- For the episode, see MST3K 909 - Gorgo.
| “ | Bring the children, very instructive... | ” |
| - Dorkin |
Gorgo is a 1961 monster movie directed by Eugène Lourié.
Plot[]
After an undersea earthquake, a baby sea monster is captured off the Irish coast. A group of promoters put this monster (dubbed Gorgo) into a circus. A member of the crew that found the creature suffers some general compunctions about the proceedings but goes along with them.
Gorgo's mother arrives and destroys several London landmarks in the process of rescuing him.
Cast[]
- Bill Travers as Joe Ryan
- William Sylvester as Sam Slade
- Vincent Winter as Sean
- Joseph O'Connor as Professor Hendricks
- Bruce Seton as Professor Flaherty
- Martin Benson as Dorkin
Notes[]
- Director Eugène Lourié later acquired a 35mm print of the movie for private use and cut out all the stock footage military shots.
- The film was originally set in Japan. Later, the King Brothers and Eugène Lourié thought of setting it in Paris, but that would have meant the monster would have had to wade about 100 miles up the Seine to get to the city. Finally, the location was changed to Ireland and England.
- Aside from Japan, Paris, and finally the U.K., the producers were considering using Australia as the location. However, they decided that nobody would care if Australia was attacked, and settled on the U.K.
- Gene Simmons of Kiss, a lifelong fan of monster movies, based the now-iconic design of his performing boots on Gorgo's head.
- Both a novelization and comic book series based on the movie's titular monster were published around the time of the film's release.
- A dinosaur called Gorgosaurus once existed. Like the movie's monster, it was a bipedal predator similar to Tyrannosaurus. It reached heights of 10 feet at most, unlike the 200 ft. tall behemoth in the film.
MST3K Connections[]
- William Sylvester also portrayed Leonard Driscoll in Riding with Death and Mark English in Devil Doll.
- Jim Brady (man in crowd) also portrayed a circus audience member in Circus of Horrors.
- Camera operator Jack Mills was also camera operator for Phase IV.
- Musical conductor Muir Mathieson was also musical director for Circus of Horrors.
- Script supervisor Pamela Davies was also continuity supervisor for The Deadly Bees.
Critical Response[]
- Leonard Maltin wrote: "Three stars ... Good sci-fi story [...] Exciting special effects."[1]
References[]
- ↑ Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, 2015 Edition