How The Creature From The Black Lagoon Pulled Off Its Groundbreaking Underwater Scenes
The Universal monsters are arguably the most classic and iconic of all horror cinema's spooky creations. Whether you're a fan of Bela Lugosi's Dracula or Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolfman, there is a monster for everyone. If you're the kind of person who enjoys a good beach day, then there's a decent chance that the monster that suits your fancy is none other than the highly misunderstood Gill-Man who makes his first appearance in Jack Arnold's 1954 flick, "Creature from the Black Lagoon." The movie tells the story of a group of scientists trying to locate the rest of a mysterious fossilized skeleton that has been discovered in the Amazon. As they make their way down the river towards the Black Lagoon, they are unaware that an amphibious creature is stalking their every move. The Creature, often known to the film's many fans as the Gill-Man, develops a fascination (or love?) for one of the scientist's girlfriends, and his interest in her ends up being deadly for them all.
Some of the movie's best scenes take place underwater. The Gill-Man is often shown swimming gracefully in his natural habitat, and the fact that Arnold was able to capture actual footage of an actor swimming in the creature suit is a testament to the film's greatness. But getting those sub-aquatic shots wasn't easy, and much of the footage's success is due in large part to the extremely talented actor who helped portray the Creature in the film.
Finding the right man for the gills
To successfully depict the menacing Gill-Man, the amphibious monster had to be played by two separate actors in the film. Ben Chapman was in charge of acting in all of the Creature's scenes that took place on land — a task that came with its own set of problems largely involving Chapman's inability to see well through his mask — but Ricou Browning (who is the last still-living person known to have portrayed a Universal monster on screen) was the man in charge of bringing the Creature to life underwater.
Before landing the role of the subaqueous Creature, Browning was no stranger to the water. In an interview for Halloween Daily News, he explains,
"Back in those days, there was a company called Grantland Rice, and they used to make short subjects to show in theaters after the movie was shown. I was involved in many of those, like diving from a tower into the water and swimming underwater. We had a bunch of kids in a Model T Ford having an underwater picnic, and all kinds of crazy stuff. It was fun doing it."
He also details how he spent time "on the United States Air Force Swim Team," proving that he felt just as at home in the water as the Creature, himself. Eventually, through a series of fateful encounters, Browning ended up being asked to portray the Gill-Man in Jack Arnold's film, and thankfully for all of us, he said yes.
Working conditions for a subaquatic monster
Filming for the underwater scenes took place at Wakulla Springs in Florida, and Browning tells Halloween Daily News that the shoot took "about a month." Browning's days consisted of getting "in and out of the water all day long, starting at 9:00 in the morning until about 4:00 in the afternoon." That's a pretty long time to spend suited up as a deadly, aquatic monster. One of the hardest challenges for Browning to overcome was the temperature. He explains, "The water temperature was 71 degrees. The air temperature at that time of year was 49 degrees. So it was pretty cold."
In order to film the shots, Browning held his breath, occasionally getting more oxygen from tubes he could breathe through. He tells Halloween Daily News,
"The lips of the suit sat about a half-inch from my lips, and I put the air hose in my mouth to breathe. I would hold my breath and go do the scene, and I'd have other safety people with other air hoses to give me air if I needed it. We had a signal. If I went totally limp, it meant I needed it. It worked out well and we didn't have any problems."
It's also often been said that Browning was able to hold his breath for an extremely long period of time which no doubt helped in his ability to portray the Creature so successfully. During a Q&A for the Days of the Dead convention that took place in Atlanta, Georgia, Browning's daughter said:
"A lot of people [I interviewed] said [Browning] could hold his breath probably, at the most, for about four minutes. But that's if he wasn't moving around a lot. He says that if he was moving around a lot it was a lot less than that. But he can never brag about how long he can hold his breath, but other people have bragged about it."
The legacy of the Gill-Man
The cultural impact of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" lives on, and the beauty of its underwater cinematography no doubt contributes to the movie's staying power. Those scenes in the film are absolutely breathtaking, even by today's standards.
When the Creature quietly watches Kay Lawrence (Julia Adams) gracefully swim off the side of the boat, the footage is as unnerving as it is hauntingly beautiful. As Kay delicately swims near the water's surface, the Gill-Man shadows her from underneath, mimicking her movements in an almost balletic fashion. As viewers, we understand that despite his violent tendencies, he will not hurt her, lending a great amount of emotional depth to a scene that doesn't include a single piece of dialogue. If it wasn't for the amazing talents of Ricou Browning — who continued to portray the Creature underwater in the film's two sequels — and his willingness to endure extremely difficult filming conditions in order to film the movie, "Creature from the Black Lagoon" might not be nearly as memorable as it continues to be to this day.