chaney, Jr. Born Creighton Chaney, he was the son of Lon Chaney, Universal's silent era star, who, both directly and indirectly helped pave the way for the Universal Monsters. Chaney resented the name change, forced on him by Universal, commenting that he was proud of the name "Lon Chaney", but not "Lon Chaney, Jr." Chaney would have difficulties in the production of this film, corraling with lead actress Evelyn Ankers and suffering through a long make-up sequence. However, with the major success of the film (one of the biggest films of 1941), Chaney would go on to portray the character six more times, the only actor to portray the same character in all his appearances.

    Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) returns to his father John's (Claude Rains)  estate after the death of his brother. Talbot, an engineer, soon becomes acquainted with Gwen (Evelyn Ankers), owner of an antiques shop. Gwen tells Talbot of a very interesting poem about the werewolf: "Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night; May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright". Sure enough, when Larry, Gwen, and Gwen's friend Jenny (Fay Helm) go for a forest jaunt, they find an old Gypsy woman (Maria Ouspenskaya) and her son Bela (Bela... Lugosi), and are attacked by a strange wolf creature. Larry is bitten attempting to save Jenny (who is killed). When the police investigate, the gypsy woman suddenly claims that the Wolf was in fact Bela, and that Larry might have... urges. 

     The make-up in the film is better than the last film. Definitely looks like a human-wolf hybrid, and there is a certain menace to the character. Lon Chaney, Jr. doesn't necessarily do well when he has to be Larry Talbot, but when he's the wolfman, his physicality and viciousness help sell that particular character. The mysticism and tension in the film helps keep the film at least somewhat interesting throughout. Overall, the kills are better done, especially with the ambiguity of it. 

    As said before, Lon Chaney, Jr. doesn't really do well when in human form. He has this forced normal affectation to him that's a bit distracting and he looks like an extra and not the lead of the film. Perhaps his other appearances fix this, but he struggles in this role. The second act tends to drag and despite being 70 minutes, it does feel very long. 

     I enjoyed this more than London. Definitely worth a watch for the tensions and the origins of many current werewolf myths and legends, and just for the fun of seeing effectively a Code-era slasher film (so, no blood). It's not my favorite, but it was definitely a lot of fun. 

    So, yeah, I'm just going to skip forward into the last technical Universal Monster with Creature from the Black Lagoon.  

(Cororna)- Summer of Terror- The Universal Monsters: Werewolf of London

    Werewolves were a major part of European folklore dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks. Myths around lycanthropy vary across regions, but the prevalence of wolves in Europe prior to mass hunting (and possibly medical conditions like porphyria and hypertrichosis) lead to myths of humans becoming wolves becoming a common motif. The specifics were refined from other incidents (such as the 18th century cryptid Beast of Gévaudan, killed by a silver bullet). With the colonization of the Americas by both the Norse and later the rest of Europe, lycanthropy would even spread to some native American cultures, with the most notable being the skin-walker of Navajo myth, who were witches who could change shape into various animals, including wolves. The first werewolf film, The Werewolf from 1913, (now lost) was about a Navajo skin-walker. There was no literary books on werewolves until 1933, when Guy Endore's The Werewolf of Paris explored a man inflicted with lycanthropy as he stumbles through the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune. This film is, in fact, not an adaptation of that book. It's instead an original story by Robert Harris, going through several screenwriters. Not much on the inspiration or impetus for the film, though some sources cite this as a response to Paramount's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Many of the modern werewolf myths (biting to spread lycanthropy and turning under a full moon), come from this film. Jack Pierece's initial make-up was rejected when star Henry Hull noted that the characters should be able to recognize the protagonist as the werewolf. It has had a mixed reception, both then and now. 

    Botanist Dr. Wildfried Glendon (Henry Hull) is in Tibet (where they apparently speak a lot of Cantonese), searching for a rare mariphasa flower He has a brief encounter with Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland, in yellowface)  When he sees the flowers, a mysterious creature bites him. Glendon takes the plant back to merry old England, where he lives and cultivates the plant in the home he shares with wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson). Yogami warns that the plant is a potential cure if you're bitten by a werewolf. Glendon is incredulous, until he starts becoming more violent. 

    The make-up is very well done, with a very intimidating look to it. It feels like a real animalistic creature is on screen. Henry Hull does well in his performance, giving the creature some degree of menace and terror. I liked the shadows. The climax and transformation sequences are very well done. 

    Yeah, the fact that the Van Helsing role is played by an actor in yellowface is very distracting. The fact that it's Warner Oland, who also did Fu Manchu makes it equally uncomfortable. It's easily the biggest part of the film that has dated it significantly. Also not helping is the story just sort of grands until the climax of the film. Not a lot happens during it, and it's a bit dull. 

     As a historical document, it's probably worth watching as effectively the originator of the modern werewolf movie. As a film, it's mostly just okay. I feel it may be notable as just a trial run for the first very big werewolf film, which we will cover soon enough. 

    Well, hopefully I can expediate the end of this, so tune in next time for an overview of some of the other Universal monster movies released during the 1930's.