(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.”
As monster movies go – of which The Beast Of 20,000 Fathoms (1953) most certainly is – audiences have seen this type of structure before.
Essentially, the script – credited to Lou Morheim, Fred Freiberger, and Ray Bradbury (IMDB.com also lists a few uncredited scribes as well) – hosts a big brave event in the beginning which serves as the catalyst to set something loose upon mankind, just the kind of incident everyone will live to regret (though some don’t). In this case, an arctic nuclear test unearths the dreaded rhedosaurus – a fictional creation – from its hibernation beneath mountains of ice and snow. Step by step, the plot progresses, forcing the dinosaur – in pursuit of its natural habitat – to move closer and closer to mankind. As the isolated attacks rise, it grows increasingly incumbent upon our hero – physicist Tom Nesbitt (played by Paul Hubschmid) – to not only convince the authorities that not only what he witnessed at the North Pole is real but also to prepare for it to eventually come ashore and wreak havoc on the little people.
By ‘little people’ I mean EVERYONE!
Furthermore, the narrative emotional mechanic of the traditional monster movie – which Beast assuredly follows as well – is that it could be argued that the central creature is as much a victim as are the bodies it instinctively leaves in its wake. The rhedosaurus – much like Frankenstein, Godzilla, King Kong or Rachel Zegler’s Snow White – didn’t ask to be born. It didn’t demand to be released into the civilized era. It didn’t mean to perch at the top of the food chain. Merely as a consequence of breathing, it feeds and moves around to explore its world, as does anything; so the audience – while horrified at what the rhedo accomplishes in the pursuit of a normal day – also grows a modicum of sympathy for ‘the big guy.’ After all, it isn’t the Beast’s fault that those pesky U.S. government scientists hatched a nuke at the top of the world. It’s not the Beast’s fault that the blast served as a gloriously radioactive wake-up call. Now that it’s up, it has to eat, doesn’t it?
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and, ultimately, New York City.”
As monster movies go – of which The Beast Of 20,000 Fathoms (1953) most certainly is – audiences have seen this type of structure before.
Essentially, the script – credited to Lou Morheim, Fred Freiberger, and Ray Bradbury (IMDB.com also lists a few uncredited scribes as well) – hosts a big brave event in the beginning which serves as the catalyst to set something loose upon mankind, just the kind of incident everyone will live to regret (though some don’t). In this case, an arctic nuclear test unearths the dreaded rhedosaurus – a fictional creation – from its hibernation beneath mountains of ice and snow. Step by step, the plot progresses, forcing the dinosaur – in pursuit of its natural habitat – to move closer and closer to mankind. As the isolated attacks rise, it grows increasingly incumbent upon our hero – physicist Tom Nesbitt (played by Paul Hubschmid) – to not only convince the authorities that not only what he witnessed at the North Pole is real but also to prepare for it to eventually come ashore and wreak havoc on the little people.
By ‘little people’ I mean EVERYONE!
Furthermore, the narrative emotional mechanic of the traditional monster movie – which Beast assuredly follows as well – is that it could be argued that the central creature is as much a victim as are the bodies it instinctively leaves in its wake. The rhedosaurus – much like Frankenstein, Godzilla, King Kong or Rachel Zegler’s Snow White – didn’t ask to be born. It didn’t demand to be released into the civilized era. It didn’t mean to perch at the top of the food chain. Merely as a consequence of breathing, it feeds and moves around to explore its world, as does anything; so the audience – while horrified at what the rhedo accomplishes in the pursuit of a normal day – also grows a modicum of sympathy for ‘the big guy.’ After all, it isn’t the Beast’s fault that those pesky U.S. government scientists hatched a nuke at the top of the world. It’s not the Beast’s fault that the blast served as a gloriously radioactive wake-up call. Now that it’s up, it has to eat, doesn’t it?
Now that it’s clear exactly what Beast is – as an enterprise unto itself – the celebrations can begin because this humble little effort from 1953 paved the way for hundreds if not thousands of imitators to follow in its era and the decades ahead. Director Eugène Lourié hired Ray Harryhausen – a protégé of stop-motion legend Willis O’Brien who rather famously brought King Kong to the silver screen in 1933 – and, together with screenwriters, they hammered out the tale of the dinosaur’s introduction to the modern era. Having the effects specialist collaborating so closely on the story was a stroke of genius because Harryhausen could uniquely visualize what was possible with the technology of the day, minimizing the chances for production to get bogged down shooting. Given the fact that even Lourié had a reputation for bringing creative solutions to life affordably, Beast might be one of genre filmdom’s best and earliest examples of synthesis – the collaboration of like-minded storytellers – coming together and achieving something that revolutionized filmmaking.
Still, the truth is that – back in its day – Beast was a bit ignored by the industry.
As is often the case, some of this snub can be attributed to the fact that it isn’t a conventional Comedy or highbrow Drama, the kinds of which the Hollywood elite and its minions more readily celebrate for being centered around performers as opposed to flashy visuals. Beast – like so many of its competitors – were considered to be ‘kiddie fare,’ something conceived and shot ‘on the cheap’ and meant to appeal to teenage ticketbuyers. Even though color filming had been available for a generation or more, studios chose specifically to film such genre entries in black-and-white, thus minimizing their cost. Consequently, even the better Science Fiction and Fantasy films of the day were frowned upon, often reducing them to B-Movie status even though some productions cast marquee names in big roles and employed respectable budgets.
While Beast was a box office hit, reportage suggests that another Science Fiction classic – George Pal’s equally influential The War Of The Worlds – received more of the glory (but not fortune as its ticket sales were less than half of Lourié’s picture). Indeed, War received an impressive three Academy Awards nominations – Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, and Best Special Effects – and even managed to take home the coveted trophy for its effects work at the end of the evening. However, I have read – to some confusion – that the Academy at the time had a specific procedure used for christening a picture with the big Effects award; and their process – for reasons I don’t understand – required them to highlight only a single film in some categories as opposed to nominating several in contention. For these reasons, Beast was somewhat overlooked … though, in 2004, it did finally receive a bit of its due when the Hugo Awards nominated it in their ‘Retro’ category for Best Dramatic Story … which it lost out again (gasp!) to Pal’s flick.
Of course, none of this is to suggest that Beast is perfect.
Still, the truth is that – back in its day – Beast was a bit ignored by the industry.
As is often the case, some of this snub can be attributed to the fact that it isn’t a conventional Comedy or highbrow Drama, the kinds of which the Hollywood elite and its minions more readily celebrate for being centered around performers as opposed to flashy visuals. Beast – like so many of its competitors – were considered to be ‘kiddie fare,’ something conceived and shot ‘on the cheap’ and meant to appeal to teenage ticketbuyers. Even though color filming had been available for a generation or more, studios chose specifically to film such genre entries in black-and-white, thus minimizing their cost. Consequently, even the better Science Fiction and Fantasy films of the day were frowned upon, often reducing them to B-Movie status even though some productions cast marquee names in big roles and employed respectable budgets.
While Beast was a box office hit, reportage suggests that another Science Fiction classic – George Pal’s equally influential The War Of The Worlds – received more of the glory (but not fortune as its ticket sales were less than half of Lourié’s picture). Indeed, War received an impressive three Academy Awards nominations – Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, and Best Special Effects – and even managed to take home the coveted trophy for its effects work at the end of the evening. However, I have read – to some confusion – that the Academy at the time had a specific procedure used for christening a picture with the big Effects award; and their process – for reasons I don’t understand – required them to highlight only a single film in some categories as opposed to nominating several in contention. For these reasons, Beast was somewhat overlooked … though, in 2004, it did finally receive a bit of its due when the Hugo Awards nominated it in their ‘Retro’ category for Best Dramatic Story … which it lost out again (gasp!) to Pal’s flick.
Of course, none of this is to suggest that Beast is perfect.
A common practice of the day saw a great many cinematic efforts opening with the voice of a powerful narrator setting the stage for watchers, and Lourié did the same. William Woodson’s authoritative tone practically demands viewers sit up and take notice of what is otherwise a dry recitation of facts already presented visually; and I can’t help but wonder is a bit more nuance – say, dropping this technique entirely and just beefing up the story with another scene or two – would have been a better choice. It certainly would’ve separated Beast a bit more from what had already become a tiresome genre cliché, but perhaps that one change is too much to ask.
Additionally, Swiss-born actor Paul Hubschmid (as Paul Christian) serves as the story’s protagonist, the nuclear physicist who just happens to find himself smack dab in the middle of an unplanned return to some Jurassic dangers. While Google.com reports that the player generally did not act/speak with an accent, his character in Beast most definitely does, so much so that one might began to wonder if producers were trying to introduce some subtext about foreigners being better at science than were Americans. Normally, I’m not distracted by such creative choices; but perhaps that it just seems so out of place here befuddles me as to why it was pursued.
In particular, a good number of 50’s Sci-Fi projects incorporated a bit of romantic entanglement into the action, and Beast is no different: Nesbitt falls uncharacteristically quickly head over heels for the fetching Lee Hunter (Paula Raymond), the personal assistant to famed paleontologist Prof. Thurgood Elson (Cecil Kellaway). Again, these relationships might not be so awful if they weren’t handled as if they were as creative afterthoughts – or a studio executive’s insistence that love stories will increase a project’s chances of getting females to the theater. As was all too common onscreen back then, these relationship scenes are a bit leaden – perhaps even a bit forced and arguably unbelievable – but thankfully they do not figure prominently into the dinosaur action.
Without a doubt, Beast surpasses those few hiccups, never really allowing anything to hold back the central story once everyone knows what’s going on. It’s an incredible efficient feature – at 80-minutes running time, it never weaves away into unnecessary sidebars or frivolity of any stripe – with the script properly teasing the rhedosaurus’ lesser appearances to set the stage for a blockbuster no-holds-barred finale. It’s rare to see this level of expertise at work in a classic film, and the picture is a gem as a consequence of all these influences coming together so well.
However, there is one more message percolating in Beast’s opening moments as well as across the breadth of its bow that I think worth mentioning.
Additionally, Swiss-born actor Paul Hubschmid (as Paul Christian) serves as the story’s protagonist, the nuclear physicist who just happens to find himself smack dab in the middle of an unplanned return to some Jurassic dangers. While Google.com reports that the player generally did not act/speak with an accent, his character in Beast most definitely does, so much so that one might began to wonder if producers were trying to introduce some subtext about foreigners being better at science than were Americans. Normally, I’m not distracted by such creative choices; but perhaps that it just seems so out of place here befuddles me as to why it was pursued.
In particular, a good number of 50’s Sci-Fi projects incorporated a bit of romantic entanglement into the action, and Beast is no different: Nesbitt falls uncharacteristically quickly head over heels for the fetching Lee Hunter (Paula Raymond), the personal assistant to famed paleontologist Prof. Thurgood Elson (Cecil Kellaway). Again, these relationships might not be so awful if they weren’t handled as if they were as creative afterthoughts – or a studio executive’s insistence that love stories will increase a project’s chances of getting females to the theater. As was all too common onscreen back then, these relationship scenes are a bit leaden – perhaps even a bit forced and arguably unbelievable – but thankfully they do not figure prominently into the dinosaur action.
Without a doubt, Beast surpasses those few hiccups, never really allowing anything to hold back the central story once everyone knows what’s going on. It’s an incredible efficient feature – at 80-minutes running time, it never weaves away into unnecessary sidebars or frivolity of any stripe – with the script properly teasing the rhedosaurus’ lesser appearances to set the stage for a blockbuster no-holds-barred finale. It’s rare to see this level of expertise at work in a classic film, and the picture is a gem as a consequence of all these influences coming together so well.
However, there is one more message percolating in Beast’s opening moments as well as across the breadth of its bow that I think worth mentioning.
Even that opening narration – which I’m no fan of – underscores the fact that man – as a species – lives always at great risk. Compared to the universe, we’re puny things. Up against deadly diabolical that could be microscopic, we’ll fall to the ground, unable to help ourselves from toxins we don’t realize. Be it at the uncharted path of science or the harsh, inclement cold of the North Pole or the use of weapons of mass destruction that we cannot quite fully understand, mankind can and might always be insignificant. Indeed, once we’ve accidentally set free the genie that we can’t put back in the bottle – or a rhedosaurus? – might we inadvertently set ourselves on the path to our own extinction? The very best of the projects from the 1950’s exposed this reality without pounding their respective drums, and Beast’s nuanced handling of that sentiment deserves its own round of applause.
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) was produced by Warner Bros., Jack Dietz Productions, and Mutual Pictures Of California. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can assure you that provided sights and sounds are pretty fantastic across the running time: yes, some of the effects work has aged better than others, but it’s still glorious to see what was possible with a bit of effort and some modest capital back in the day. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? The disc boasts a few shorts related to the work of Harryhausen (mostly) along with the theatrical trailer.
Highest Recommendation Possible.
I’ll never apologize for knowing (and lavishing praise over) what I like, and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms is a theatrical home-run, the kind that should have genre fans cheering no matter what era they claim as their own. Part monster movie, part social commentary, and part carnival attraction, the film set in motion the ‘giant creature mania’ that studios and audiences embraced – and continue to embrace – to this day. Rounding out the year of its release in the Top 10 highest grossing pictures, The Beast roared to the crowd’s delight. And, the film proved that Special Effects – some truly groundbreaking stop-motion contributions from pioneering Harryhausen himself – could indeed shoulder the weight of building whole universes on film. A rarity of sheer spectacle, this Beast is a landmark occurrence – a true first of its kind – and it most definitely deserves our attention.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) – as part of their 50’s Sci-Fi Collection – by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) was produced by Warner Bros., Jack Dietz Productions, and Mutual Pictures Of California. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can assure you that provided sights and sounds are pretty fantastic across the running time: yes, some of the effects work has aged better than others, but it’s still glorious to see what was possible with a bit of effort and some modest capital back in the day. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? The disc boasts a few shorts related to the work of Harryhausen (mostly) along with the theatrical trailer.
Highest Recommendation Possible.
I’ll never apologize for knowing (and lavishing praise over) what I like, and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms is a theatrical home-run, the kind that should have genre fans cheering no matter what era they claim as their own. Part monster movie, part social commentary, and part carnival attraction, the film set in motion the ‘giant creature mania’ that studios and audiences embraced – and continue to embrace – to this day. Rounding out the year of its release in the Top 10 highest grossing pictures, The Beast roared to the crowd’s delight. And, the film proved that Special Effects – some truly groundbreaking stop-motion contributions from pioneering Harryhausen himself – could indeed shoulder the weight of building whole universes on film. A rarity of sheer spectacle, this Beast is a landmark occurrence – a true first of its kind – and it most definitely deserves our attention.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) – as part of their 50’s Sci-Fi Collection – by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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