The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

"You'll see it tear a city apart!"

1953 1h 20m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 208

DramaHorrorScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The controlled explosion of an atomic bomb in the Arctic Circle awakens a frozen dinosaur that will wreak havoc in New York City.

“You'll see it tear a city apart!”

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Cast

Paul Hubschmid
Prof. Nesbitt
Paula Raymond
Lee Hunter
Cecil Kellaway
Prof. Elson
Kenneth Tobey
Col. Evans
Donald Woods
Capt. Jackson
Lee Van Cleef
Corp. Stone
Steve Brodie
Sgt. Loomis
Ross Elliott
George Ritchie

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Eugène Lourié
Writers: Lou Morheim, Fred Freiberger, Ray Bradbury
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

80 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $5M — a 23.8× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

73 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Eugène Lourié, shot by John L. Russell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Buttolph. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Bernard W. Burton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Paul Hubschmid and Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Eugène Lourié directs. John L. Russell behind the camera. David Buttolph scores. Bernard W. Burton cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

180 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $5M — a 23.8× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
473 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Directed by Eugène Lourié, shot by John L. Russell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by David Buttolph. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Bernard W. Burton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Paul Hubschmid and Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "You'll see it tear a city apart!".
10IMDB entry: tt0045546 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 10 themes, including "new york city", "atomic bomb", "giant monster", "arctic polar circle region".

The technical file

Cinematography: John L. Russell
Original score: David Buttolph
Editing: Bernard W. Burton
Makeup / hair: Louis Phillipi
Runtime: 80 min · 1h 20m
Status: Released
Budget: $210,000
Box office: $5,000,000
Return: 2381% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

Also by

Eugène Lourié

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-09-06
★ 7/10
Rhedosaurus rampage as Harryhausen genius starts to work. Nuclear testing out in the arctic rouses a prehistoric Rhedosaurs from its icy incarcerated sleep. It promptly lays waste to everything that gets in its path, and its next stop is New York City. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms stands as one of the most important of the 50s sci-fi/creature feature films that filled the screens during that particular decade. Notable for being the first picture where Ray Harryhausen had total control over the effects (and thus setting his career on an upward route), it is also one of two pictures from 1953 that would be the first adaptations of the gifted writings of Ray Bradbury (the other being It Came from Outer Space). Watching it now you can see just what a template movie it was to be for the genre, the perils of nuclear testing a vivid jolt of paranoia, the rugged alpha male, the svelt sexy strong lady, and of course the creature to terrify all who come into contact with it, yep it's safe to say that this picture has all the trademarks. The Rhedosaurus (completely made up name) is a wonderful creation from Harryhausen, a giant stalking lizard who sinks ships for fun, pulls down lighthouses, and has no problems about feasting on local police officers, it's safe to say that since being woken from his sleep he is in a very bad mood! While the ending is wonderful, as the giant beast finds himself cloaked in a roller-coaster with mankind fighting the good fight, a perfect finish to a hugely enjoyable picture. 8/10

Production companies