The Giant Behemoth
| The Giant Behemoth (Behemoth, the Sea Monster) |
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| Directed by | Eugène Lourié |
| Produced by | Ted Lloyd |
| Screenplay by | Daniel James Eugene Lourie |
| Story by | Robert Abel Allen Adler |
| Starring |
Gene Evans André Morell |
| Music by | Edwin Astley |
| Cinematography | Ken Hodges |
| Edited by | Lee Doig |
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Production
company |
Artistes Alliance, Ltd.
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| Distributed by | Allied Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Giant Behemoth (also known as Behemoth, the Sea Monster and The Behemoth), is a 1959 American-British black-and-white science fiction giant monster film distributed by Allied Artists Pictures. The film stars Gene Evans and André Morell. The script was written by blacklisted author Daniel James under the name "Daniel Hyatt", with Eugène Lourié co-writing as well as directing.
Originally a story about an amorphous blob of radiation, the script was changed at the distributor's insistence to a pastiche of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), though elements of the original concept remain in the early parts of the film and in the "nuclear-breathing" power of the titular monster.
American scientist Steve Karnes (Evans) delivers a speech to a British scientific society, headed by Professor James Bickford (Morell), about the dangers to marine life posed by nuclear testing. Before Karnes can return to the U.S., a real-life example of his concern materializes when Tom Trevethan (Henri Vidon), an old fisherman, receives a lethal dose of radiation; his dying word is "behemoth". Later, thousands of dead fish are washed ashore.
Karnes and Bickford investigate the beach where the old man died, collecting samples which prove that radiation was the cause. Karnes begins to suspect that the "behemoth" that the old man described is some kind of large marine mammal that has been infected with radiation.
A man, his son and their dog are the next victims of the creature. A photo of the area reveals a huge footprint of some prehistoric animal. Dr. Sampson (Jack MacGowran), a paleontologist, identifies the creature as a "Paleosaurus", an aquatic dinosaur that emits an electric pulse, like an eel. Karnes believes that the dinosaur is saturated by radiation, which is transmitted by the electric pulse, resulting in the burns that killed the fishermen and other victims. The radiation is also slowly killing the dinosaur. According to Dr. Samson, the dying creature will leave the ocean depths to head upstream, seeking out the shallow waters where it was born; unfortunately death by radiation may not come soon enough to prevent the creature from wreaking havoc on London along the way.
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Wikipedia