The Giant Behemoth (1959) review

 

THE GIANT BEHEMOTH 1959 aka BEHEMOTH, THE SEA MONSTER

Gene Evans (Steve Karnes), Andre Morell (Professor James Bickford), John Turner (John), Leigh Madison (Jean Trevethan), Jack MacGowran (Dr. Sampson)

Directed by Eugene Lourie

The Short Version: The director of the influential 1953 classic THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS directs this Britain lensed, recycled version that, while possessing a few merits of its own, pales in comparison to its earlier, more accomplished antecedent. It fails as a memorable monster picture, but it does excel in its lead performances -- especially a serious turn from American character actor, Gene Evans -- and in the gloomy ambiance of the photography. A mid-grade monster movie that doesn't stand out as a particularly good film, or even a particularly bad one, but it does provide 80 minutes of entertainment for 50s ScFi movie lovers.

Atomic testing unleashes a dormant beast along England's coastline. In addition to its immense size and destructive capabilities, the monster puts off high levels of lethal radioactivity that burns anyone who happens to get too close to it. The creature eventually makes its way to London where it ravages the city. In an effort to contain the potential radioactive damage from blowing the monster to smithereens, scientists devise a special torpedo to kill the prehistoric beast.



The second of three giant monster movies from director Lourie is the weakest of the lot, but not without some advantages of its own. It's a British-US co-production that follows closely the template laid down by Lourie's own THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953). In some ways, one could say BEHEMOTH was a remake of the far more accomplished Harryhausen enhanced monster picture. The Behemoth's movements mimic Harryhausen's Rhedosaurus a bit too much, albeit with less spectacular results.

In a rare instance, the ending is uncharacteristically pessimistic. There's also no female scientist, or lady in distress, as so many of these movies often had. It's all left up to leading man Gene Evans, who, amazingly, does extremely well here co-starring alongside well known British actor Andre Morell.

By 1959 this type of movie had played itself out. Virtually every sort of creature of enormity had been the star of its own movie. The behemoth of the title differentiates itself from other standard city stompers by emitting deadly radioactive rays that burn and melt those in close proximity to its path. 1971s GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER used a similar plot device for its antagonist kaiju.

The creature destruction seen here is minimal, and relegated to the last twenty minutes. According to the commentary by famed SPX creators Phil Tippett and Dennis Muren, the monster was originally written as a blob-like creature (which we do see at first). This is of interest taking into consideration Hammer had made a SciFi picture about a radioactive blob monster entitled X THE UNKNOWN a few years earlier in 1956. Rewrites were ordered and a more reptilian monstrosity was designed. In the end, the monster itself looks unusual with its alligator-like skin, although the low budget and likely brief shooting schedule are painfully evident during portions of the picture.



For example, there are moments during the city destruction where you can see the animated monster model falling apart around its ankle joints! At other times, the monsters sockets around its eyes appear mottled (possibly from the animator adjusting the head for takes). Apparently, animator Pete Peterson had to hurry things along to get the picture done. Furthermore, the repeating of certain shots at various points in the picture all show signs of anemic production value. The bulk of the stop-motion animation is relegated to the finale while the few preceding moments of monster mayhem are represented by an unconvincing miniature monster head.



It's not all bad news, though. Some of the set-ups and shots of the creature are impressive, all things considered. The beast is often shot from a low angle to demonstrate its size. The scenes where the monster rips and tears apart metal constructs are likewise accomplished bits of stop-motion animation. Of special note is a wide angle sequence where the Behemoth tears up some electrical towers with a miniature town in the background.

The photography is one of the pictures greatest assets and picks up much of the slack. There are numerous shots of a churning sea backed by a shadowy, blackly clouded sky. The overcast seen throughout the film gives off a humid, gloomily saturated aura that lends the picture some suspense leading up to the moment when the monster is seen for the first time -- even though the beasts first appearance isn't very impressive. Furthermore, the lighting, whether day or night, takes advantage of the mucky weather dominating the exterior locales.



The lead actors are likewise strong and deliver their lines with conviction (especially Evans). He's an unlikely choice for a leading man in one of these movies. Possibly the producers were going for a Quatermass type hero for this. Evans of course was recognizable from any number of westerns of both big and small screen. He also played the crooked sheriff in the classic WALKING TALL (1973) and one of the adult victims of DEVIL TIMES FIVE (1974).



Speaking of Quatermass, co-star Morell played the famed British scientist in the QUATERMASS AND THE PIT television series from the same period. The same year in 1959, Morell co-starred with Peter Cushing in Hammer's THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.

Among the behind the scenes crew, Willis O'Brien worked on the picture in some capacity (among a handful of other artists); and Desmond Davis, the director of the Harryhausen hit CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981), was a camera operator on this movie.

The films title is also curious; at least its stateside title is. In the UK, it played under the more sensible name of BEHEMOTH, THE SEA MONSTER. Taking into consideration the definition of 'Behemoth', the US moniker of THE GIANT BEHEMOTH is awfully redundant. 



Lourie's second creature feature (he'd follow this up with the classic GORGO in 1961) is derivative, overly pedantic, and needlessly talky in places when it doesn't need to be. It does excel in its two leads, but nobody watches a monster movie solely for its acting. Its bread and butter comes late in the game, but the payoff is modest yet satisfying. A mid level 50s monster film, THE GIANT BEHEMOTH always feels like it's missing an ingredient or two that would go a long way to make this a much tastier recipe.

This review is representative of the Warner Bros. DVD.

The Dis List: The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) review

THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER 1981

Klinton Spilsbury (The Lone Ranger/John Reid), Michael Horse (Tonto), Christopher Lloyd (Butch Cavendish), Jason Robards (President Grant)

Directed by William A. Fraker

The Short Version: History repeats itself in reference to this early 80s LR movie and its 2013 counterpart. Both were huge bombs, but for speculatively different reasons. One had a temperamental film star and confrontational producer, and the other tells things from the Indian's perspective... an Indian who happens to have a dead crow plastered to his head. Looking back, the 80s Lone Ranger movie is both a bore and a chore to sit through; although the Dukes of Hazzard style rhyming narration from Merle Haggard is good for a few (make that a lot of) unintentional laughs.



Ambushed by Butch Cavendish, John Reid, the sole survivor of a massacre of Texas Rangers, is rescued by his childhood friend, Tonto. Nursing him back to health, Reid and Tonto go after Cavendish and his gang to rescue the kidnapped President Grant.

One of the biggest theatrical stink bombs of the 80s, the residue is apparently still lingering since there's barely any mention of it whatsoever by the media in the wake of the new, even more disastrous Lone Ranger movie (as I was finishing up this review, I did find an Entertainment Weekly article from July 2nd covering the ill-fated production and the elusive Klinton Spilsbury). Disney's version has bigger action set pieces, but thankfully, and in its defense, the older movie has no Tonto with a dead bird stuck to his head.




Despite a lead actor who'd never been the star of a movie before (but displayed a professional level of primadonna nuances), and a producer who doomed his production by suing Clayton Moore to keep him from dressing up as the LR character, Fraker's flick simply isn't very good. At approximately 100 minutes (including end credits), it feels like HEAVEN'S GATE is unfolding before your eyes. 

Moreover, for a movie with the words 'The Lone Ranger' in the title, you'd expect a multitude of rousing action scenes. You get very little of it. But you do get lots of scenes of galloping and riding around rocky and grassy terrain. As a consolation prize, the cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs is awe-inspiring and the John Barry score soars.



Unfortunately, the score occasionally feels out of place when backing one of the least engaging interpretations of the famous LR character ever presented in front of a camera. In his sole movie credit, Klinton Spilsbury never brings the role alive. He essentially sleepwalks through the entire picture. To make matters worse, most, if not all his dialog scenes were re-dubbed by James Keach; and it's still a horribly unenthusiastic performance. 



Christopher Lloyd emerges with his dignity intact playing the title villain, Union Army Major Butch Cavendish. The film could have been moderately better had we seen more of him; and especially seen more of him engaged in more dastardly deeds than what little we do get. Lloyd's Cavendish makes the picture watchable, but it's all undone by Merle Haggard's horrid rhyming narration that creeps up on ya' every few minutes. It recalls Waylon Jennings' DUKES OF HAZZARD schtick. Below is an example of this country fried, old west rap:

"Butch Cavendish lived undisturbed wagin' his private war... and men who made mistakes were simply men he could not afford... some say he was a monster... and others call him mad... let's just say Butch Cavendish was everything that's bad..." -- apparently, someone thought this sort of thing was a good idea.

End credit watchers will spy Tom Laughlin waaayyy down the credits as a member of Cavendish's gang. Fans of 70s cinema will recall Laughlin's name and persona from a quartet of boring as all hell, leftist propaganda movies about his infamous Billy Jack character. Laughlin himself headlined a crappy western of his own entitled THE MASTER GUNFIGHTER in 1975. By 1981, he was pretty much irrelevant, and his fleeting background glimpses (background at right of Lloyd in insert, and wearing his Billy Jack hat!) in LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER was his last movie appearance.




The action scenes in TLOTLR are few and far between, but we do get some impressive stunts on a couple of occasions. Terry Leonard's near fatal stagecoach stunt is worthy of a Jackie Chan movie. The accident where he nearly lost his leg (and his life) remained in the final cut. 



The opening is suitably brutal, but bad acting and the ridiculous, intrusive narration derail whatever seriousness the filmmakers were going for. There's another, totally separate, and equally silly voiceover that crops up just as the end credits begin that also threaten a sequel that never materialized. There is a funny Custer in-joke, though. The finale is nicely edited and fairly exciting, making good use of the classic William Tell Overture. Other than that, there's not much else good to say about this Legendary Lone Ranger disaster.

***The images for this review come from a widescreen version that aired on Showtime Extreme a few years ago. The 2008 US DVD release utilizes a fullscreen version. A region 2 DVD contains a widescreen version.***