''The Giant Behemoth'' is a 1959 British-American science fiction giant monster film directed by

Eugène Lourié Eugène Lourié (russian: Евгений Лурье; 8 April 1903 – 26 May 1991) was a French film director, art director, production designer, set designer and screenwriter who was known for his collaborations with Jean Renoir and for ...

, with special effects by

Willis H. O'Brien Willis Harold O'Brien (March 2, 1886 – November 8, 1962) was an American motion picture special effects and stop-motion animation pioneer, who according to ASIFA-Hollywood "was responsible for some of the best-known images in cinema history," ...

Pete Peterson Douglas Brian "Pete" Peterson (born June 26, 1935) is an American politician and diplomat. He served as a United States Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War and spent over six years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese army after his plane w ...

, Irving Block, Jack Rabin, and Louis de Witt. The film stars

Gene Evans Eugene Barton Evans (July 11, 1922 – April 1, 1998) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television series, television films, and feature films between 1947 and 1989. Background Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona and raised i ...

and

André Morell Cecil André Mesritz (20 August 1909 – 28 November 1978), known professionally as André Morell, was an English actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s. His best known screen roles were as ...

. The screenplay was written by blacklisted author

Daniel Lewis James Daniel Lewis James, (January 14, 1911 – May 18, 1988), was an American writer, best known for his novel, ''Famous All Over Town,'' about Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles. He published the novel under his pseudonym, Danny Santiago, and during mos ...

(under the name "Daniel Hyatt") with director Lourié. Originally a story about an amorphous blob of radiation, the script was changed at the distributor's insistence to a style similar to ''

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms ''The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'' is a 1953 American science fiction monster film directed by Eugène Lourié, with special effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film stars Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, and Kenneth Tobey. The screen ...

'' (1953), though elements of the original concept remain in the early parts of the film and in the "nuclear-breathing" power of the titular monster.

Plot

Scientist Steve Karnes delivers a speech to a British scientific society, led by Professor James Bickford, about the dangers to marine life posed by nuclear testing. Before Karnes can return to the United States, a real-life example of his concern materialises when a fisherman in

Looe Looe (; kw, Logh, ) is a coastal town and civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of 5,280 at the 2011 census. Looe is west of Plymouth and south of Liskeard, divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe ( kw, links= ...

, Cornwall is killed on the beach, and his dying word is "behemoth". Later, thousands of dead fish are washed ashore. The Giant Behemoth (1959) trailer - Paleosaurus 8

The Giant Behemoth (1959) trailer - Paleosaurus 8

Karnes and Bickford travel to Cornwall to investigate the fisherman's death and, although his injuries seem to include radiation burns, they find no evidence of radiation on the beach. Then, Karnes goes to inspect a passenger ship found wrecked and badly damaged, with the loss of all on board. Back in London, the two scientists discover that samples of the dead fish contain large amounts of radioactive contamination. Karnes begins to suspect that the "behemoth" that the fisherman described seeing is some kind of large marine animal that has mutated as a result of being contaminated by nuclear testing. The next attack is on a farm near the coast in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. A photo of the area reveals a huge footprint and palaeontologist Dr. Sampson identifies the creature as a '' Paleosaurus'', an aquatic dinosaur that emits an electric pulse like an

electric eel The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volts ...

. Karnes believes that the dinosaur is saturated by radiation, which is transmitted by the electric pulse, resulting in the burns seen on the fisherman and other victims. The radiation is also slowly killing the dinosaur. According to Dr. Samson, the dying creature will leave the ocean depths to head upstream, seeking out the shallow waters where it was born, but death by radiation may not come soon enough to prevent the creature from wreaking havoc on London along the way. Karnes and Bickford try to persuade authorities to close the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, but the military officer believes that their radar tracking systems will be enough to detect the behemoth and prevent it from getting near the city. Unfortunately, the dinosaur appears to be invisible to radar. Dr. Sampson and some other scientists spot it from a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

helicopter, but the radar equipment tracking the helicopter sees no sign of the beast, which destroys the helicopter when it gets too close. Soon, the behemoth surfaces in the Thames and capsizes the

Woolwich Ferry The Woolwich Ferry is a free vehicle and pedestrian ferry across the River Thames in East London, connecting Woolwich on the south bank with North Woolwich on the north. It is licensed and financed by London River Services, the maritime arm of ...

. Rising from the river, the creature sets the city on fire and blood. Bickford and Karnes advise the military that the best way to kill the beast will be to administer a dose of radium, hoping to accelerate the radiation sickness that is already slowly killing it. While they prepare the dose, the behemoth continues its rampage, eventually plummeting through

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

back into the Thames. Karnes and Bickford set their plan into action. An

X-class submarine The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44. It was substantially larger than the original Chariot manned torpedo. Known individually as X-Craft, the vessels were designed to be towed to the ...

with Karnes on board carries a torpedo filled with radium into the Thames in pursuit of the monster. During an initial pass, the behemoth takes a bite out of the mini-sub, but Karnes convinces the submarine captain to have another go. This time, they succeed in firing the torpedo into the monster's mouth, and the behemoth roars in pain. Observers in helicopters later confirm the monster's demise. As Karnes and Bickford climb into a car to leave the area, they hear a radio report of dead fish washing up on the eastern shores of the United States.

Cast

as Steve Karnes *

as Prof. James Bickford *

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

as John * Leigh Madison as Jean Trevethan *

Jack MacGowran John Joseph MacGowran (13 October 1918 – 30 January 1973) was an Irish actor, probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett. Stage career MacGowran was born on 13 October 1918 in Dublin, and educated at Synge Street CBS. He establi ...

as Dr. Sampson, the palaeontologist *

Maurice Kaufmann Maurice Harington Kaufmann (29 June 1927 – 21 September 1997) was a British actor of stage, film and television, who specialised in whodunits and horror films, from 1954 to 1981, when he retired. Personal life He was married to Honor Blackm ...

as the mini-submarine officer * Henri Vidon as Thomas Trevethan *

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated to ...

as scientist *

Julian Somers John Julian Somers (12 November 1903 – 11 November 1976), known as Julian Somers, was a prolific English stage and screen actor. Career By 1934, Somers was appearing in rep at Croydon. In 1937, he was on stage in Jeffrey Dell's play '' Night Alo ...

as Rear Admiral Summers

Production

The live action scenes for ''The Giant Behemoth'' were filmed entirely in Great Britain, including London. The

stop-motion animation Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

special effects by

Willis O'Brien Willis Harold O'Brien (March 2, 1886 – November 8, 1962) was an American motion picture special effects and stop-motion animation pioneer, who according to ASIFA-Hollywood "was responsible for some of the best-known images in cinema history," ...

were shot in a Los Angeles studio, where they were also optically integrated with the live-action footage. In an odd connection between O'Brien and his most famous creation, stock screams that were used in ''King Kong'' can be heard in the scenes where the creature attacks the ferry and when it invades London. In the book ''Video Movie Guide 2002'', mention of the stop-action animation was made, but with the proviso that "the film monster wasn't bad but Willis O'Brien was clearly working with a low budget". The original 71m 07s version, as ''The Giant Behemoth'', was initially given an

X certificate An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences. Aust ...

by the

British Board of Film Censors The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of fi ...

on 9 January 1959, before a version cut to 69m 07s, as ''Behemoth, the Sea Monster'', was given an A certificate four days later.

Reception

American film critic Andrew Wickliffe considered the lead up to the appearance of the monster to be more interesting than the rampage that follows, writing, "I'm not sure the British are really suited for giant monster movies. No offense to the Brits, but watching a bunch of folks stand around and keep the stiff upper lip while radioactive monsters from the deep attack London isn't too much fun". Regarding a later release of the film in a package with other science fiction features, film reviewer Glenn Erickson observed that ''The Giant Behemoth'' was derivative, speculating that "... director Eugène Lourié apparently instructed writers Robert Abel and Alan Adler to repackage his original ''The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'', copying whole scenes and situations. The structure and script are almost a verbatim clone, right down to the dotty paleontologist".Erickson, Glenn (9 June 2007
"Cult Camp Classics Volume 1: Sci-Fi Thrillers, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Giant Behemoth, Queen of Outer Space."
''DVD Savant'', Retrieved: 30 January 2015.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Warren, Bill. ''Keep Watching the Skies! Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties: 21st Century Edition''. 2009. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, (first editions ''Vol. 1'', 1982, ''Vol. 2'', 1986). .

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Giant Behemoth 1959 films 1950s fantasy films 1959 horror films 1950s science fiction horror films American black-and-white films American science fiction horror films British black-and-white films British science fiction horror films Films about dinosaurs Films directed by Douglas Hickox Films directed by Eugène Lourié Films set in Cornwall Films shot in the United Kingdom Films shot in London Films shot in Los Angeles Films using stop-motion animation Giant monster films 1950s monster movies American natural horror films Films with screenplays by Allen Adler British monster movies Films shot at British National Studios 1950s English-language films 1950s American films 1950s British films