"King Kong" visual effects supervisor Willis O'Brien cooked up a Paleosaurus on a shoe-string budget for French director Eugène Lourié's "The Giant Behemoth," another amphibian monster epic like "Godzilla." Reportedly, the producers wanted Lourié' to steal from his earlier but better monster picture "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" instead trying to scare audiences with a blinding blob of a monster. Neither as good as "Beast" nor as "Gorgo," "The Giant Behemoth" qualifies as a respective entry, even if the same car gets squashed three times from different angles. No, it doesn't surpass "Godzilla."
The interesting thing about this atmospheric Allied Artists production is the conspicuous absence of a romance. Gene Evans and André Morell serve as the two heroes. Evans does the heavy lifting, while Morell furnishes him with something to lift. Reportedly, too, Lourié collaborated behind the camera with freshman helmer Douglas Hickox. Later, Hickox went on to direct his own share of distinctive movies and television shows. There is no way that you can tell what Hickox contributed and what Lourié did. The film has a gritty look, and you don't expect that The Grim Reaper has earmarked certain characters. For example, we see a little girl on a ferry playing with her doll baby. Later, after the ferry has sunk, we see the little girl's doll but no sign of its owner.
Overall, "The Giant Behemoth" is a serious but dreary escapade, even the doomed monster takes himself seriously. The British Government conducts itself admirably and doesn't stint on anything in the storyline. The English settings are a welcome change from Tokyo or America. Gene Evans has the rare occasion to take top billing, and he plays Dr. Steve Karnes as a methodical but boring American marine biologist. The writers do not have him call on women but he spends far too much time catch that Paleosaurus. Karnes, however, is only one man, and he helps virtually all the help and information that he needs from Professor James Bickford (André Morell) who oversees the Atomic Energy Commission in Great Britain. If Karnes is like James Bond, then Bickford is like Q who supplies 007's wants and needs. "Exorcist" supporting actor Jack MacGowran steals the show as Dr. Sampson, the Paleontologist of the British Museum. He babbles on about the monster until he realizes that the photograph of the amphibian's foot dwarfs the size of a car parked near it. Unfortunately, the nerdy paleontologist isn't around longer. "The Giant Behemoth" benefits from MacGowran's antics. Evans does well for what is required of him and he shows that he had more range that American producers usually allowed him. André Morell delivers another of his usually reserved but wolfish performances.
"The Great Behemoth" has an uneven quality, probably because the nature of the monster changed from when the fisherman discovered it until Karnes caught a glimpse of it through his binoculars. Initially, it looks like thick shaving lotion and then it emerges as a dinosaur. The monster lacks any sort of personality. The movements seem primitive compared with Ray Harryhausen's stop-action stuff. Sometimes, the directors let the shots of the monster linger far longer than they should have.
The interesting thing about this atmospheric Allied Artists production is the conspicuous absence of a romance. Gene Evans and André Morell serve as the two heroes. Evans does the heavy lifting, while Morell furnishes him with something to lift. Reportedly, too, Lourié collaborated behind the camera with freshman helmer Douglas Hickox. Later, Hickox went on to direct his own share of distinctive movies and television shows. There is no way that you can tell what Hickox contributed and what Lourié did. The film has a gritty look, and you don't expect that The Grim Reaper has earmarked certain characters. For example, we see a little girl on a ferry playing with her doll baby. Later, after the ferry has sunk, we see the little girl's doll but no sign of its owner.
Overall, "The Giant Behemoth" is a serious but dreary escapade, even the doomed monster takes himself seriously. The British Government conducts itself admirably and doesn't stint on anything in the storyline. The English settings are a welcome change from Tokyo or America. Gene Evans has the rare occasion to take top billing, and he plays Dr. Steve Karnes as a methodical but boring American marine biologist. The writers do not have him call on women but he spends far too much time catch that Paleosaurus. Karnes, however, is only one man, and he helps virtually all the help and information that he needs from Professor James Bickford (André Morell) who oversees the Atomic Energy Commission in Great Britain. If Karnes is like James Bond, then Bickford is like Q who supplies 007's wants and needs. "Exorcist" supporting actor Jack MacGowran steals the show as Dr. Sampson, the Paleontologist of the British Museum. He babbles on about the monster until he realizes that the photograph of the amphibian's foot dwarfs the size of a car parked near it. Unfortunately, the nerdy paleontologist isn't around longer. "The Giant Behemoth" benefits from MacGowran's antics. Evans does well for what is required of him and he shows that he had more range that American producers usually allowed him. André Morell delivers another of his usually reserved but wolfish performances.
"The Great Behemoth" has an uneven quality, probably because the nature of the monster changed from when the fisherman discovered it until Karnes caught a glimpse of it through his binoculars. Initially, it looks like thick shaving lotion and then it emerges as a dinosaur. The monster lacks any sort of personality. The movements seem primitive compared with Ray Harryhausen's stop-action stuff. Sometimes, the directors let the shots of the monster linger far longer than they should have.