“Creature
From the Black Lagoon” came up on Turner Classic Movies not long ago.
Apollonia shrieked when I mentioned it. “My favorite horror movie!” she
said. “I was so scared when I first saw it!”
For those of you who haven’t seen it: it’s about a group of
scientists who go to the Amazon to investigate some odd fossils they’ve found.
There appears to be a humanoid creature with webbed appendages living down there.
And you know what? There is!
The Creature is pretty tame, looked at from the standpoint
of the year 2013. In its own time, however (I rely on Apollonia’s testimony for
this), it was terrifying.
Now let’s talk about some of the other stuff going on here.
I don’t know if the director was gay, but the camera dwells
upon the half-naked bodies of Richard Carlson
and Richard Denning.
There are lots of interesting views of the bodies of muscular men – Carlson and
Denning, and others – all through the movie.
Hmm!
As I did research on this movie, the best surprise was the
man who played the Creature. He was a diver / swimmer named Ricou Browning, and he
was very handsome, and very well-built. Here’s a picture of him halfway in
costume:
Browning was involved with a lot of water-related
productions in Florida, including “Sea Hunt” and “Flipper.” He was a nice guy who
was very serious about his underwater adventures.
And he looked good underwater.
Incidentally, the Creature is the only character in the
movie who seems really interested in Julie Adams, the female lead.
Denning and Carlson seem mostly interested in tussling with one another, and
helping one another out of their scuba gear.
(There are lots of books about gay themes in cinema. I think
someone needs to add a chapter about “Creature from the Black Lagoon.)
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