Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

Late entry in the 'classic universal monster' cycle, Creature from the Black Lagoon is from the 1950's rather then the 30's and 40's, it's also a better film then I thought it would be. You've likely seen its retreads, a group of scientists in the jungle looking for signs of a rumored ancient monster, this group is in the Amazon looking for bones from a half man/ half fish creature, and encountering the real, living thing. What chiefly makes this movie work is its not too long (less then 90 minutes), takes itself seriously but not too seriously, and has a good cross section of stock characters, including a love triangle between noble scientist (Richard Carlson), looks good in a swimsuit scientist (Julie Adams), and hungry for fame and fortune scientist (Richard Denning). Also in the cast are Whit Bissell, who was born to smoke a pipe, and Nestor Paiva as Lucas, the groups guide and boat captain whose best line has got to be: "There are many strange legends in the Amazon. Even I, Lucas, have heard the legend of a man-fish." The creature in the fish-man suit is played by Ben Chapman while on land and Ricou Browning when underwater, and ultimately he's just a lonely gill man, he built that dam because he wants them to stay. ***