The last, and most overlook (next to the Invisible Man), series in Universal’s canon of iconographic monsters, Creature from the Black Lagoon was and–in many respects–continues to be, well ahead of its time in that it presents to a mass audience such risqué ideals as homosexuality, ecology, and evolution. Such concepts–not unlike the manner in which James Whale cunningly inserted culturally subversive ideas into his monster masterpieces–are cleverly veiled behind the shroud of pulp horror. However, though thought provoking, the impetus behind the Creature’s tertiary placement on the tier of Universal foes is due largely to the unfortunate fact that all three installments greatly suffer from poor, often forced, writing, as well as being fraught with technical errors.
An archeological expedition in the Amazon uncovers the remains of a Devonian period creature. As a team of scientists continue to search for more remains, they discover that the local myth of the Gill Man, who resides in the ominous Black Lagoon, still exists. The team then attempts to procure the creature, only to find themselves fleeing for their lives.
Director Jack Arnold’s predominate concern in the making of Creature from the Black Lagoon is to posit a cautionary tale, commonly seen in Creature’s 1950s invasion narrative peers. Surprisingly, this air of ethical concern is perpetuated throughout the series, though not felt as strongly in the director’s sequel, Revenge of the Creature, as it would be in the conclusion to the trilogy, John Sherwood’s The Creature Walks Among Us. Arnold’s disquiet is convoluted, but the genesis for his consternation is clearly focused: humanity’s hubris, as seen in his figurehead character of the expedition’s leader, Mark Williams (Richard Denning), who not only exhibits animosity toward everyone around him (for various reasons), but also houses hostilities toward his surroundings due to an innate inferiority complex inherent in Man, which he refuses to quell. For example, when the expedition’s tour guide, Lucas (Nestor Paiva), states, “The boys around here call it [the area the expedition is about to enter] ‘The Black Lagoon.’ Only they say nobody has ever come back to prove it,” Mark immediately demands that the group sally forth before he, much the alarm and chagrin of those around him, produces a harpoon, thereby prompting his employee, David Reed (Richard Carlson), to inquire, “What are you going to shoot?” to which the former responds, “Does it make any difference?” Later, when David’s fiancée Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams) declares, “Whatever the species might be, if you let it alone, it won’t bother you,” Mark voices the trademark foreboding which encompasses the essence of Arnold’s film (and the series as a whole), “Maybe, but if you’re wrong, this harpoon will correct any mistakes.” All of Mark’s machismo is fueled by his desire for recognition, thus accounting for the character, with Ahab-esque singularity, refusing to leave the Black Lagoon despite the fact that he and his crew are in mortal danger: He needs empirical evidence of his discovery, lest he not receive credit.
Admirably, Arnold parallels his principal theme with fittingly related motifs. Though the theory of evolution may not appear to initially concur with egoism, the filmmaker presents the scientific idea in such a light that it becomes instantaneously relevant to the issue at hand. Poignantly ironic, Mark’s anger and rage lacks perspective in the presence of what he deems animalistic fury in that he is unable to see the remarkable similarities (and distinct differences) between himself and the Creature, especially in respect to both individuals’ drives and motives. Mark is unable to reconcile with the notion that he would react in a similar manner if someone where to enter his environment and assault him though, unlike the Creature, he needn’t be provoked in order to perform an act of aggression. As such, Arnold leaves his audience to question how and when humanity acquired said trait. Furthermore, after watching the aquatic grace of both Kay and the Creature as the latter playfully mimics the former, we are forced to think back to the subtle progression of Arnold’s theme after the theory was formally introduced during the film’s prologue, i.e. both David and Kay’s mention of the lungfish as the connection between man and fish, how David’s mentor–Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno)–noted, much like the Creature, that his former student appeared as if he hadn’t aged a day since his time in the classroom, before we are wryly presented with David’s injuries, which appear strikingly gill-like upon his ribs toward the close of the production.
Similar concern is expressed with the motif of environmentalism, long before the movement’s formal organization. Ingeniously, Arnold is aware of the psychological opportunities afforded him given his premise in relation to the philosophies contained within his work, and proceeds to evoke audience sympathy for his titular character, which–due in no small part to the Creature’s anthropomorphic qualities–arguably renders as much pathos as Whale’s Monster. David observes that Mark’s sentiment–that he could metaphorically mount the Creature if he were able to bring it back to civilization–pangs of a big game hunter’s philosophy (which carries implications of an animal rights conclusion almost a quarter of a century prior to the appearance of Peter Singer’s groundbreaking work in the field, Animal Liberation). Mark then proceeds to harpoon the Creature in lieu of being attacked. Masterfully, Arnold then has David–despite the fact that the Creature has killed several members of the expedition–permit the Creature to escape, fully aware that the Creature is not culpable for any of his actions given the circumstances. Arnold compounds this compassion with a Beauty and the Beast motif (Creature from the Black Lagoon has plot similarities to Christian Nyby’s The Thing from Another World as well as the Skull Island portion of Merian Cooper’s King Kong) amid having the Creature watch as Kay obliviously tosses a cigarette into the lagoon while the other team members poison the lagoon in hopes of bringing the monster to the surface.
More risqué is the theme of homoeroticism–a monster in and of itself during the period–which runs throughout Creature from the Black Lagoon, thus establishing the film as one of the first, and most persistent, films of its type. Granted, we have a love triangle between David, Mark, and Kay but, knowing that traditional audiences would assume amorous direction, Arnold cleverly takes liberties throughout his production to posit a surprising amount of very interesting, highly subversive, subject matter. We watch as Mark doggedly harangues David, but it is never made explicitly clear whether Mark’s condemning glare in Kay’s direction is due to his unrequited affection for her or his jealousy of her engagement to Mark as one member aboard the ship, Thompson (Whit Bissell), ambiguously notes that Kay is worried about what is occurring between the male rivals. As a consequence, most viewers never issue a second thought to the prevalence of phallic weapons (harpoons and knives) directed at male characters throughout (Mark “accidentally” harpoons David at one point during the film–in the moist, Freudian watery depths no less) or that the Creature does not kill Kay–despite the fact that she is a flaccid female by the film’s decree (next to Fay Wray, Adams is the foremost “Scream Queen” of early horror cinema)–as the Creature’s energies are consumed by the numerous males onboard as they are attacked and killed which, by gender ratio (Kay is the only female within the expedition), should automatically bring up interpretive flags. Likewise, most assume that the poison being used to lure the beast out of his lair, Rotenone, has no symbolic significance despite the fact that the male scientists dilute the white power, thereby creating a murky solution, which will be ejaculated at the male monster via a long-stemmed metal rod. Though, granted, perhaps too much fun could be had in this regard with Mark’s impatient mutterings of “Come on. Come on” to David under his breath, to which the latter surprisingly quips, “You talkin’ to me?”
One is forced to issue due credit to Arnold for having had the forethought to posit a theme which, during the Red Scare, capitalized upon the fears of Americans in that it not only presents a daunting hypothetical, its essence running counter to Christian belief, but also timely projects its audience’s worst fears during the time–losing the Space Race. The “Dark Unknown,” Outer Space, is symbolized by the “black” lagoon, which contains strange, foreign creatures which we may not be able to control. Interestingly, in granting us such ideals, Arnold is subsequently obligated to invert the image of the hardened, mad scientist of horror yesteryear as provided by his Universal monster directorial peers–aided by the presence of Kay, the traditional Western icon of the civilizing female who thwarts the otherwise fatal flaw of male bravo–as Creature from the Black Lagoon presents the first of many concerned, ethical personages holding degrees in biology, chemistry, and physics, thereby easing our apprehensions with such fields so that the masses would more readily accept and condone its tax dollars being spent in order to deter volatile life forms or, worse yet, Communists, from taking charge.
In lieu of all of the thought-provoking ideas contained within the work, Creature from the Black Lagoon is not nearly as well rendered artistically as its Universal monster counterparts. From its pastiche, overbearing, cacophonous score involving three composers (as opposed to the traditional one), its two directors (Arnold and Fred Frank for the dry and underwater sequences respectively), to doubles of all of the cast (for the same reason), the film suffers from the proverbial “too many cooks in the kitchen.” This, alongside the film being shot in 3-D, thereby–by the production company’s demands–housing many arbitrary scenes of objects or characters hurdling toward the camera; languid underwater scenes exploiting the audience’s lack of exposure to sea life; forced dialogue; poor editing, such as a hard edit, which includes the score, occurring early in the picture; injudicious pacing with the appearance of the Creature (blurred sequences follow the complete presentation of the character), structural inconsistencies throughout, including broken booms miraculously repairing themselves, telephone poles appearing in the uncharted background, etc., all make for difficult viewing at times as the audience is forced to remain focused despite the temptation to ponder upon the most recent incongruity.
Though technically the weakest of the Universal monster films, Jack Arnold’s Creature from the Black Lagoon contains a plethora of intriguing, perhaps incendiary, but nonetheless rewarding ideas–from psychological examinations and gender theory to ecological parables and evolutionary symbolism–which stand second tier only to the titular character’s iconographic, omnipresent allure due–indubitably–to the resounding, subconscious underpinnings and connotations associated with it.
Trivia tidbit: Regardless of the film’s critical stature throughout the passage of time, Jack Arnold’s film will be forever remembered due to Jenny Clark, of the University of Cambridge, which–upon her discovery of a fossilized amphibian–immortalized the feature after she named her find “Eucritta melanolimnetes,” the Greek for “The Creature from the Black Lagoon.”
-Egregious Gurnow
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