If you’re a fan of The Creature From The Black Lagoon
series, you’ll love this book, and if not, you’ll still love as a historical
tome. The Creature Chronicles “chronicles” the actors, directors, and crew that
worked on the films, at a time when the US film industry was losing out to
television. Hollywood still used salaried stock actors, and it still filmed on
the backlots, but the studios were making cheaper films that were once
considered beneath their dignity.
One of the funniest chapters was on Benjamin Franklin
Chapman, and little-known actor who played the “Gill Man” monster. He was a
6-foot-5 Tahitian transplant to California, and had two assets; his size and
his swim. After the film wrapped, he
became a tour guide and real estate agent in Hawaii, and remained unknown until
the 1990’s, when he entered his final career…as an autograph signer. He made a
fortune on the conventions circuit, better known as an old man than when he
made the movie. As for the costume, it turns out that the fin on the back was
used to hide the stitches that held it together.
This book has biographies of all the actors, many of whom
were also stunt doubles. Then we get the production story, which took place on
a Hollywood backlot and in Florida. The composers of the soundtrack are covered
as well, though the music was standard suspense. The author, a writer for horror
magazines, details all the wonderful talent that went into this drive-in
classic.
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