Gorgo (film)

Gorgo Directed by Eugène Lourié Producer Wilfred Eades, Herman King Written by Robert L. Richards, Daniel James, Eugène Lourié (story), Daniel Hyatt (story) Music by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino Distributor British Lion-Columbia DistributorsUK Metro-Goldwyn-MayerUS Rating Unrated Budget $650,000 Box office $???,???,??? Running time 78 minutes (1 hour, 18 minutes)

Gorgo is a 1961 British-American giant monster film produced by King Brothers Productions. It debuted in American theaters on March 29, 1961, and in British theaters on October 27, 1961.

Plot

To be added.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

• Directed by   Eugène Lourié
• Written by   Robert L. Richards, Daniel James, Eugène Lourié (story), and Daniel Hyatt (story)
• Executive producing by   Frank King and Maurice King
• Produced by   Wilfred Eades and Herman King
• Music by   Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
• Cinematography by   Freddie Young
• Edited by   Eric Boyd-Perkins
• Assistant directing by   Douglas Hermes
• Special effects by   Tom Howard

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

• Bill Travers   as   Captain Joe Ryan
• William Sylvester   as   Sam Slade
• Vincent Winter   as   Sean
• Bruce Seton   as   Professor Flaherty
• Joseph O'Conor   as   Professor Hendricks
• Martin Benson   as   Mr. Dorkin
• Barry Keegan   as   Mate
• Dervis Ward   as   Bosun
• Christopher Rhodes   as   McCartin
• Mick Dillon   as   Gorgo / Ogra

Appearances

Monsters

• Gorgo
• Ogra

Vehicles

• Centurion tank
• Daimler Armoured Car
• F-100 Super Sabre

Development

After the great success they had distributing Rodan in the United States, the King Brothers sought to produce a giant monster film of their own. With Gorgo, director Eugène Lourié strove to atone for his first dinosaur film, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, as the death of the Rhedosaurus made his daughter cry. From the earliest stages of development, Gorgo and Ogra were to return to the sea at the end of the story, a rarity for monsters at the time. Originally, due to heavy Japanese financial backing, Gorgo was captured on Kuru Island in the South Pacific and taken to a Tokyo zoo. The main characters were pearl divers instead of treasure hunters, and when the Japanese investors pulled out, the setting changed to Paris, France. Lourié, however, felt that the lack of a harbor near Paris would make the arrival of a sea monster ponderous. A strong offer from MGM Studios led to a final switch to London.

Production

Gorgo was filmed at MGM's studio in Borehamwood, a London suburb. Location photography took place in London and Coliemore Harbour, an Irish port near Dublin. Production notes included on the VCI Entertainment Blu-ray show that London scenes were being filmed in September 1959, and Coliemore Harbour scenes in November 1959.

The three identical monster suits used to depict both Gorgo and Ogra were made of rubber. Hydraulics operated by the stuntman inside allowing the eyes, mouth, ears, and tail to move. Four actors in total played the creatures, though only Mick Dillon's involvement is confirmed; the others were likely David Wilding, Peter Brace, and Peter Perkings. A full-sized Gorgo head, claws, and tail were built for shots where a composite using the suit would be impractical, including the footage of a captive Gorgo paraded on a truck through the streets of London. The sparse crowds in that scene were a consequence of the King Brothers' unwillingness to pay extras. Their hope was that the sight of the enormous prop would attract onlookers on its own, but the morning of the shoot turned out to be cold and foggy.

Video Releases

VCI Entertainment DVD/Blu-ray (2013)

• Region: 1 (DVD) or N/A (Blu-ray)
• Discs: 1
• Audio: English (LPCM Mono), French (LPCM Mono), Music and Effects track
• Special Features: Theatrical trailer, English and French video comics, galleries of lobby cards, posters, collectibles, pressbooks, and photos, Ninth Wonder of the World – The Making of Gorgo featurette (31 minutes), productions notes (2 minutes), Restoration Video – Before and After featurette (3 minutes).
• Notes: Cropped to 1.78.1.

Videos

Theatrical trailer

Trivia

• Like King Kong in his debut film, Gorgo is billed by Dorkin Circus as the "8th Wonder of the World."
• Gorgo was featured on Season 9 of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, with the unfortunately-named Dorkin Circus, the omnipresent radio reporter at the end of the movie, and the complete lack of female characters becoming especially rich targets. However, the episode was only aired twice, both on July 18, 1998, due to a rights issue. It was released on DVD in 2013 by Shout! Factory, as part of the Mystery Science Theater 3000: 25th Anniversary Edition set.
• "Waiting for Gorgo," an unofficial 18-minute sequel, was filmed in 2008. VCI Entertainment attempted to include it on their 2013 DVD and Blu-ray releases of Gorgo, but director Benjamin Craig rejected their offer. It is available on Amazon.com (as a DVD) and Vimeo.
  • Its title references the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot. A sketch on Mystery Science Theater 3000's Gorgo episode uses the same title.
• Though not an official remake, the 1967 Nikkatsu film Gappa closely follows the plot of Gorgo, with two city-smashing parent kaiju instead of one striving to rescue their captive child.
• The unmade American Godzilla film Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D would have taken inspiration from the plot of Gorgo, with the adult Godzilla attacking San Francisco to find a juvenile Godzilla whose corpse was recovered by the U.S. military.

External Links

• Gorgo pressbook

References

This is a list of references for Gorgo (film). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]