The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Rating: ****/*****, or 8/10

First dinosaur-on-a-rampage movie (beating the much more famous Japanese Gojira by one year) is still one of the best of its kind, mostly thanks to Ray Harryhausen's sublime stop motion animation. After an H-bomb test in the frozen Arctic wastelands, a scientist (Paul Hubschmid) spots a giant reptillian creature before being wounded in an avalanche. At first his wild stories are met with disbelief by his colleagues except for an old paleontologist (Cecil Kellaway) and his attractive female assistant (Paula Raymond). However, as soon as the monster, a fictional species of dinosaur dubbed Rhedosaurus, attacks Manhattan, doubt turns into terror and the scientists, in cooperation with the armed forces, race against time to find a way to stop the beast. This was Harryhausen's first solo project after having done most of the animation for Mighty Joe Young (1949) together with his mentor Willis O 'Brien. Apparently, Harryhausen was a good student, since the result of his skill in animation proved at least as great as the master's own work on King Kong (1933). Many creature-destroys-city films would follow in its wake, but very few would come even close to this level of realism. And fun. For a casestudy regarding the role of science in this film, check this link.

Starring: Paul Hubschmid, Cecil Kellaway, Paula Raymond

Directed by Eugène Lourié

USA: Jack Dietz Productions, 1953