Take a Deeper Dive on ‘It Came From Beneath the Sea’
Svengoolie‘s summer of thrills and chills continues on Aug. 17, when he presents It Came From Beneath the Sea, the 1955 sci-fi classic about a nuclear submarine that provokes the ire of one very angry giant radioactive octopus. Directed by former silent film star Robert Gordon, the film features performances by Faith Domergue, Keith Tobey and Donald Curtis. But the true star of the picture is Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion animation, which gave life to the giant cephalopod as it ran amok and (spoiler alert) eventually climbed the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Film Was Inspired by the Hydrogen Bomb
The film was conceived by producer Charles H. Scheer, who was said to have been inspired by the first tests of the hydrogen bomb, and came up with the image of an octopus attacking the Golden Gate Bridge before the script was written. Scheer had been an associate producer for eight years and was looking for a movie that could make him a full-fledged producer with a full-fledged hit. The title, derived from the 1953 hit It Came From Outer Space, aspired to that film’s level of popularity.
To do that, however, he needed the right man for the job to create that octopus — so he called up Harryhausen. Ray Harryhausen had recently worked on 1953’s The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms — the first film where he had full control of the special effects, and the first where he used his signature “Dynamation” animation technique — and it was a major success. Scheer liked what he saw and brought Harryhausen aboard the project. Scheer would go on to produce all of Harryhausen’s future films except for One Million Years B.C. Scheer later said, “I don’t think I would have made that type of picture [It Came From Beneath the Sea] if I hadn’t been able to get Ray to do the FX.”
The film was a hit, earning $1.7 million at the box office — actually slightly more than the film that inspired it.
Remind The Cast Included Howard Hughes’ Ex and a Future Minister
Everett Collection
Faith Domergue’s portrayal of Professor Lesley Joyce, one of the scientists who first encounters the octopus, was the actress’s third major sci-fi/ horror role that year — Cult of the Cobra and This Island Earth were both released earlier in 1955. As a 16-year-old, she had had a romantic relationship with Howard Hughes, which had resulted in her getting signed to RKO; Hughes poured money into promoting Domergue and her first starring role, a film called Vendetta. Vendetta was difficult to make and poorly reviewed, and failed to launch her career. After years of appearing in film noirs, dramas and Westerns, and not quite getting a foothold in the industry, this run of 1955 films transformed Domergue into one of the earliest scream queens.
Keith Tobey portrayed Naval Commander Pete Mathews, the only man tough enough to take down an irate sea creature. This was not the first time Tobey had a role as a military man who tangos with an unearthly beast. After small roles in films like Twelve O’Clock High, he was spotted by Howard Hawks, who cast him as an Air Force pilot who must defend Earth from aliens in the Arctic in his 1951 classic The Thing From Another World. Tobey also appeared in the previous Harryhausen-animated film about an enormous creature who gets zapped by bombs and runs amok in a major city, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. After a supporting role in the 1957 John Wayne/John Ford film The Wings of Eagles, Tobey worked steadily into his old age, appearing in movies from Marlowe to Billy Jack to The Howling and both Gremlins films.
Donald Curtis, who plays scientist Dr. John Carter, was a journeyman actor who appeared in an incredible 68 (!) movies between 1940 and 1967, including small roles in films like Thirty Second Over Tokyo and Spellbound. He made a handful of films after It Came From Beneath the Sea, before making a serious career change and becoming a man of the cloth, spending the rest of his life working with the Church of Religious Science Organization.
The Production Cut Corners (Or, Um, Tentacles)
Everett Collection
It Came From Beneath the Sea is set in San Francisco, and much of it was shot at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, with many actual Navy members appearing onscreen in small roles. Rather than build a submarine set, the film’s submarine scenes were shot on an actual submarine, the PCU CUBERA (SS-347) — though it was not an atomic-powered sub, as portrayed in the film, but a mere diesel-powered one.
However, scenes set on the California coastline were actually shot on a soundstage, on an improvised beach created by dumping loads of sand onto the floor. Tobey supposedly complained of sinking into the sand during each take.
Scheer had some curious but effective advice about how the film could save money: give the octopus only six tentacles instead of eight. “Two tentacles less to build and animate did save both time and money,” Harryhausen noted in his autobiography. “Charles said no one would ever notice. And he was right. They never did.”
Check out Svengoolie’s presentation of the movie on Aug. 17 at 8pm EST/7pm CST, on MeTV.
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