The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
When the red sources rampaging through the city at one point the army's like we don't know where it is i'm like how why.

(00:07):
Yeah listen to like huge thunderous footsteps and you'll probably be able to find it you know follow the screams it's me that's the burning buildings the smoke rising into their not very stealthy it shouldn't be that hard.

(00:38):
Hello and welcome to camp kaiju monster movie podcast we are your host spencer and matt and we're talking about all our favorite monster movies the good the bad and the downright campy and asking if they stand the test of time.
Traditional kaiju creature features space invaders the supernatural and everything in between all strange beasts welcome here.

(01:03):
And camp kaiju is sponsored by zach linder and the sack pack powered by cold well banker realty your source for real estate home rehab the fixing and flipping for investor clients and residential buyers reach out to the sack pack today for real estate services.
Follow the sack pack on social media and contact the sack pack for investment opportunities link in the show notes.

(01:33):
I say there are things better left unsolved.
Who knows what waits for us in nature's no man's land.

(01:55):
Impossible unbelievable fantastic but I tell you it could happen it could happen it could happen.
Yes it could happen for various authorities believe that buried somewhere under the polar ice cap in a state of suspended animation are the awesome creatures the leviathan's that roam the earth at the dawn of time.

(02:23):
And under certain conditions a nuclear explosion can free one from his icy tomb.
Then guided by instinct the beast would come back back to the caverns of the deepest Atlantic where it was spawned an armored giant wreaking his prehistoric fury on modern man and his puny machine cities would be terrorized by the cruel intruder from the past populations crazed and panicked by the

(02:51):
populations crazed and panicked with fear by its destructive force.
Granite and steel would crumble soldiers and their weapons would be powerless before the onslaught of the beast the beast the beast the beast from 20,000 fathoms.
Herald Square 34th Street Broadway every section of the city is guarded no one knows where the monster will strike next. Another one Colonel no you know what the radioactive isotope is no but if it can be loaded I can fire I'll load it just remember one thing this is the only isotope of its kind this side of old great so you can miss.

(03:39):
Matt it is season five of Camp Kaiju.

(04:08):
We're here this is our season premiere debuting with the beast from 20,000 fathoms.
Hooray an auspicious start both to 2025 and the season five of Camp Kaiju.
Yeah I mean I know we caught up a little bit off camera here but obviously we just talked about Nosferatu but any other any other movies to to highlight your new year.

(04:34):
Oh let's see um not really a lot of monster movies to be honest I did watch smile two which was a little bit disappointing I like the first smile quite a bit the second one maybe not so much.
I do want to call out the best movie by far I've seen recently which is called West Indies the fugitive slaves of liberty.
It's by a Mauritanian director named Med Hondo I'm really into African movies from the 60s and 70s like post colonial post independence and this movie is incredible it's beautiful.

(05:06):
I basically tells the entire 400 year history of the transatlantic slave trade and it all is shot on a replica of a slave ship.
In an abandoned factory in France is where they shot the movie so I don't know if that description makes any sense it's a crazy movie that's my recommendation West Indies go see it.

(05:27):
Amazing wow I feel like a schlub what have I seen.
I saw.
Really bad but lovable Boris Karloff movie called the ape recently a poverty row movie which.

(05:48):
Mr Lori will have something to say about in later in this episode nice definitely not a critical darling but it can't be romp nonetheless.
I've heard of that I you know by its title only I assume it's part of the sort of like deadly monkey series of movies that came out maybe in like the 30s and 40s.

(06:09):
Yep yep stars a man in a gorilla suit very convincing gorilla suit.
Yeah so I'm just really digging into some trash horror from the studio era.
Yeah I love it I've definitely seen some trash recently too but you know a good movie here and there as well and trash is good in its own way too.
Yeah I say that lovingly of course yeah.

(06:33):
Yeah not not too many other newer movies I did see baby girl which I thought was pretty good we talked about nose for a two.
Yeah that's that's kind of all I got right now I guess yeah.
Well we are just getting started with the year with our two watch lists and we want to thank you all you listeners and friends for hanging out with us.

(06:57):
Please rate and review wherever you listen you can send us listener comments at camp kaiju at gmail.com our instagram at camp underscore kaiju.
Or if you'd like to be a featured voice on the show leave a voicemail at 612-470-2612 and just tell us about your favorite monster movies and memories.

(07:18):
Go ahead and check out our website camp kaiju podcast.com for more reviews and special content we have merch available at camp kaiju.threadless.com become a patron.
For exclusive content discounts priority comments and live events some VIP status we're going to talk about that in a little bit and all those links are in our show notes.

(07:42):
And we can't wait to bring on board this wonderfully kooky ride called monster movies as well as cause called the monster movie ride.
It is indeed yeah I love that and I the further we ride on this train of monster movies the more I realize that it's inexhaustible there will never be enough monster movies to like.

(08:04):
Watch all of them that have ever been made and that is a wonderful thing oh my god I feel the exact same way.
My my list I keep a running list of movies I want to bring to the podcast and it's just I'm never gonna talk about them all.
Yeah it's a wonderful problem to have like when we were figuring out movies to bring to the podcast for season five.

(08:24):
Initially I was worried like man am I even going to be able to think of enough for this season and of course the problem is the opposite I came up with a list of like 30 movies that could last us for years you know.
And the beast from twenty thousand fathoms and even Dracula's daughter which you're going to bring later on those are both movies I covered way back in season one when I was flying solo.

(08:46):
But not only is the list of new movies in exhaustible.
But I have to revisit the movies I talked about in that first season because I.
I really only gave them lip service and the beast from twenty thousand fathoms is a movie I really wanted to dig deeper into with you and get your perspective on it so.

(09:07):
We're just yeah we're drowning here in the best way possible yeah I and you know like I love revisiting movies oftentimes I think you discover new things or maybe even like completely change your opinion about them so.
Yeah new rewatch movies whatever it is what we have plenty to choose from here on camp kaju.

(09:29):
Oh yeah and let us get to some news I need to.
Need to need to cover we took a little extended break over the holidays much needed reef reset for me personally because we were going pretty hard there at the end of the year.
Yeah so yeah it was like exhausting in the best way I mean like talking about monster movies like researching monster movies watching monster movies it was like a full time job it was great.

(09:58):
If only we were getting paid but yes you know the patreon is a great source if you are willing to.
To patronize no that's not the word patronage to patron be a patron and support the show financially really does help with the back end.

(10:18):
And allow us to offer some VIP perks and here's where I'm going to get into some news so Naomi Osborne friend of the pod.
She is hosting her monthly trivia show at indeed brewery in Minneapolis Minnesota.
And Naomi's bringing on guest trivia hosts each month and we are honored to be on the slate for May so the first May sorry the first month sorry.

(10:50):
The first Monday in May Cinco de Mayo.
That you and I will be co-hosting trivia movie trivia with Naomi.
Yes I can't wait it was so fun doing trivia with her on the podcast last season and you know both of us went to her trivia show at indeed brewery and it's so much fun I mean.

(11:14):
Obviously if you love movies and you love trivia it's the best place to be and I'm very very excited to join her in May and join you in May it'll be great.
It's it's gonna be a May to remember and maybe you won't remember it because Camp Kaiju I'm saying right now we are going to offer our patrons I know not all of you are located in the twin cities but if you are or not.

(11:37):
If you show up to trivia.
We will buy you a drink.
One drink alcoholic or non alcoholic.
It's on us so we'd love to see you and play some movie trivia.
And hopefully just talk about movies a little bit too yeah.

(11:57):
Man yeah it'll be fun I can't wait yeah.
And a couple of things just move throughout there real quickly if you are interested in joining the camp Kaiju team in a more professional way.
We are looking for writers to contribute to our websites and the written word obviously opportunities exist to come on the podcast with us but if you are a writer and like to review movies.

(12:28):
Shoot us an email let's talk and get you set up with something you would be compensated.
Not gonna say it's much but we do we value that here.
We we value the artistic professional spirit.
Indeed you'll be compensated perhaps in cheap monster movie DVDs but also monetarily so you know many many different ways you'll be compensated and just to verify the email address that they should email if they're interested is campkaiju.gmail.com.

(13:01):
Correct awesome I'm excited can't wait to see you know get some new voices on the website.
Yeah I think that'd be great fresh perspectives like we're saying it's always important.
Well making it all happen is our patrons Jason Chris Sean our anonymous patron and Peggy thank you.
Let's get some other folks in your ranks all right since last time.

(13:25):
Matt I threw a couple of notes on there feel free to read those and add a couple things if you want but.
I thought they were interesting.
Yes so the twenty twenty four national film registry added Star Trek to the wrath of Khan and invaders from Mars to their list of you know culturally significant films.

(13:47):
Which I didn't know about until I read this on on our shared doc for today.
Two good choices for sure I think we're talking about invaders from Mars soon army.
Yeah absolutely that's why I caught my eye because it's just it just so happened that we were talking about it.
And lots of other movies were obviously added but I picked a couple of my favorite sci-fi movies that I saw on the list.

(14:10):
I haven't seen wrath of Khan since I was a kid it's a good reminder I should revisit the Star Trek movies at some point.
It's been years but yeah it's it's good it's so much fun.
Yeah classic those yeah those movies are extremely entertaining from what I remember.
Yeah very they just scratch that sci-fi itch of adventure and but like science and.

(14:36):
Shatner and Nimoy and the whole gang yeah the OG cast yeah I know yeah.
Well yeah yeah no I'm sorry.
Okay I was going to say actually that's not the OG cast but it is I yeah I got confused for a second never mind I'll take it back.
The last bit there it's been recently announced that Universal is in talks with Lee Cronin who directed Evil Dead Rise to some acclaim to revamp the mummy.

(15:11):
I don't mind another mummy movie I didn't really like Evil Dead Rise very much and I have to admit I don't really know Lee Cronin all that much.
What else Evil Dead Rise what else did he do yeah I'm not really familiar with his work but you know I love a good mummy movie so we'll see maybe it'll be good.
The last one was Tom Cruise I know it's supposed to be terrible but I never actually saw that one.

(15:34):
Yeah well I hope it I hope it's good I hope it's out there in a few years and they're not just teasing us.
Like they so often do yeah yeah I mean it you know the the Brendan Fraser series is not like maybe those might not be like masterpieces but that's such a fun series it would be hard to top them but certainly possible who knows.

(15:57):
Mm hmm mm hmm let us get to this week in monster movie history there's a lot there's a lot in January well we'll say this month in monster movie history.
Yeah I feel like this is the time of year that studios like release their movies that they think are terrible and nobody wants to see so maybe that's not super surprising.

(16:20):
Well that's a contemporary thing I think because there are some true classics on this list from back out that's true yeah.
So I'm Alec you're telling me the relic is a is is garbage relegated to the January slums.
Well I mean I like the relic but I'm also not totally surprised that the studio was just like who cares about this movie get it out there in January it's not all that surprising to me.

(16:48):
But you're right there's there's some good stuff on this list and some truly terrible stuff as well.
Well I think I'm going to have to start with maybe my least favorite movie of all time I'm sure you saw this on the list leprechaun from 1993 I really hate that movie so much and like normally I like so bad it's good movies like I love troll too I really like the room a lot plan I from outer space.

(17:11):
And so on and so forth but leprechaun is just boring it's not funny or scary some of the sequels of that franchise are but the first one is not and I remember seeing leprechaun and just thinking like well.
This is what I get for thinking like this stupid movie about a killer leprechaun would be like somehow entertaining I feel like I got what I deserved on that one.
You know who played a leprechaun in the beast from twenty thousand fathoms.

(17:35):
Sorry he did not play a leprechaun in the beast from twenty thousand fathoms.
You missed the leprechaun didn't you yeah that I watched the abridged version.
Cecil kelly who plays the elderly doctor scientist.

(17:55):
He was nominated for an Oscar for playing a leprechaun.
In the luck of the Irish from the forties.
Okay I'm not familiar with that movie yeah I could definitely see him playing a leprechaun.
Let's see for my pick for this episode.
I'm gonna go with the island of lost souls.

(18:18):
We are talking about the nineties island of doctor moreau.
Later in our season I think it's gonna be really hard to top island of lost souls the nineteen thirty three adaptation of HG Wells is.
Pretty messed up story I'm reading the book right now and.
It's it's sci fi but it's got a horror bent to it for sure so yeah island of lost souls check it out people.

(18:46):
I'm glad you chose an actual great movie there because that that is fantastic it's still pretty scary and very perverse kind of like you're.
Alluding to with the book the movie it's like a pre code movie so.
Is a lot of sex and violence that they wouldn't have been able to get away with just a couple years later so that is a fantastic movie for sure yeah.
Yeah okay.

(19:07):
Lee one else wolf man is coming out in January.
It's the it's a January horror movie so we'll see we'll see we'll see.
I'm excited for that one yeah and then coming up on camp kaiju your pick.
Yeah invasion of astro monster so we'll be getting back to a good old ishiro honda godzilla movie the sixth film in the godzilla franchise.

(19:31):
I don't really know a lot about it to be honest but it like the screenshots that i've seen just look so fantastic and like.
Bright and colorful was it the first color godzilla movie maybe not the first one but no not the first relatively early though.
Yeah you know who is in it though nick adams nick adams.

(19:53):
Who yeah he so he we've seen him before he was also in godzilla versus king kong right.
No no he was in he was in the door of the three headed monster okay that's right i know we've seen him before.
Yeah i mean i love you door no no no.
No sorry he was in frankenstein conquers the world that's what he was in.

(20:18):
Yeah okay i'm seeing that now all right.
Remember that one scene where he's decked out like red white and blue barbecue aprons and check hats.
Sort of like a steak.
Yeah kind of that's a really bizarre movie there's so much weird stuff it just kind of all maybe blurs together a little bit as we watch that.

(20:41):
I just read i'm a big nick adams fan so i can't wait i'm so excited you picked that movie.
Yeah and i so i'm like i think maybe we've talked about almost every other godzilla movie that came out before that one because invasion of astro monsters from 65.
I think so too but yeah yeah so it's good to go back to some of the original classics.

(21:04):
And then we're going to talk about tusk from 2014 who directed that it was kevin smith kevin smith that's right.
I don't know what to expect at that movie i am i'm mentally preparing myself for some weird body horror yeah.
We'll see likewise i have i've never seen it but even when it came out like 10 years ago i was like this sounds so bizarre i need to see this and then i just never have so i'm really excited we'll be talking about it soon.

(21:35):
It's about it's about a podcaster yeah a podcaster who is maybe a little too obsessed with walruses right as far as i know.
Or well he's the victim of that i guess but we won't provide me i don't know is he the victim of a heinous walrus act.
From what i've read but you know we'll have to see we'll have to find out soon okay.

(22:00):
I know the plot is something like that it's so strange yeah.
All right the beast from 20,000 fathoms bit of a tongue twister.
What's your personal history with this film.
This is my first time watching it and i wanted to see it for so long i knew that it was very influential in the monster movie sub genre was a huge influence on godzilla and some other movies.

(22:29):
I won't get ahead of ourselves too much but i've heard a lot about this movie and i've always been very excited to see it but i haven't until now.
All right this was my second watch i first watched it just a few years ago.
And ye olde video universe the video rental store that shut down a couple years ago here.
I picked up the dvd for five dollars.

(22:54):
Can't really see it but on this dvd there's some really great feature at that i found on youtube of course.
And i've linked those in our show notes and i would highly recommend those to anyone wishing to learn more because most of my notes are going to come from.
Those feature at and a couple of their other readings that i've i've sourced in the link in the show notes.

(23:20):
Yeah and with you know ray harry house and and ray bradbury both being involved with this movie i just think there's a lot more sort of like firsthand accounts than you might get with a lot of these older monster movies so there's a wealth of information out there about this movie.
Yeah yeah so we'll go through that folks will go through the cast and crew will go through that production history will go through its release and the legacy of this film.

(23:47):
We will hear from peter lori he's going to premier his poverty row picture show.
Tonight for you he's going to talk about the boys of the city a monogram picture from nineteen forty.
Trust me it's a little more exciting than that title would have you believe and then we'll give the give the beast our final rating and we'll and we'll peace out until until godzilla in a couple weeks.

(24:13):
Yeah.
Most terrifying news of all at nightfall monstrous animals crawl out of crater of volcano great herds of cattle stampede before this living inferno.
Vast area devastated by appalling new horror a creature named the black scorpion by panic stricken people of san lorenzo.

(24:40):
Entire population praise for deliverance.
For miles around cowboys came upon one dead steer after another one of them heard the tale of the demon bull of the marico having lost family or friends something absolutely unknown it could be in another world.
Nations leaders confer as news received a possible threat to capital this is a city of four million people.

(25:04):
The word of these leaks out the panic of the population could be worse than the scorpions the black scorpion destroys communication.
One hundred.

(25:41):
Here's the kind of movie you're waiting to see as John Ford and Miriam C Cooper presents mighty Joe Young whose sensational exploits will startle you.
Frill you electrify you with hair raising excitement and suspense see mighty Joe Young as he savagely resists capture in his native Africa.

(26:03):
See the most fantastic relationship between beast and beauty a mere girl mastering a primitive giant see mighty Joe Young and raged by Hollywood pranksters destroy film lands.
Trankiest nightclub on a fabulous sunset strip.

(26:33):
No motion picture of our time has ever unleashed shock spectacle of such scope and realism has up from the depths of prehistoric mystery rages Virgo.

(27:01):
The world is the fabulous story of this monster from another age catapulted from some vast subocean cabin by unprecedented volcanic action and the headlines screen the story of the reckless skin divers who captured the monster and put it on exhibition.
Tom.

(27:32):
But the headlines do not record the story of a little boy who had a curious sympathy and understanding for the fantastic creature what strange secret does he know that scientists only suspect you trying to say that maybe a fully grown one of these things around somewhere.
How big would a full grown one be an approximate guess the infant.

(27:54):
The adult.
That will make a nearly 200 feet tall.
Matt I know you want to talk about Eugene Laurier.
I do yeah Eugene Laurier he he was a Russian French filmmaker he started off as a production designer working with John Renoir quite a bit he did the production design on grand illusion from 1937 and all time classic great movie.

(28:28):
The beast from twenty thousand fathoms was lorries directorial debut afterwards he was kind of pigeonholed as a sci fi director he made the Colossus of New York from 1958.
The giant behemoth from 1959 and the movie that we've talked about in the podcast which i liked quite a bit gorgon from 1961 i know and i totally forgot Laurier directed that.

(28:53):
Me too i recognize his name but i couldn't place it at first and then i did more research and saw that film in his filmography and yeah that's that's a good movie it's kind of a british ripoff of both King Kong and Godzilla but in the best way possible.
I know but here we are talking about it again and going back to our conversation on our never ending list the giant behemoth is a british monster movie.

(29:20):
Exactly what you'd expect a giant dinosaur comes up from the ocean and destroys London in this case or some some city in England with that said though i think it's really well done and because it's british.
That's been on my list for a long time.
Well i'm i think and i hope we'll talk about it someday kind of makes me want to rewatch gorgon again to be i know.

(29:47):
I remember we will you know not spend too much time on this but i remember when we talked about gorgon you brought up the friendship between the two men in that movie and how sort of like unexpectedly intimate it is and like.
Maybe the question of if there's anything more than just platonic friendship going on but regardless it like their friendship is one of the most fascinating things about that movie which is like more than just a ripoff it's a little bit weirder than you would expect so highly recommended gorgon.

(30:15):
Exactly yeah yeah so going back to the beast from twenty thousand fathoms then this movie was produced by two guys jack deets and.
How e chester now it's just it's just too good it's too good this is all lining up with our poverty row series because jack deets work for monogram pictures in the forties he produced things like the eight man with a bala lago sea.

(30:44):
And how e chester.
Was an actor in the troop of of young kids called the bowery boys or the east end kids or the dead end kids they were like the little rascals in the thirties and forties.
And they star in boys of the city which mister loris talking about tonight i was like how e chester is in that movie as an actor wow it all comes together that's amazing.

(31:15):
Ten years later he produces this classic monster movie.
Does this peter lorian you know that i'm i would imagine he does.
Yeah i think he's the one who told me actually okay nice yeah yeah it was the stuff yeah yeah yeah it's like he was there.
Yeah yeah well that's amazing what a cool coincidence that's great.

(31:38):
Yeah okay the.
The screenplays by lou morhaime and fred fry burger fried burger it's a fun name.
The story itself though is suggested by ray bradbury's own short story called the foghorn published in 1951 in the saturday evening post we're going to talk a lot about that story and bradbury's connection.

(32:06):
After we get to the casting crew here.
Indeed and i so those were the credited screenwriters and story.
Developers but there were actually others that i think worked on the screenplay on credited i think actually harry housing and the director usually on lori did a little bit robert smith i read also contributed to the screenplay to be honest i don't know a lot about him but as usual this was kind of a screenplay by committee sort of situation.

(32:31):
Yeah yeah.
Were you familiar with john l russell no.
He's a cinematographer for this movie and he also did the photography for psycho really yeah wow i well yeah now i feel uneducated i feel like i should know that name john l russell yeah.

(32:53):
I would absolutely should have known that he shot psycho which is of course an incredibly shot movie wow.
I don't see a lot of other titles on his list that that i recognize but that's amazing and you know one of the things i love about psycho is that hitchcock chose to use kind of like a tv production crew so maybe that's why i don't know his name quite as much but i probably should because he does great work.

(33:18):
Yeah and this is something i like about the movie a lot it is before i even knew that i noticed the photography in beast i noticed the the use of light and shadow and fire in this movie like there's a lot of sharp contrasts and then when i made the psycho connection.

(33:39):
I mean that black and white photography is beautiful too yes absolutely yeah so beast from twenty thousand fathoms would have been seven years before psycho but but yeah to your point i think like you can see signs of like what he would bring to psycho already in this movie and i would just add to what you said that like the use of like.

(33:59):
Set design and like lighting the set in a certain way so it looks realistic instead of you know stage bound or whatever like including the arctic sets at the beginning of the movie they look great they're like this is this bright white light that's kind of like very foreboding and ominous.
So yeah just in a nutshell i agree with you a really beautifully shot movie.

(34:20):
Yeah where were we oh my tab i lost it found it.
It's a common problem with camp kaju i have dozens of tabs open right now.
Most importantly one of the most important crew members on the beast from twenty thousand fathoms is ray harryhausen stop motion animator a legend of course in the monster movie and sci fi.

(34:45):
I'm genre this was actually his first solo credit as the lead sort of special effects designer he had previous previously assisted willis o'brien and mighty joe young.
I'm in willis o'brien i'm sure we'll talk about this a little bit more as well but he was kind of an idol hero to ray harryhausen because willis o'brien to the effects for the lost world from nineteen twenty five

(35:07):
as well as king kong so you know harryhausen had been willis o'brien's assistant on mighty joe young.
But again beast from twenty thousand fathoms was his first movie in full control over the technical effects.
Indeed and he was this movie was an independent production actually it was later bought up by warner brothers deets and chester sold it to warner brothers and they ultimately distributed the film and made a killing.

(35:37):
As we'll get to in our release section.
Indeed all right that's behind the camera who's in front of the camera in this movie.
Not so many people that i know about in the in the lead role we have paul christian who is a swiss actor i think his birth name was paul hoopschmidt if i remember right.

(35:59):
But he often went by the last name christian in his american movies so he plays the main character of professor tom nesbitt.
I have mrs nesbitt.
I was thinking that as well.
Such a great last name i love.
Paula raymond plays lee hunter the female scientist and eventual love interest of mr nesbitt.

(36:28):
Then we also have sessile calloway maybe cecil calloway sorry i might be mispronouncing that who according to vincent played a leprechaun in the luck of irish.
Which i can verify now looking at his wikipedia page so yes sessile or cecil calloway was a south african character actor he was also in guess who's coming to dinner.

(36:51):
The postman always rings twice he was in that as well.
Oh yeah that's right yeah he's another guy where i knew i recognized his face when i saw him in this movie.
So he's kind of like the you know respected kind of old fuddy duddy scientist who initially does not believe professor nesbitt.
That he saw you know a dinosaur resurrected in the arctic but then comes around to believe him.

(37:14):
Yeah speaking of the arctic kenneth toby is in the beast he plays colonel jack evans and he played a prominent role in.
The thing from another world just a few years prior so he was a familiar face that i like to see and then.

(37:36):
This is where i'm uneducated lee van cleaf is in this movie and i knew i recognized that name.
And he stars in sergio leone's dollar trilogy which i've never seen.
Oh i love those movies i really love spaghetti westerns a lot there that's one of my favorite sub genres and.
Leave and cleave is a fascinating person and actor he you know this was in his early hollywood career and then he kind of got a little washed up in the late 50s he.

(38:04):
You know unfortunately struggled with alcoholism and some other issues he was deemed untrustworthy and didn't have any starring roles or even any supporting roles for quite a while until sergio leone reached out to him kind of at his lowest depths.
And wanted him to be in i think for a few dollars more was the first one that he was in the metrology although i could be wrong about that.
But yeah leave and cleave has this tremendous like physicality he looks kind of ominous but also weirdly beautiful at the same time with like a very sharp cheekbones and like.

(38:34):
He's he's just a fascinating person and even though he's only in this movie for like five minutes maybe a little bit more he makes an impact for sure.
Wow yeah so i literally have those dvds like the trilogy on my movie shelf and i always look at them and say i need to watch them and i just haven't yet.

(38:54):
They're great i mean sergio leone made some of the most stylish movies ever they're beautiful very entertaining i think you're gonna like them.
Oh yeah i have no doubt they're also great dad movies so it's about time you watch them.
I'm always looking for a good dad movie yeah i forget what i watched recently if it comes to me i'll i'll bring it up for sure.

(39:19):
You'll be an expert soon.
So this all started the beast from twenty thousand fathoms with a short story.
By none other than ray bradbury.
Who is a legendary science fiction writer.
Fahrenheit four fifty one the martian chronicles.
Yeah and we can go on and on well in nineteen fifty one he was just starting his career he was early just like ray harryhausen and he published a short story called.

(39:49):
At the time it was called the beast from twenty thousand fathoms in the saturday evening post.
Now it's a little convoluted.
Dietz and chester they're looking to produce a monster movie because king kong had been re-released in nineteen fifty one nineteen fifty two.

(40:11):
So they want to produce their own version.
They write this story called the monster from beneath the sea.
They bring ray harryhausen on board say we'd love you to do the special effects because we can't hire willis o'brien because our budget is next to nothing.
We know you're gonna work for free.

(40:34):
So pretty much yeah harryhausen dietz and chester they're working on this movie.
They bring in ray bradbury to just read the script.
Because harryhausen bradbury i didn't know this had been best friends since they were eighteen years old they met in l.a.
And over lunch they were at a cafeteria and they realized they both love the movie the lost world and king kong.

(41:02):
And hearing them talk in this interview this feature at.
One of them said i think it's bradbury he's like we became friends because we both liked dinosaurs.
I love that that's such a childlike but not childish thing you know it's great yeah it's so wholesome yeah.

(41:26):
There again i don't mean to steal your thunder but in that same interview there one of them says something i think again it's bradbury but he says like.
It's been like a pleasure growing old with ray harryhausen but like staying young you know like not like the we're retaining that sort of childlike wonder.
Yeah.
It's it's really great it really inspired me and.

(41:50):
I honestly didn't know anything about ray bradbury other than what i've read.
So just to hear him talk was was a treat and.
Yeah knowing he and ray harryhausen were literally best friends they weren't just like oh yeah we've known each other for decades they were best men and each other's weddings they.

(42:11):
Like they've always been for each other.
I love it it's a heartwarming story it's great and the fact that they kind of reunited to make this movie it just feels like fate was involved a little bit yeah it's the only time they actually work together.
Unfortunately but anyways what happens is harryhausen brings bradbury in to read the script and bradbury says you know what this bears an awful lot of resemblance to my short story.

(42:41):
Which it did because harryhausen had been shown an illustration from bradbury's story the only similarities that they share is the is the lighthouse scene.
But it was enough of a similarity where deets went okay you know what let's just buy the rights to the to your story and we'll give you a credit bradbury will give you a credit and because now you're a popular writer so that gave some credit to the overall picture.

(43:13):
So that's that's how it happened.
And they took the title of the story as well they changed it to the beast from 20,000 feathers.
Right and then bradbury changed the story the name of his story to the foghorn so that's where that's how that's the title you'll find his story under.
It is a little convoluted I would love to read that story I mean the lighthouse attack scene and beast from 20,000 fathoms maybe the best scene in the movie and that's the one that's taken from the story I don't know.

(43:42):
The story is like six pages long I found it for free just a PDF but what it comes down to is there's a dinosaur that comes up from the sea and it hears this foghorn and the dinosaur thinks it's the call of a mate of like a long lost companion.

(44:05):
And it it follows the foghorn until it finds the lighthouse and then it's so heartbroken that it's not another dinosaur that it destroys the building.
It's a melancholy story. Yeah.
Which I might I'm again I'm just gonna say.
Foreshadowing a little bit I I feel like the movie could have used more of that melancholy. Yeah, for sure. I agree yeah like we, you know I mean the beast in this movie is very intense very frightening in a lot of different ways but yeah we don't get a sense of like.

(44:46):
It may be sounds weird to say his humanity but it's kind of true like Godzilla and King Kong both have a human element to them you know exactly which is why I think ultimately those two movies.
That's why they stand the test of time and beast might fall a little short of their status.
Yeah, I think I would agree with that but I suppose we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. I do still love the lighthouse scene in this movie and I mean probably people listening can see the background behind you but it's just very it's a very beautiful scene it's shot mostly in silhouette.

(45:20):
It's very haunting for sure. It's striking. Yeah, I love it.
So, back to the production.
There was a made up dinosaur for this movie. It's called the reddysaurus.
And that was because Ray Harryhausen, as he says he didn't want to just create another like T Rex type of thing or a brontosaurus things that had been done to death in the Willis O'Brien movies we keep mentioning. So he came up with his own concept his own creature called the reddysaurus a four legged.

(45:58):
It looks like a tyrannosaurus mixed with an iguana maybe.
But yeah, that's where we get that.
Yeah, from what I read it went through a lot of different designs kind of started off with like a more round circular head until it kind of has this honestly fairly Godzilla esque that we see in the movie.
Yeah, and I look I also read that like when this movie came out I got some criticism from like paleontologists and scientists that it wasn't realistic dinosaur. I was like, don't you know don't see a movie called the beast from 20,000 fathoms if you're looking for that's probably not a good idea.

(46:33):
Seriously.
No, I think the reddysaurus looks pretty good in this movie. Yeah, I did too it is fearsome. I do think
like it's not scary right like we're past.
You know, this isn't scary to modern audiences, but I do think there's a ferocity to this creature.
That is, that does make me go oh, I wouldn't want to mess with this thing. Yeah. Yeah, and I, there are a couple point of view shots of people looking at the monster.

(47:02):
Like especially through windows like that happens in the lighthouse scene, and it happens in an earlier scene where a couple fishermen on a boat, look outside the windows and see the monster right outside of the window.
And I would say those shots are actually sort of scary like we see this like full on close up of the monsters head, and there's like, you know, rain and darkness and shadow in front of it like some really effective shots for sure.

(47:25):
Yeah, yeah.
We got to talk about dynamation a little bit.
This was Ray Harryhausen's trademark process of creating his visual effects. It's a matte process to put it as simply as possible.
That would you like to read his quote, I think he explains it a little bit in his own words. Yeah, definitely I find this quote fascinating. So Harryhausen says, I split the screen in front of the 16 millimeter camera by using a glass with a blacked out

(47:57):
portions where the model was standing. After photographing one portion, I would rewind to the exposed film black out the already exposed half, and then photograph the blacked out portion of the projection plate.
Theoretically, the whole thing would look like the model was part of the picture.
That's the end of his quote, and that technique had sort of been used for a while like whenever there are sort of like background matte paintings that are like in like, you know, the actors seem to be engaging with in some way that's essentially a similar thing.

(48:29):
But I, you know, I think for stop motion animation, it had never been done like this or never to this extent anyway. It's a very convincing effect in this movie.
Yep, yep. And I'm still not an expert in describing it. But I know like if Willis O'Brien were to do this, he would have a whole team working with the sets, the model sets and the plates and the, and the armatures.

(48:55):
But Ray Harryhausen, he worked by himself, he preferred that so his dynamation could be done just by one person.
That's one contrast. Yeah, again, I think I need to like, just have somebody actually show me physically in a room.
Now this is done.
I know what you mean. I feel like I understand the broad concept. I don't totally understand how dynamation is different than the other kinds of like, you know, double exposure or whatever that had been done before.

(49:27):
But all I know is it looks great in the Beast. Yeah.
Yeah.
And Harryhausen worked for five to six months on these effects, and he put his own money into it at the end. He only had like $15,000 to work with, which is like even at even at the time it was next to nothing.

(49:49):
Yeah, and it's incredible that he did all the effects work himself.
I'm sure we'll talk more about it later but it's a labor of love. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh.
That's why these movies like the the labor costs and the time costs of this kind of stop motion does take five to six months plus, which is why it's not really done even even back in the day, folks.

(50:17):
Ray Harryhausen was the only one really doing it to this level.
Because it was such a hard technique to do well. And you know it's bad when it's you see a. Yeah, you know bad stop motion when you see it. Yeah, like the Valley of Gwangi maybe am I right.
What?

(50:39):
I think maybe you like that movie a little bit more than I did, but I do think there's a vast disparity in quality for the stop motion animation between this movie and that one.
Yeah.
Although was that Harryhausen to now I can't remember. Yeah. Okay.
Well, okay I still feel like the beast is a better in its stop motion animation but I take it back a little bit. I, I think beast is shot better. Yeah, which I think has an effect on the overall impact.

(51:07):
Yeah, that's a good point. Maybe it's the other crew members and the cinematographer and whatnot who elevated in this case, and Harryhausen of course too but the other crew members as well because like you're talking about this lighthouse scene it's shot and it's shot so starkly black and white, in part because Harryhausen said it's just easier to hide the flaws of the animation.

(51:28):
Yeah, and I'm not a big fan of the Valley of Gwangi is color cinematography so actually, yeah, it's a good point.
You've convinced me I didn't mean to get a little defensive there. No, you have convinced me I think I'm being a little too hard on that movie.
But the beast and 20,000 fathoms is way better. I agree wholeheartedly.

(51:53):
We're gonna fight here. Yeah, I could tell I could tell I hit a nerve there sorry about that.
I'm just gonna. I'll call it.
You want to talk about the release and legacy. Sure yeah this was a huge box office hit I think I read somewhere that Warner Brothers paid like $400,000 for it, and then made millions like almost immediately.

(52:16):
It did get mixed reviews critics were, you know, a little bit torn they did generally praise the special effects of the monster, but complained a little bit about some of the human characters and maybe a drag a little bit some of the lack of realism which again I'm like, you're watching the wrong movie if that's what you're looking for, but I did get some mixed reviews.
But the legacy of this movie was enormous Vincent like you said before this came out shortly after a rerelease of King Kong I think in 1952.

(52:46):
So those two movies together King Kong and the beast from 20,000 fathoms.
Those two are credited with kicking off giant monster movie genre of the 1950s.
Many of its plot devices would reappear very often throughout monster movies over the years. You have an ancient dinosaur being awoken from an atomic bomb.

(53:07):
You know you have all these scientists like one of whom usually is like convinced of what's going on, and then many others who think he's kind of crazy. You generally have kind of like a maybe not super interesting love interest.
So yeah, all those things are present in this movie for sure all of those also would be influences on the following years go Jita or Godzilla of course.

(53:31):
Be some 20,000 fathoms is commonly seen as one of the direct influences on that movie and you know indirectly the whole Godzilla franchise.
Yeah, it was never like Tomiuki Tanaka the producer of Godzilla. He never admitted to that but you read any source on the subject and you just watch the two movies and you're like how could.

(53:55):
Yeah, the Japanese producers were not living in a bubble. They saw this they saw how successful it would be. They they they took it and they they did their own thing with it. It's it's yeah it's it's the beginning. It's the beginning of an entire genre starts here.
Yeah, and I think it's fascinating you know like maybe the first gasp of that was, you know the Willis O'Brien movies that we already talked about the Lost World and the King Kong and some of those other sort of silent era or early sound like fantasy and

(54:26):
monster movies but then there was a gap of like maybe 20 years. Yeah, you know monster movies weren't that huge and then they came back in full force in the 1950s.
Yeah, it makes me think about like the cultural goo that was just simmering and and the effect World War Two had I mean I've read I have read books on the subject of like why why horror tastes.

(54:52):
Well kind of horror went away in the 30s in the late 30s.
It came back in the 40s with World War Two where we're fighting all these European Gothic monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein and then the war ends and horror goes away for five years and it doesn't come back until the early 50s when you have atomic anxiety now.

(55:16):
So now filmmakers are you know finding these new ways to to to tell our tell these metaphors about these new fears.
Yeah, it's it's fascinating really I mean like in the immediate post war years probably you know with Italian the realism and even in the United States with like the best years of our lives and movies like that.

(55:37):
I think there was an attempt to confront those social and political issues a little bit more directly. But to your point then with like you know the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation I think horror kind of became the perfect allegory to present those themes and those fears.
Yeah.
They got done the death but but the good ones. They're so good.

(55:59):
Yeah, absolutely and still kind of timely for a lot of those themes you know.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, this is a great time to hit you with our sponsor break.
Zach Linder the ZAKPAC is powered by Coldwell Bank of Realty. They are your source for real estate home rehab fixing and flipping for investor clients and residential buyers.

(56:22):
Reach out to the ZAKPAC today for real estate services. Follow the ZAKPAC on social media and contact the ZAKPAC for investment opportunities. Links in the show notes.
I'm going to try to find a comment.
You know the downside of us going on a little break was, you know, we stopped beating the drum a little bit on on listener comments but folks if you're out there, please, you know, shout out to us.

(56:49):
And just give me a second. I'm going to try to find an old one. I'm going to dig into our archives. All right.
Let's see here. I'm trying to find one that's also maybe a little relevant.
Oh, the Valley of Gwanji.
We got a couple of comments on that.

(57:11):
Let's see here. Oh, this is weird.
Oh, no, it's not. Yes, it is. So, Michelle.
Michelle Abela.
One year ago, commented on our YouTube video for the Valley of Gwanji. Michelle says this video is great like dynamite and then used a dynamite emoji.

(57:35):
It looks like a thousand times. I can't count that many. Whoa. Yeah. So she she felt very strongly about us.
Maybe Gwanji. Yeah. And maybe like you, she's a diehard fan of the Valley of Gwanji.
I would like to believe it's us, but I think it's more than movie. That's my guess.

(57:59):
Maybe. Hey, don't sell yourself short. Thanks either way, Michelle. That's very nice.
Well, Michelle, you have two fans here. We'd love to hear from you again if you happen to be listening.
Yeah, I hope our other videos are dynamite too.
Dynamation. Hey, nice.
It all comes together.

(58:22):
I just love this movie. OK, now we're going to turn it over to Peter Laurie.
Welcome to Poverty Row Studios on the other side of Hollywood, where the stars were dimmer and the red carpet stripped with blood.

(58:44):
Together, we will watch the best of the worst, movies known for their limited budgets, outlandish concepts and questionable performances.
But with enough ghosts, zombies, ape men and devil bats to keep you up at night.
This is the Poverty Row Picture Show, and I dare you to sleep through these nightmares.

(59:10):
Hello, listeners, and thank you for joining me in this new segment as we scrape the bottom of the Hollywood barrel.
What we find may be questionable, but keep an open mind.
Some of our favorite monsters live in the quagmire of our psyches.
If I may introduce myself, I am Peter Laurie.

(59:31):
You may know me from such films as The Beast with Five Fingers and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
This week on the Poverty Row Picture Show, I...
Oh, yes, that is right. Of course, listeners, allow me to introduce my assistant.
No, Pierre, you are not a co-host. I don't care what imaginations you harbor in that insignificant brain of yours.

(01:00:00):
My apologies, listeners. This is Pierre, my little rodent friend and one-time would-be assassin.
It is a tale of horror and bloodshed that I will share as we get to know each other a little better throughout the season.
Now, as I was saying, this week on the Poverty Row Picture Show, I am discussing the 1940 horror comedy Boys of the City from Monogram Pictures.

(01:00:29):
This dreadful affair stars the lovably dim-witted gang of orphans known as the East End Kids.
They made dozens of screwball pictures throughout Hollywood's golden age.
Boys of the City finds the rascals solving a ghostly murder mystery in a mansion in the country.
Hilarity ensues when gangsters arrive with their own schemes and desires for fame and desires for riches.

(01:00:53):
Now, the film is directed by Joseph H. Lewis, a director of later Distinction, and despite the overall technical deficiencies, the ensemble offers enough charm for what it is worth.
However, where I cannot in good faith recommend this movie is in its portrayal of what the one black character of the gang played by Sunshine Sammy Morrison.

(01:01:14):
Oh, my friends, fellow listeners, there are some regrettable moments of racial caricature that are scarier than any of the ghostly goings on.
I can only hope that future East End Kid installments are more sensitive in this manner, but only time will tell.
Oh, Pierre, you should not laugh at any of this. This was a terrible moment in the film that what you are referencing, don't ever do that again in my presence, please.

(01:01:45):
What is the matter with you? Go do whatever it is that the little podcasting rats do.
Anyways, next time on the Poverty Row Picture Show, we serve up our first mad scientist feature, a Boris Karloff movie known as The Ape.
It promises to be some serious monkey business. You'll simply go bananas over this tale of crazed madness and monkeyin' around.

(01:02:33):
Ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to see has never been seen before by human eyes.

(01:03:03):
One, two, one, two, one, two.
Professor, there's a big lizard back there and he's headed this way. Now get aboard.
You talk about themes a little bit.
Yeah, we can talk about themes.

(01:03:25):
Okay. I didn't find much. I mean, I think those are just kind of like the obligatory themes.
Although, yeah, so, you know, as we already talked about, it's very much about the fears of atomic bomb testing.
That is the force that awakens the Redisaurus in this movie, the beast, if you will.
But, you know, I feel like this movie's attitude towards nuclear weaponry and just like nuclear science in general is a little bit ambivalent.

(01:03:51):
Like, it's kind of a negative force, but also the way that they kill the monster is by shooting a radioactive isotope into its throat, into like a throat wound, which is amazing.
That scene is so awesome. I'm sure we'll talk more about that too.
But and even like early on when they're doing, you know, the military is doing their atomic bomb testing and some of the dialogue is like this wondrous new world of advancement and progression.

(01:04:17):
And there's like a little bit of like there's an ominous tone to it, sort of.
But there's also like just the sense of like, look at what human beings can do. Isn't this great?
And then, of course, they have to contend with this large dinosaur thing. But I just think it's kind of interesting, you know, like later movies, in particular, a lot of the Godzilla movies are just like very anti nuclear weaponry, of course.

(01:04:38):
And that's understandable. But this movie seems to be a little bit more ambivalent about it.
Yeah, there's a there's a quote that stood out to me early in the beginning when they're still in the Arctic.
And the character's name is George Ritchie. He's maybe he's the one who gets crushed under the ice, but he's referring to the they're testing an atomic bomb.
And he says, quote, you know, every time one of these things goes off, I feel as if I was helping to write the first chapter of a new Genesis.

(01:05:07):
I remember that line. And I think another character right afterwards says, hopefully, it's not the last chapter of the old one.
Yeah, like, that's a great you know, that's the contradiction there in a nutshell, you know.
Yeah, that was that that was a line that stood out to me because the rest of the movie, I think, is a little little ho hum.
And it's like it's script and and it's themes.

(01:05:31):
Yeah.
I think it's interesting to think about the redisaurus as this living weapon of war because it destroys New York.
It's a it was born of the atomic bomb.
Where it was awakened by it.
And it's impervious to bullets. I mean, they're shooting everything they have at it.

(01:05:52):
And then it's blood turns out to be poisonous.
And I read that as chemical warfare at that point.
And I just thought that was really interesting angle thematically.
Like, you're the American army and you're up against something that's like a Swiss army knife of weapons.

(01:06:13):
And you put this in the context of the Cold War.
And I think I think that allegory is frightening to American viewers at the time.
Like, what if our army isn't the best? What if our army can't win?
We're led to believe it will.
Right. I think, yeah, I think you're totally right about that.

(01:06:34):
And I, you know, eventually the American military and like science does save the day.
But there's certainly a question, you know, with the blood that seems to spread this virus at like a very alarming rate.
That's a really interesting subplot.
And like the movie doesn't really do a lot with it, unfortunately.
But but I do think it's a powerful allegory or symbol of just like the spread of nuclear radiation.

(01:06:55):
Like, it's kind of unstoppable in a way, you know.
Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought about that.
It's a kind of an all purpose allegory in a way or a metaphor.
No. So the giant behemoth, that other Eugene Laurier movie, I just remembered that the dinosaur in that it's irradiated.
And the effects of it moving through villages is is more apparent than it usually is in a movie.

(01:07:24):
Where the effects of the the the the excess radioactivity is never really shown or dealt with.
But in the in the giant behemoth, it is like plants die, pets fall ill.
Like, that's a main plot point in that movie.
That sounds great. It sounds fascinating.
Yeah, it's like the dinosaur is actually not the real threat.

(01:07:48):
It's the it's the the radiation it's it's spreading through the land.
Oh, man, we got to bring that movie to the podcast.
Sounds really good.
And I now consider myself a Eugene or Eugene Laurier fan.
So let's watch more of his stuff.
Me too. The Colossus of New York. I've never seen, never heard of it.
I got to do my homework.

(01:08:09):
And me too. Let's add it to the list.
But yeah, I mean, like, you know, I guess back to the subject of like the theme about fear around atomic testing and nuclear weaponry in this movie.
I think like it was like so influential, like this was one of the first ones to really like bring that theme into a monster movie that maybe it seems like somewhat stale now in retrospect.

(01:08:36):
But, you know, it's kind of cool to think about in 1953.
I mean, it's just, you know, what, eight years after the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that's like a major plot point in this movie.
So that's kind of audacious in retrospect.
Yeah, yeah.
I think what you I like what you said that in hindsight, it may seem a little stale because I think that's kind of like where I I think I think that's the.

(01:09:04):
I think that's why this movie can feel underrated at times.
Like, people know King Kong and Godzilla.
You mentioned the beast from 20,000 fathoms. If you're not a fan of these movies, you might have never heard of it.
I think that's a shame. But I think there's maybe a reason for that.

(01:09:26):
I think it's just, you know, when you take take everything else that that came after it, I think it can get lost in the mix a little bit.
Totally. I would agree with that. Yeah.
The do. Oh, sorry.
Sorry. There's one other theme I was going to bring up.
And if you wanted to move on or whatever, that's OK.

(01:09:47):
But so I was reading some reviews online of this movie and I happened to find one that's like 10 years old and it's from somebody's blog.
I had never heard of it before. The review is by somebody named Don Keely.
And they she he I guess I don't know what their pronouns are, but they make the points in the in the review that like it could function also as an allegory for like fear of desegregation in American life at the time.

(01:10:10):
The review makes the point that like all of the characters in the movie are white, except for the beast, which is visibly obviously very dark.
And, you know, like that argument didn't totally convince me. I was like, well, the majority of characters in American movies at this time, unfortunately, are white.
And, you know, I think they were just trying to make the beast, you know, look like a dinosaur, basically.

(01:10:31):
But then Don Keely in this review makes the point that when Professor Nesbitt and Lee Van Cleef put on the radioactive hazmat gear at the end, yes, they they're white hoods.
They look like Ku Klux Klan members.
And oh my God, I don't know if that's intentional. I kind of doubt it is, but it doesn't really matter.
Like, I think it is a really interesting connection. And even if this movie isn't like an intentional commentary on like desegregation, it's like an interesting theme to bring into it.

(01:11:00):
And maybe some of those racial tensions just in terms of the visual symbolism is still kind of there a little bit, you know, dude, when I I thought the same thing when they put on those hazmat suits, because one looks like.
A hazmat suit, but the other one, the the headpiece, it looks like a white bag like you would see like Django Unchained like they put the bags on their heads.

(01:11:27):
And I was startled. I was like, what? Maybe I'm yeah. And.
It's intended or not. I don't think it. I don't think it was intended. Right.
I agree. But regardless, as a as a resident of the United States of America, in tune with our history, that did catch my eye.

(01:11:48):
Yeah, me too. I mean, you know, like you said, as soon as they put the hoods on, it's like, oh, that is not a good look, you know, like, you know, if you're aware of American history.
So, yeah, no, it's a fascinating insight. When I read that in that review, I was like, wow, I'm the thought process processes are going off, you know. Wow.
Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Intentionality, maybe in the end doesn't matter all that much. It's still a very powerful visual symbol, I would say. Yeah. Yeah.

(01:12:15):
Thank you for bringing that up. Yeah. Could you share that link? I'd like to read that myself. Yeah, for sure. Yep. Cool. Cool.
I'll do so after the episode. Well, I'm happy to go into our personal breakdowns here. Totally. Yeah. Okay. What do you like about this movie?
Well, I'll start with some of the form aesthetic stuff. I'll include that in my breakdown here.

(01:12:40):
You know, I mean, like, again, the Ray Harryhausen special effects are really fantastic. They're so well done.
I think they're like as convincing as any stop motion animation had ever been up until this point of movie history. And in particular, I just kind of want to call out a couple things, I guess.
You know, we talked about the dynamation before, and I think that's why the interrelation of like background and foreground scenes seems very convincing to me in this movie.

(01:13:07):
Like, usually, like in King Kong, you can tell that like the stop motion stuff is in the background and like the characters, the human actors are just like interacting with the screen.
But in this movie, I think it really does feel like the monster is like 20 feet away from them. You know, it's a very convincing effect.
Shout out to Ray Harryhausen on that. And I think also just like he's almost like an actor in a way in this movie, Ray Harryhausen, because he's trying to think of like what the beast would do, the way it would move, the way it would respond to certain things.

(01:13:36):
Like there's one moment towards the end where he's shot. I think he's shot by a bazooka, not just by like normal bullets. And he like responds sort of like an angry cat would do, like it's hissing or something, you know.
And there's another moment where the beast like steps on a car and then like drags it along with him for a little bit, which I think is just a level of detail that many effects animators would not have done up until that time or even afterwards.

(01:14:03):
So there's more that I like about this movie, but I'm just going to leave it at that. It's I think the best stopmation effects ever up until that point of cinema history.
And and it's it's see these are things I didn't pick. I didn't really appreciate when I first watched this a number of years ago because I completely agree now that I've seen even other Harryhausen movies.

(01:14:26):
His work in this takes the cake for me. I it's it's so meticulously refined.
And that level of dedication from him is inspiring, but the there are several set pieces in this movie of action that coupled with the cinematography, I think is so beautiful.

(01:14:51):
The black and white in this movie is crisp and.
Yeah, you know, a good black and white cinematographer knows how to work with those shades.
There's the beginning, everything in the Arctic.
Very impressed with that set design.
When the Redisaurus attacks this fisherman.
I was very impressed. There's a shot of of the beast in the ocean, like playing with the boat like he's in a bathtub.

(01:15:19):
Very impressive. The lighthouse.
Underwater, the Cecil Kelleway character goes down in a diving bell and he's amongst this canyon and these giant cliffs and the light is is.
Silo. It's like sparkling through the water, like the underwater effects were really good in this movie and the ending at the amusement park with the inferno.

(01:15:49):
As is like, man, fire always looks good in black and white. And this is why.
Absolutely. Yeah, we have really talked about that ending too much, but, you know, they ride a roller coaster to like get up to a higher level to like shoot the isotope into the monster. And I mean, you know, you have like a marksman, you have a roller coaster, you have a big dinosaur.
How can you go wrong? It's so. It's amazing.

(01:16:12):
It's so good. And the monsters crying and screaming. It's death throes.
It's I would love to see this movie on a big screen. Yeah, that's what I was thinking watching it.
Oh, man. Maybe somebody will play it at some point. We got to go if they do. That sounds so fun. Yeah, I think you make a really good point that, you know, it's it is Harryhausen stop motion work, but it's also the cinematography and the set design and so many other things that come together to make it look as great as it does.

(01:16:39):
Yeah, and it was a cheapy independent movie.
So that's yeah. Yeah, like.
Yeah, like Godzilla minus one anything you can do good work. You can rise above what you're given with the right people on board.
Yeah, absolutely. If you have that creativity and that energy and that desire, it's totally doable.

(01:17:01):
That reminds me of a Roger Ebert quote that I I read it secondhand. I don't actually know what review it's from of his, but I read it in a different review of the beast from 20,000 fathoms.
But Ebert's quote basically says, you know, stop motion effects work looks fake, but feels real and CGI looks real, but feels fake.
And I couldn't agree more. I love that. Like, it's absolutely true in my opinion.

(01:17:25):
Interesting. Wow, cool. Yeah, I like that. What didn't work for you?
Well, I think as often it happens in Kaiju movies, the human characters are not very interesting. I think that's especially true in this case.
You know, we have the the professor, then you have another professor, then you have the love interest, then you have like maybe two or three like military guys who are just like square jawed and no nonsense.

(01:17:52):
And like obviously don't believe in these stories about a giant dinosaur.
So like whenever the beast is not on screen, the movie does drag a little bit. None of the human characters are really that substantial.
And, you know, we talked about like the the blood with a virus in it and how the movie doesn't really like do anything with that idea.
That was another shortcoming, I thought. And even though I love that this movie is only 80 minutes long, I think it could have been like 85 to 90 to like draw out some of those themes a little bit.

(01:18:22):
Couldn't agree more. I think the blood wrinkle in this as a conflict in this story.
It's it's you might as well not have it in there because it's such a tease. It's such a good like twist.
But yeah, the movie doesn't do anything with it because it's only 80 minutes.

(01:18:44):
I would have loved to have seen them now like, OK, how do we figure out this problem before we figure out how to defeat the actual monster?
Yeah, such a like the remake. If there's a remake of this, they have to go into that part.
Holy yeah. Like maybe if they had introduced that theme earlier, if like one of the first times like, you know, the beast bleeds for some reason and they figure it out like relatively early on that that's an issue that that could maybe work.

(01:19:11):
But yeah, it's a little bit pointless here, even though it's a cool idea.
Yeah. Yeah, the human characters, I they're bland.
There's nothing there but Nesbit, especially.
I don't want I'm not picking on the actor, but he like why was he cast?

(01:19:32):
Like, I just feel like. He is such a template like a cookie cutter white guy. Yeah, I'm like.
Give me a leave and cleave in this role. Give me Cary Grant like I don't know, like someone more interesting than than Mr.

(01:19:53):
White bread here because he doesn't really do anything and he's not. He yeah, I don't know. He's just watching paint dry. Right. Yeah.
No, fully agree. I mean, he's tall and he has great hair and that was probably the reason he was cast.
He you know, I mean, like I feel kind of bad saying this, but he also has kind of a French accent because he's a Swiss actor.

(01:20:15):
Yeah, that's fine, but it doesn't totally make sense for an American professor to, you know, for it. It's just not very convincing. You know, I thought the same thing.
Yeah, I just I just wanted like Kenneth Toby. He plays the supporting colonel.
I like I would make him the lead. Yeah. Nick Adams, maybe, you know, Nick Adams. Come on. Yeah.

(01:20:39):
Like there were probably many better choices than Paul Christian or. Yeah, I'm with you on that.
I mean, now that we're talking about it, there's a lot of like campy silly things in this movie.
But like at the end, when the redisaurus is rampaging through the city at one point, the army's like, we don't know where it is. I'm like, how? Why?

(01:21:04):
Yeah. Listen to like huge thunderous footsteps and you'll probably be able to find it, you know, follow the screams.
It's New York City. That's who. Yeah. The burning buildings, the smoke rising into there.
Probably a lot of giveaways. Who took your eye? Who took their eyes off?
Yeah, it's not very stealthy. It shouldn't be that hard. Yeah.

(01:21:27):
I mean, in general, the army, I guess, to your point, like the army does seem kind of inept in this movie and my favorite death in the movie is the poor police officer who just has this tiny pistol.
He's like shooting at the monster and it of course does nothing at all. And then the beast like, you know, like bites him right at his midsection.
I was actually wondering if that scene in Jurassic Park was kind of like an homage to that, you know, because like it's very, very similar.

(01:21:52):
Like the beast like picks up that guy and just like devours him. It's like, man, these police officers have to be trained better.
Your little pistol is not going to do anything against this thing or guy. He thought he was going to die hero.
And it's like. You didn't need to know you're not going to get the parade. I'm sorry.
I'll get a different kind of parade after he's gone.

(01:22:17):
At the end, it's Nesbit, of course.
And whoever else they have to climb down the roller coaster because now it's on fire.
And I get it. You have to climb down a burning roller coaster fairly slow.
You don't want to miss your your footing. Yeah. But once they hit the ground, they just saunter back over to like the people.

(01:22:45):
But the giant monster is screaming to death.
There is an inferno behind you and they're just like, take ten, everybody. OK.
Is that a wrap? Can we go home now? I'm like, guys, you got to give me some urgency.
Why are you so calm right now? I know exactly what you mean.

(01:23:07):
I laughed at that, too. Yeah. Those two guys like pat each other on the back and they give them like one of them gives a look like, thank God, that's over with.
It's like not appropriate for the situation.
I need to see the fear in your eyes that you just survived death.
Like, come on. Yeah. And there's an inferno right behind you.
No sense of heat. But they're not they're not acting with what, you know, should be behind them.

(01:23:33):
Yeah, I thought that was amusing. Yeah. And then the movie ends like 10 seconds later. It's a very, very abrupt end.
Yeah, that's ridiculous. Yeah.
My other last critique is that I mentioned it earlier. I just wanted.
Well, I'll put this in my in my final summation, actually. So let's rate this movie.

(01:23:58):
OK. Can I mention one can be thing first? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
For me, it would be the scene that you mentioned where Dr.
Elson, I think his name is, goes underground into like that big underwater trench. And it is a good scene.
It looks really beautiful. It's not very realistic looking.
But again, I don't really care about that too much. But then I think the thing that's funny is like
they're supposed to look out the windows of this thing and see like a shark and an octopus fighting each other.

(01:24:23):
But like the perspective makes no sense. And clearly, it's just like lifted from a scientific film.
And like it they would not be able to like see that from like where they are in their little diving bell or whatever.
So I thought that was amusing. And then another thing I thought was funny about that scene is that the doctor just keeps on talking like pretty much to himself,
even though there's another guy in the diving bell, like a military assistant or whatever.

(01:24:45):
And the doctor is like, say like he's blathering on about like untold tomorrows and like future mysteries and oh, I should have taken that dramamine and like all this stuff.
And the other guy doesn't say anything at all. And it just seemed really funny to me.
Like I expected that other military guy to be like, you know, we can just ride down in silence. You don't have to say anything, man.

(01:25:07):
Oh, like that entire scene was really funny. I thought.
And then the redisaurus, it's almost like the doctor, the scientist is just blabbering while the redisaurus is swimming up to the window.
It's like a point of POV shot. And that's it. And he's eaten.
Yeah, yeah, you're right. And weirdly, I kind of forgot that's how that scene ends. But yeah, he probably should have been paying more attention.

(01:25:31):
Yeah, it's like he was caught off guard because he was lost in his own thought process.
I shouldn't have had that burger for lunch.
Yeah, maybe focus on the task at hand and don't just keep on talking for no reason.
Very funny. Yeah, that seems great.

(01:25:56):
Well, feel free to give us your your legendary. Oh, yeah.
Sorry, I'm dropping the ball. All right. As usual, on Camp Kaiju, we have two. Sorry. Four different ratings.
Number one, it's a timeless classic and definitely stands the test of time.
Number two, there may be some antiquated moments, but overall, it's great. It stands the test of time.

(01:26:17):
Number three, it may be historically significant or just fun, but it does not stand the test of time.
And our lowest rating, it's not worth revisiting. It definitely does not stand the test of time.
OK, you go first. I'll end it since it was my pick. OK, that sounds good.
It's between two ratings for me, but I think I have to give this our highest rating.

(01:26:41):
It's timeless classic, definitely stands the test of time. I would, you know, put a little caveat on there.
There are some boring stretches and the humans are not very interesting.
But I mean, it was just so influential. It looks amazing.
Maybe some of the best stop motion monster effects of all time, even with its flaws.
I think you have to say it's a timeless classic. Oh, I love that.

(01:27:02):
Truly, I truly do. And I and I I'm also torn. I'm going to go with our second lowest rating.
Well, it definitely stands the test of time. Well, sorry.
Well, whatever our ratings are, it doesn't matter. Yeah.
You know, the points don't matter and we're all winners. But the it is a classic of the genre.

(01:27:24):
It is a found is a keystone of the genre. I think it's a must watch.
And I think the best part is that this movie does hold up.
Actually, it's not a stale, you know, old, dusty old book that you bring out.
Like this movie is alive. It crackles.
The visual effects are are incredible.

(01:27:47):
I mean, yeah, you're never like whatever. I love them. Yeah.
I just you know, if if if we're saying they want if this movie wants to be King Kong and Godzilla,
I do think it falls a touch short in the path pathos department.
I would have loved the monster to have been humanized a little bit more.

(01:28:11):
Maybe maybe it's looking for its lost love.
I don't know. Maybe we go back to Bradbury's original story.
But regardless, it's a must watch. Yeah.
I don't disagree with any of that. I think you're totally right.
It's one of those movies where I'm like, it has some problems and yet I love it.

(01:28:33):
You know, like I liked it even more than I expected to.
So it's great. So it's fun watching.
Even some of the like unintentionally funny stuff is still just really entertaining.
Yeah. Yeah. I think I think it's a shame that more people don't talk about this.
Maybe they do. But like I hadn't seen it till a few years ago.
You know, I've seen them. I've seen Tarantula.

(01:28:54):
I've seen all these other fifties atomic monster movies, but I hadn't seen this one.
And I wonder if it gets lost in the genre it it created.
I think you're exactly right about that. Yeah.
And I, you know, like Godzilla is probably my favorite monster movie of all time.

(01:29:15):
So like the movie that it influenced is better for sure.
Like there to me, there's no doubt about that.
But like like you said, this still holds up. It's not just an influence.
It still is like a great movie in its own terms, I think. Yeah.
All right. Ray Harryhausen.
So good to dip back into that. Well, we'll have to do it again.

(01:29:37):
I'm really like I really love his fantasy movies like The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.
I want to watch Clash of the Titans. That's on my list.
Me too. So yeah, you know, maybe maybe once a year we bring Harryhausen back.
Yeah, or or more. But we definitely have to bring Harryhausen back.

(01:30:02):
Yeah. Yeah. The Harryhausen, which is a great name for a horror movie in itself.
I don't know what the cloud is, but now my wheels are spinning.
All right. Well, thank you all for listening.
Please rate and review wherever you listen.
You can share this podcast with a friend. That's always cool.
Bring in Retrivia. Subscribe to the website.

(01:30:25):
Oh, that's what I want to say.
Folks follow CampKaijuPodcast.com, but follow the website
and you can get email updates right into your inbox.
Patreon, the same deal, of course.
Matt, you have a sub stack, too.
Were you review movies? I do.

(01:30:46):
I'm happy to include a link to that in the show notes.
Oh, thank you. Oh, yeah.
Anyway, send us listener comments.
That's the lifeblood that keeps our mailbox going.
CampKaiju at gmail.com, Instagram, all those links in the show notes.
Or hey, leave us a voicemail at 612-470-2612

(01:31:08):
telling us about what you thought about the piece from 20,000 Fathoms.
Check out our website.
And CampKaiju is recorded in Minneapolis, St. Paul, of Menia's mailbox.
Music by Ben Cook Feltz. Thanks, friends.
And until next time, stay campy.
CampKaiju is sponsored by Zach Linder and the Zach Pack.
Powered by Coldwell Banker Realty, your source for real estate, home rehab,

(01:31:29):
fixing and flipping for invested clients and residential buyers.
Reach out to the Zach Pack today for real estate services.
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Contact the Zach Pack for investment opportunities.
Links in the show notes.
There he is.
It's unbelievable.

(01:31:52):
He's tremendous.
I can only see part of him.
The leg and the shoulder.
But he's enormous.
He found it. Shall I pull you up?
No, no, no. Put Lee on. Put Lee on.
He wants to talk to you.
Yes, doctor?
Lee? There's no mistake about it.

(01:32:14):
It's a periodic survival.
Exactly as we pictured it.
Except that the dorsal is singular, not bilateral.
And the clavicle suspension appears to be...
cantileveric.
But the most astonishing thing about it is that...

(01:32:36):
You know, we can just ride down in silence.
You don't have to say anything, man.

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