''Valley of the Dragons'' (UK title: ''Prehistoric Valley'') is a black and white 1961 American science fiction film loosely based on Jules Verne's ''

Off on a Comet ''Off on a Comet'' (french: Hector Servadac) is an 1877 science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne. Plot The story starts with a comet called Gallia, that touches the Earth in its flight and collects a few small chunks of it. The disas ...

'' and heavily dependent on stock footage from the movies ''

One Million B.C. ''One Million B.C.'' is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles ''Cave Man'', ''Man and His Mate'' and ''Tumak''. The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist ...

'', '' King Dinosaur'', ''

Cat-Women of the Moon ''Cat-Women of the Moon'' is an independently made 1953 American black-and-white three-dimensional science-fiction film, produced by Jack Rabin and Al Zimbalist, directed by Arthur Hilton, that stars Sonny Tufts, Victor Jory, and Marie Winds ...

'' and ''

Rodan is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's 1956 film '' Rodan'', produced and distributed by Toho. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous e ...

''. Director Edward Bernds says the film was built around stock footage from ''One Million B.C.''.

Plot

Two men preparing for a duel in 1881 Algiers, Irishman Michael Denning and Frenchman Hector Servadac, are swept from the face of the Earth by a passing

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

and find themselves on another world with

cavemen The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as "simian" or " ape-like" by Marcellin Bo ...

and prehistoric animals. They try to find a way back to Earth. (Servadac is the only one of 36 characters retained from the original novel.) The men are separated after an attack from an angry

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks an ...

. Servadac finds refuge with the River People and falls for a beautiful blonde, Deena. Denning falls in with the Cave People, where he falls in love with brunette Nateeta. The two men are reunited rescuing the Cave People from attacking

Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s (this earth's dragons) with an avalanche. They persuade the River People and Cave People to stop fighting and settle down with their respective women. They vow to try and get on the Earth the next time the comet approaches in seven years.

Cast

Cesare Danova Cesare Danova (March 1, 1926 – March 19, 1992) was an Italian television and screen actor. Best known for his roles in ''The Captain's Daughter'' (1947), ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964), '' Chamber of Horrors'' (1966), '' Mean Streets'' (1973), and ...

as Hector Servadac *

Sean McClory Séan Joseph McClory (8 March 1924 – 10 December 2003) was an Irish actor whose career spanned six decades and included well over 100 films and television series. He was sometimes billed as Shawn McGlory or Sean McGlory. Early years M ...

as Denning *

Joan Staley Joan Staley (born Joan Lynette McConchie; May 20, 1940 – November 24, 2019) was an American actress and model. Early life Staley was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of James and Jean McConchie. Her father was a minister, ...

as Deena *

Danielle De Metz Danielle De Metz (born 27 July 1938) is a French actress who appeared in movies and television during the 1960s and early 1970s. Career Movie columnist Louella Parsons reported that film director Jean Negulesco met De Metz when he was in Paris, ...

as Nateeta * Gregg Martell as Od-Loo *

Gil Perkins Gilbert Vincent Perkins (24 August 1907 – 28 March 1999) was an Australian film and television actor. Early life As a teenager, Perkins was a trackman and an athlete. He ran away from home at a young age and joined the crew of a Norwe ...

as Tarn/doctor * I. Stanford Jolley as Patoo *Michael Lane as Anoka * Roger Til as Vidal *Mark Dempsey as Andrews *Jerry Sunshine as Leclerc *Dolly Gray as Mara

Production

The film was produced by

Al Zimbalist Alfred N. Zimbalist (March 3, 1910, Kiev, Ukraine – August 28, 1975, Los Angeles) was a producer of low-budget films such as ''Robot Monster'', ''Monster from Green Hell'', ''Cat-Women of the Moon'', '' Watusi'' and ''Baby Face Nelson''. Al Z ...

who says he was given a copy of the Verne novel that his 16 year old son Don had found in a London bookshop.By MURRAY SCHUMACH Special to The New York Times. (1961, Feb 03)
"HOLLYWOOD MINES THE GOLD IN VERNE"
''New York Times'' Director Edward Bernds says the novel had not been published in the US due to its anti semitism. Jules Verne adaptations were in vogue at the time ever since the success of ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea'' and ''Around the World in 80 Days''. Zimbalist had the rights to footage for ''

'' (1940). Zimbalist and his partner Bryan Roberts formed a company to adapt the novel. "Jules Verne is a bigger name than Marlon Brando," said Zimbalist. "Maybe bigger. Verne has never had a flop. And there is no limit to how much money you can make with Verne. Look at ''

Around the World in 80 Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...

''. Fantastic. Verne is for any size budget. If you want to spend millions, like

Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of '' Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Act ...

, you can spend. If you want to spend less than a million, like me, that's okay, too. With Verne you don't have to have a

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

." "Verne is the purest kind of escapist," said Zimbalist, adding that "whatever you say about his imagination and his genius, he just did not have a good storyline." Bernds wrote a ten-page treatment, which Zimbalist took to Columbia Pictures to obtain finance. Bernds then wrote the script. He said the only contribution Al Zimbalist's son Don made to the film was finding the original novel in the bookshop; Don Zimbalist gets a "story by" credit but Bernds says this was only because his father asked for it. It was shot in "Living Monstascope" on the Columbia backlot.Scheuer, P. K. (1961, Jan 23)
"Marshall reported a 'miracle' find"
''Los Angeles Times'' Bernds says making the film at Columbia was inefficient because the movie had to absorb studio overhead and he would have gotten greater production value for the budget if the film had been made outside. He says Columbia executives had a clause where if the film went over budget, Zimbalist and Roberts would forfeit their fees. However he says he was saved by the fact that Zimbalist ensured the amount of company overhead was fixed, and that the filmmakers could use a left over jungle set from Columbia's ''

The Devil at 4 O'Clock ''The Devil at 4 O'Clock'' is a 1961 American adventure film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra. Based on a 1958 novel with the same title by British writer Max Catto, the film was a precursor to ''Krakatoa, Eas ...

'' (1961) that cost half a million to make; the entire film was shot on that set. The movie was completed on budget. Bernds re-used a spider from his earlier film '' World Without End'' (1956).

Reception

Bernds says the film was financially successful and had a long run on television. Bernds believed that, in residual cheques for television showings over the years, ''Valley of the Dragons'' gave him more income than his script work on the Elvis Presley picture ''

Tickle Me ''Tickle Me'' is a 1965 American musical comedy western film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley as a champion rodeo bull rider and bronco buster. Presley won a 1966 Golden Laurel Award as best male actor in a musical film fo ...

''.

References

External links