Tarantula (film)
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| Directed by | Jack Arnold |
| Produced by | William Alland |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Jack Arnold |
| Based on | "No Food for Thought" (teleplay, Science Fiction Theatre, May 17, 1955) by Robert M. Fresco |
| Starring | |
| Music by | |
| Cinematography | George Robinson |
| Edited by | William Morgan |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Universal-International |
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Release date
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Running time
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81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.1 million (US) |
Tarantula is a 1955 American black-and-white science fiction film from Universal-International, produced by William Alland, directed by Jack Arnold, that stars John Agar, Mara Corday, and Leo G. Carroll. The screenplay by Robert M. Fresco and Martin Berkeley was based on a story by Arnold which was in turn inspired by Fresco's teleplay for the 1955 Science Fiction Theatre episode, "No Food for Thought", which Arnold also directed.
A severely deformed man stumbles through the Arizona desert, falls and dies. Dr. Matt Hastings, a doctor in the nearby small town of Desert Rock, is called in by the Sheriff to examine the body at the local mortuary. Asked to define the cause of death, he finds himself perplexed: the deceased was someone he knew and had just seen recently – biological research scientist Eric Jacobs – whose deformity appears to be acromegaly, a distortion which takes years to reach its apparent present state. Dr. Hastings asks to be allowed to perform an autopsy to clarify the diagnosis. The sheriff refuses, judging an autopsy unnecessary because there is no indication of foul play. Hastings then approaches Jacobs' colleague, Dr. Gerald Deemer, who more bluntly refuses permission, then signs Jacobs' death certificate in lieu of Hastings, with heart disease listed as the cause of death.
Bothered still by the anomaly, and also by Deemer's abruptness, Hastings later drives to Deemer's combined home and research lab, located in an isolated mansion in the desert far from town. Deemer apologizes for his hostility, blaming it on his grief, then insists that Jacobs had developed acromegaly incredibly rapidly, over just four days. He cannot offer an explanation but attempts to convince Hastings this was only an anomaly, not a result of anything sinister. Hastings appears to accept this apology.
After Hasting leaves, Deemer goes to his closed lab, where huge cages contain white rabbits and mice, some of enormous size. Deemer examines each of the oversized specimens, noting when each last received an "injection", and how many each has had altogether. Then he turns to observe a glass-fronted inset in the back wall, as a different sort of specimen slides into view inside - a tarantula bodily the size of a large dog, plus legs.
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