How the Gill Man was created in “Creature from the Black Lagoon” (5 photos)

An American horror film about a mysterious creature similar to Ichthyander was released on March 5, 1954. The film did not become as popular as other more famous films about Universal studio monsters, such as Dracula or Frankenstein, but still left a noticeable mark on the history of cinema and the horror genre, and also acquired a significant number of fans.





In the material about how the main character of the film adaptation was created.



Still from the film

In the story, scientists go into the wilds of the Amazon to find ancient fossils. But a surprise awaits them there. They encounter an inhabitant of the Black Lagoon - a prehistoric reptile.





In the photo, Millicent Patrick is working on creating a gill man.

A whole team worked on creating the monster. The appearance of the monster was designed by American actress, makeup artist and special effects artist Millicent Patrick. Her inspiration came from images of the Sea Monk, a type of deep-sea fish, and the mythical creature Sea Bishop. European folklore says that it lives in the Baltic Sea.

The head cast was created by Chris Mueller, and the details were molded by Bud Westmore, a hereditary Hollywood makeup artist. About nine people worked on the monster’s body. Jack Pierce, an outstanding American Hollywood make-up artist, a pioneer of cinema, known for a number of the most recognizable monsters in the history of world cinema, had a hand in creating the monster.



Photos from the filming

Behind the mask of the main character were two actors Ben Chapman and Riku Browning. One of them worked only in land scenes, the other was filmed underwater. Costumes were created specifically for each actor; for this purpose, body casts were taken in advance. Despite the fact that the creative team working on the embodiment of the image of the Gillman tried to make identical outfits, the costumes still turned out a little different. True, the differences turned out to be so insignificant that they can only be noticed if you look at both products at the same time.



Photo of the Gillman

The performers of the unusual leading role had to watch calories - it was important that the clothes fit snugly to the body. A special mechanism was built into the gill-man's outfit, which, when the actor's head was raised, opened the creature's mouth. From facial expressions, this is all that the strange creature was capable of, and in this it was much inferior to other famous monsters. However, despite this drawback, the image turned out to be quite successful.

The film grossed nearly $2 million upon release. Swedish director Ingmar Bergman admitted that he rewatched “Creature from the Black Lagoon” on every birthday. The film received several sequels, but they were not as successful.