''The Land Unknown'' is a 1957

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

about a naval expedition trapped in an Antarctic jungle. The story was allegedly inspired by the discovery of unusually warm water in Antarctica in 1947. It stars

Jock Mahoney Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney (February 7, 1919 – December 14, 1989), known professionally as Jock Mahoney, was an American actor and stuntman. He starred in two Action/Adventure television series, ''The Range Rider'' and ''Yancy Derringer''. He ...

and

Shirley Patterson Shirley Patterson, sometimes billed as Shawn Smith, (December 26, 1922 – April 4, 1995) was a Canadian-born B-movie actress of the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Patterson grew up in Eastend, Saskatchewan. She was ...

and was directed by

Virgil W. Vogel Virgil William Vogel (November 29, 1919 – January 1, 1996) was an American television director, television and film director. His career spanned nearly sixty years, directing episodes of ''Wagon Train'', ''Bonanza'', ''The Big Valley'', and ' ...

. The film's low-budget special effects include men in dinosaur suits,

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

s and

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...

s standing in for dinosaurs.

Plot

Commander Harold Roberts is leading an expedition into

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to study waters which are unexpectedly warm for a place so close to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

. The other expedition members are helicopter pilot Lt. Jack Carmen, machinist Steve Miller, and reporter Maggie Hathaway. As their helicopter approaches the area of study, they are called back to their ship via radio because of an unexpected storm approaching. Too low on fuel to fly around the storm, they fly into a foggy but calm break in it. With visibility inhibited, they collide with a

pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to ...

, bending the rotor control rod and tearing off the antennae. Unable to stay in the air, they descend and land well below

sea-level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

in a warm

volcanic crater A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by Volcano, volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions, molten magm ...

. Inside, they discover a steamy tropical jungle with living

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 and giant carnivorous plants. Even search planes passing directly overhead cannot pick up their radio calls, and when they try to straighten the bent rod, it breaks. They are trapped. As the crew split up to scout the area, Maggie is abducted by Dr. Carl Hunter, the lone survivor of a plane crash from a 1947 expedition. He has survived by blowing a

conch Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

that drives off the animals and by raiding their nests. Having morally regressed over his decade of isolation, he intends to keep Maggie as a sexual plaything. Seeing Hunter's footprints near Maggie's last known location, Harold, Jack, and Steve track him to his cave and hold him at bay with their guns. Hunter offers the remains of his airplane to repair the helicopter, but only if the crew agree to leave Maggie with him. The crew refuses, intending to locate the wreck by themselves. They know that after 25 days their ship will have to leave before the Antarctic winter sets in, so Maggie offers to sacrifice herself and stay with Hunter. Harold refuses, and kisses her. Maggie is later attacked by an

Elasmosaurus ''Elasmosaurus'' (;) is a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 80.5million years ago. The first specimen was discovered in 1867 near Fort Wallace, Kansas, US, and was se ...

. Hunter rescues her by repeatedly thrusting torches into its mouth, and again brings her back to his cave. Steve arrives, defeats Hunter, and begins using one of his torches to torture Hunter for the airplane's location. Harold arrives and adamantly states that they are not going to turn on each other to escape this land, either by sacrificing Maggie or torturing Hunter. His humanity stirred, Hunter gives them the map to the airplane. Maggie decides to stay with Hunter voluntarily. After repairing the helicopter, the crew take off in a hurry as a

Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

attacks. After Maggie faints during a dinosaur attack on the cave, Hunter decides to take Maggie back to the others. The helicopter crew uses a winch and harness to lift her up from Hunter's raft. The Elasmosaurus returns and, having learned from its previous encounter with Hunter, submerges before he can get close enough to use a torch, then surfaces beneath his raft, upending it. The crew come to his rescue, flying in close and firing a signal

flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...

into its mouth. They retrieve Hunter from the water and fly out of the crater with him. The crew arrange a rendezvous with their ship by radio. The helicopter runs out of fuel and crashes into the ocean as it reaches the vessel. The crew are rescued. Once safely on the ship Harold proposes to Maggie, and Maggie reveals she is pregnant with Harold's child.

Cast

as Cmndr. Harold 'Hal' Roberts *

as Margaret 'Maggie' Hathaway (as Shawn Smith) * William Reynolds as Lt. Jack Carmen * Henry Brandon as Dr. Carl Hunter * Douglas Kennedy as Capt. Burnham *

Bing Russell Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell (May 5, 1926 – April 8, 2003) was an American actor and Class A minor-league baseball club owner. He was the father of Hollywood actor Kurt Russell and grandfather of ex–major league baseball player Matt Franco ...

as Navy Radio Operator(uncredited) * Phil Harvey as Machinist's Mate Steve Miller * Tim Smyth as a Tyrannosaurus Rex

Production

The film was produced by

William Alland William Alland (March 4, 1916 – November 11, 1997) was an American actor, film producer and writer, mainly of Western and science-fiction/monster films, including ''This Island Earth'', ''It Came From Outer Space'', ''Tarantula!'', ''The Dead ...

for

Universal International Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. The studio originally planned to make ''The Land Unknown'' a lavish,

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

feature, but the movie's budget was slashed after the disappointing box office performance of Universal's ''

This Island Earth ''This Island Earth'' is a 1955 American science fiction film from Universal-International, produced by William Alland, directed by Joseph M. Newman and Jack Arnold, starring Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue and Rex Reason. It is based on the 195 ...

'' (1955). Although the feature was shot in

, black-and-white film was used, and plans to shoot at the off-studio back lot Falls Lake were canceled. The production instead was filmed entirely on interior sets. Also due to budget constraints, the cast was made up of

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

actors. The jungle scenery included a massive

cyclorama A cyclorama is a panoramic image on the inside of a cylindrical platform, designed to give viewers standing in the middle of the cylinder a 360° view, and also a building designed to show a panoramic image. The intended effect is to make vie ...

hung around the entire sound stage, and tropical plants hung upside down to make them appear more prehistoric. Dinosaurs featured in the film include a ''

Pteranodon ''Pteranodon'' (); from Ancient Greek (''pteron'', "wing") and (''anodon'', "toothless") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of . They lived during the late Cr ...

''; an ''

''; a pair of ''

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been foun ...

'', played by

s; and a ''

'', played by Smyth. A giant, carnivorous plant is depicted as well. The mammal found by the crew, then later eaten by the plant, is referred to as a

tarsier Tarsiers ( ) are haplorhine primates of the family Tarsiidae, which is itself the lone extant family within the infraorder Tarsiiformes. Although the group was once more widespread, all of its species living today are found in Maritime Southeast ...

, but is actually a

loris Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine mammals of the subfamily Lorinae (sometimes spelled Lorisinae) in the family Lorisidae. ''Loris'' is one genus in this subfamily and includes the slender lorises, ''Nycticebus'' is the genus contain ...

Release

''The Land Unknown'' was given a wide release on October 30, 1957. Some sources (including Bill Warren) list its initial release as August, 1957. The film was released on

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

in the 1990s.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

released it on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in 2007 as part of a boxed set called ''The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2'', along with ''

Dr. Cyclops ''Dr. Cyclops'' is a 1940 American science fiction horror film from Paramount Pictures, produced by Dale Van Every and Merian C. Cooper, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, and starring Thomas Coley, Victor Kilian, Janice Logan, Charles Halton, ...

'', ''

The Leech Woman ''The Leech Woman'' is a 1960 black-and-white US horror film from Universal-International, produced by Joseph Gershenon, directed by Edward Dein, and starring Coleen Gray, Grant Williams, Gloria Talbott, and Phillip Terry. The film was actual ...

'', ''

The Deadly Mantis ''The Deadly Mantis'' is a 1957 American science fiction monster film produced by William Alland for Universal-International. The film was directed by Nathan Juran from a screenplay by Martin Berkeley based on a story by producer William Allan ...

'' and ''

Cult of the Cobra ''Cult of the Cobra'' is a 1955 American black-and-white horror film from Universal-International Pictures, produced by Howard Pine, directed by Francis D. Lyon, that stars Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Kathleen Hughes, Marshall Thompson, Ja ...

''. Kino Lorber's 2019 Blu-ray release featured a fact-filled audio commentary by Tom Weaver and David Schecter.

Reception

Matt Brunson of ''Film Frenzy'' gave it 2 out of 4 and called it "A lesser entry in Universal's robust run of 50s sci-fi flicks."

Comic book adaptation

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...

#845 (August 1957). The story was written by Robert Ryder and drawn by

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Land Unknown 1950s fantasy adventure films American fantasy adventure films 1957 films American black-and-white films Films about dinosaurs Films adapted into comics Puppet films Lost world films 1950s monster movies Universal Pictures films CinemaScope films American monster movies Films scored by Henry Mancini Films scored by Heinz Roemheld Films scored by Hans J. Salter Films scored by Herman Stein Films set in jungles 1950s English-language films Films directed by Virgil W. Vogel Films set in Antarctica 1950s American films