The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

Director:

Eugène Lourié

Writers:

Ray Bradbury (story)
Fred Freiberger (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

13 June 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

It's alive !

Plot:

A ferocious dinosaur awakened by an Arctic atomic test terrorizes the North Atlantic and ultimately New York City.

Plot Keywords:

Virus | Manhattan New York | Coast Guard | New York City | Paleontologist

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Paul Hubschmid	...	Professor Tom Nesbitt (as Paul Christian)
Paula Raymond	...	Lee Hunter
Cecil Kellaway	...	Prof. Thurgood Elson
Kenneth Tobey	...	Col. Jack Evans
Donald Woods	...	Capt. Phil Jackson
Lee Van Cleef	...	Cpl. Stone
Steve Brodie	...	Sgt. Loomis
Ross Elliott	...	George Ritchie
Jack Pennick	...	Jacob Bowman
Ray Hyke	...	Sgt. Willistead
Michael Fox	...	ER Doctor
Alvin Greenman	...	1st Radar Man
Frank Ferguson	...	Dr. Morton
King Donovan	...	Dr. Ingersoll
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vera Miles	...	Announcer in trailer (scenes deleted)
Paul Picerni	...	Announcer in trailer (scenes deleted)
Fred Aldrich	...	Radio Operator (uncredited)
James Best	...	Charlie - Radar man (uncredited)
Edward Clark	...	Lighthouse Keeper (uncredited)
Louise Colombet	...	Nun / Nurse (uncredited)
Robert Easton	...	Deckhand (uncredited)
Roy Engel	...	Maj. Evans (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Ballet-Goer (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Ballet-Goer (uncredited)
Joe Gray	...	Longshoreman (uncredited)
Merv Griffin	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited) (voice)
Mary Hill	...	Miss Nelson (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Cop with Rifle (uncredited)
Vivian Mason	...	Miss Ryan - Secretary (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Cop (uncredited)
Hugh Prosser	...	Doctor (uncredited)
William Woodson	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)

Directed by
Eugène Lourié

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ray Bradbury		story "The Fog Horn"
Fred Freiberger		writer
Daniel James		uncredited
Eugène Lourié		writer
Lou Morheim		writer (as Louis Morheim)
Robert Smith		writer

Produced by
Bernard W. Burton	....	co-producer
Hal E. Chester	....	co-producer
Jack Dietz	....	producer

Original Music by
David Buttolph

Cinematography by
John L. Russell		(as Jack Russell)

Film Editing by
Bernard W. Burton

Production Design by
Eugène Lourié

Set Decoration by
Edward G. Boyle

Makeup Department
Louis Phillipi	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Horace Hough	....	assistant director

Art Department
Hal Waller	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
George Groves	....	sound
Max M. Hutchinson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Willis Cook	....	special effects
Ray Harryhausen	....	animation effects
George Lofgren	....	special effects
Eugène Lourié	....	special effects

Stunts
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Michael Fox	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• Jack Dietz Productions (as Mutual Pictures of California)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Monster from Beneath the Sea (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #16143, General Audience) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jack Dietz Productions

Trivia:

Deleted Scene: The 2003 DVD release reveals one shot of the Rhedasaurus that was omitted from the final film. That shot can be found in the trailer for "The Black Scorpion" (in special features) about 1/2 through the preview. (Spoiler: The Beast is walking, breast high, toward screen right. The background shows 2 buildings; one of them with fire escapes. Superimposed title card states, "You've thrilled to the terror of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms."

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Character refers to the "Loch Lomond monster" when he almost certainly meant the "Loch Ness monster" (there being no famous monster in Loch Lomond).

Quotes:

Professor Tom Nesbitt: The world's been here for millions of years. Man's been walking upright for a comparatively shoret time. Mentally we're still crawling.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cloverfield (2008)

50's monster action at its best.

Ray Harryhausen's first solo effort at stop-motion resulted in one of the best monster movies of the 1950's.

This was the first of the many rampage films of the 1950's and was a great success at the box office. Ray's stop-motion Redosaurus is magnificent, considering the low budget.

One of the best scenes in this movie is where the Rhedosaurus eats the policeman. The acting is rather good and the cast includes Kenneth Tobey (The Thing From Another World) and an early appearance from Lee Van Cleef before he stared with the 'carrot' in It Conquered the World.

I enjoyed this movie and rate it 5 stars out of 5. Great stuff.