Like Nothing You Have Never Seen Before!-Gorgo
Gorgo (1961) tells of a prehistoric creature that rises from the sea … off the coast of Ireland right after a volcanic eruption and of his plight at the hands of humans, his capture and his loneliness. Will he be part of the carnival life? Is that what his future holds for him, to be gawked at? Or will he be liberated?
Sean, a young orphan boy who feels his pain and understands about being alone and parent-less, tries pointing out to the adults, especially Captain Ryan you might be making a mistake capturing Gorgo. And taking him from the sea. Gorgo asks the question do we have the right to capture and try to control nature? You decide. I, for one, usually expect consequences to arise. As is the case in this one. For London with all its major tourist and historical attractions they will understand when mommy comes a calling. Because there is no greater wrath than an angry, 200 foot plus pissed off parent seeking out her kidnapped child. Big Ben and Piccadilly Circus don’t stand a chance.
This story is also about one of the 7 Deadly Sins-Greed. Thanks to Captain Ryan (played by the wonderful Bill Travers of Wee Geordie & Born Free) wanting more and more money, he goes from wanting to get paid for disposing of Gorgo to capturing him and displaying him at as permanent side show attraction in London.
***No monsters were hurt or injured during the making of this film****
Captain Ryan, even from the very beginning of the film is constantly in pursuit of the almighty dollar or in this case British pound…but at what cost? How many lives lost, how many buildings will be reduced to rubble before he hopefully sees the error of his ways. So if you have not guessed by now, this is not your typical giant monster movie. But is a highly entertaining bit of fantasy with a message. Kids of all ages will enjoy this.
Gorgo is actually a suit. The suit itself was fitted with special mechanical apertures which enabled the ears to move independently of the mouth and tail. Combined at the same time with a “guy in a suit” thus giving the creature more believability and warmth. Remember at this time there was no digital or computerized effects. Everything in terms of special effects were practically created. And while you are watching the film, really take in the sets and miniature work.
Painstaking detail was given to the sets and nothing is more evident than when Momma Gorgo is hulking through the streets of London, causing havoc for the military and toppling the likes of Big Ben. There has been no greater destruction of a city since Godzilla graced the screen in 1954.
Also helping in bringing this classic story to the screen were the amazing designs and concept art from *Edgar Kiechle’s talented drawing skills and his creative mind. He is was artist — associated with landscaping and work in the early days of the movies on sets, especially background sets. Then starting doing concept art for film production.(*see additional info below)
*** Trivia break-Below — music from Gorgo- listen carefully to the first few cues you might just pick up on a couple of rifts the sound very familair. A little bit of The Goonies and Gremlins. Sometimes other composers pay tribute or homages to there mentors and various artists that may have inspired or influenced them in their early days…
Aside from the marvelous special effects Gorgo boasts a really wonderful score from Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, who by the 1970’s had composed the soundtracks to approximate 300 films including spaghetti westerns, sword n sandal to sci-fi with titles like The Lost Continent, countless Peplums including Goliath and the Vampires(Gordon Scott), Hot Enough for June aka Agent 8 3/4 ( Dirk Bogarde)
Wild Wild Planet and 077: Mission Bloody Mary(with Ennio Morricone). Pay close attention to the music and one might here harps and xylophones and an accordion which if one has the opportunity to pick up the More Monsterous Movie Music CD (includes the soundtrack to Gorgo and the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms) you’ll discover in the liner notes this is the unofficial instrument of the sea. See link below.
The above statement is the tagline from Gorgo and might as well be describing the very Bluray release itself. Thanks to VCI, Gorgo is stuffed or crammed with an amazing amount of extras.
Everything from a digital version of the Charlton comic book(includes work from Steve Ditko)from the 1960’s to an isolated music score /sound effects audio track to a making of documentary.
“Ninth Wonder of the World: The Making of Gorgo”.
The documentary features Film Historian Ted Newsom, Bob Burns an avid collector of movie memorabilia and props. Plus featuring a voice over by the director Gorgo: Eugene Lourie. He is also known for his work as an art director for several classic films prior, including Beast From 20,000 Fathoms featuring special effects by Ray Harryhausen. And an Oscar nomination for his visual effects work on 1969’s Krakatoa, East of Java. Ninth Wonder was directed by Daniel Griffith, is narrated by Randall Turnball (who is perfect for this- exuding a smooth and enthusiastic ). Produced by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures -coming in at feature length time. In fact it is so well conceived, just brimming with loads of trivia. Regaling such an incredible tale of how this classic slice of monster filmdom came together. So good, that I watched it approximately 10 times in less than a week. The documentary is exceptional to the point of meriting a release of its own. It does what every good piece of journalism does, it informs and stimulates the audience to ask questions. Craving more knowledge.
The sound pops crystal clear due to the Westrex equipment used during the originally recording/filming process and the restoration that was required for the Bluray release, the picture is pristine. Gorgo has never looked better. And like the tagline states “Like Nothing You’ve Never Seen Before”.
***trivia break- Eugene Lourie had a daughter who was always interested her dads work. And he would take her to the premieres. Well on the way back from The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms she was a little sad. She asked her father is it possible to make a film where the monster lives at the end. She figured that at least in the Beast he or she really did not mean any harm. The dinosaur was displaced by time. That thought stuck with him. And when the opportunity presented itself he would make a movie where the “monster” lived.
For myself, Gorgo is a piece of nostalgia. Bringing me back to long winter days spent with my buddies guzzling Frostie Root Beer and Dutch Snyder pretzels. After the movie was over we went out into the snow to act out scenes from the movie, always wondering what we would do if we found a baby dinosaur. A penny for your thoughts?
I’ll say that Gorgo is one of the best “Giant Monster” films of all time. I hope you seek out this treasure and if you do, like Doc says “just tell’em who sent ya”. So as we fade out and it’s nearly sunset, if we squint as we look off towards the ocean, maybe, just maybe we might be able to catch a glimpse of Gorgo and mom wading back into the sea and we may even hear an accordion playing in the distance. Until next time …
Related reading-
Keep Watching the Skies:
By Bill Warren, from McFarland Books -revised edition 1004 pages and weighs a few lbs. or doubles as exercise equipment…
Bonus — cover from Famous Monsters of Filmland April 1961 covering the release…
Wile Wild Planet Trailer-
Trivia- Ed Kiechle and Edgar Kiechle, are they one and the same? That question still remains.
We know that Edgar worked on concept drawings for Gorgo and this mus have been his last movie project since he passed away in 1960. Gorgo was released in the UK in 1960 and US in 1961.
Ed Kiechle worked for Walter Lance and did background animation for his studio and included work on several Woody Woodpecker shorts but his contributions end in 1949. No record after that.
So if anyone can answer that one that will have solved a mystery…
Gorgo Bluray edition can be found at
Amazon.com and
VCI Entertainment website —
More Monsterous Movie Music CD -produced by Monsterous Movie Music
Angelo Francesco Lavagnino-several of Angelos’ soundtracks are available with Music Unlimited on Amazon Prime-Below Goliath and the Vampires which I think has some of his greatest diversity…in themes and cues.
