The Creature from the Black Lagoon drawing by Dave Synder
An old tramp steamer, the Amazon river, a love affair out of control and a large finned, scale covered monster. Yes… it’s the Creature From The Black Lagoon. Probably the most famous and best loved horror movie produced by Universal Studios and the last in Universal’s genre of monster movies. The Creature opens with scientists along with two local native helpers searching the jungle for fossils when they happen upon the fossilized hand of an unknown creature.
Later in the evening … As the movie plot is quickly developed and continues to move quickly (which is probably one of the reason why the movie was such a success) Two of the native helpers are attacked by the mystery creature and killed while they stand frozen in fear (so much for fight or flight syndrome).
A group of scientists and their female squeeze (Actress Julie Adams) enter the black lagoon in the Amazon River surrounded back dangers and dangerous wild life not to mention the big green man like monster they are about to encounter. The monster is however an impatient prehistoric oddity and wastes no time in making contact with the pesky humans that have entered his territory. The creature kills two natives and then terrorizes the occupants of the tramp steamer, carry a crew of scientists, boat crew and one pretty lady ( actress Julie Adams).
Creature from the 1954 Black Lagoon was Universal studios final installment in its monster genre. The Creature is probably one of the best known characters in universals monster series. The Creature was produced when science was becoming a big thing and Hollywood was filled with big monster bugs, birds and giant lizards, all being a bi-product of the misunderstood atomic age. Creature from the Black Lagoon spawned two sequels: Revenge of the creature (1955), which was also filmed and released in 3D in hopes of reviving the format, and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), filmed in 2D. A goofy appearance with Abbott and Costello on an episode of The Colgate Hour aired prior to the film’s release. The appearance is commonly known as Abbott and Costello Meet the Creature from the Black Lagoon. But all things considered, the Scaly movie star (who was actually a guy by the name of Ricou Browning in creature attire) has maintained its longevity for over sixty years and still appears regularly on late night Tv.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricou_Browning
The large scaly one made a huge come back in Revenge of the Creature. the 1955 movie had the Creature being captured and taken to Marineland in Florida. Many scenes were shot in the large aquarium tanks there.
Universal Monsters Creature from the Black Lagoon Statue
Monsters After Midnight 