The Alligator People (1959)

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

Orville H. Hampton (screenplay)
Orville H. Hampton (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

July 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Terror in the Bayou!

Plot:

A newlywed couple sit in a train. The husband receives a frantic telegram. He gets off at a station to make a phone call...

Plot Keywords:

Alligator | Mutant | Experiment | Nurse | Swamp

Cast

Beverly Garland	...	Joyce Webster, aka Jane Marvin
Bruce Bennett	...	Dr. Eric Lorimer
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Manon (as Lon Chaney)
George Macready	...	Dr. Mark Sinclair
Frieda Inescort	...	Mrs. Lavinia Hawthorne, Henry's Wife
Richard Crane	...	Paul Webster
Douglas Kennedy	...	Dr. Wayne MacGregor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Bradley	...	Patient 'Number Six' (uncredited)
Hal K. Dawson	...	Train Conductor (uncredited)
Dudley Dickerson	...	Train Porter (uncredited)
John Frederick	...	1st Male Nurse (uncredited)
Ruby Goodwin	...	Louann, the maid (uncredited)
Ken Kane	...	Third Male Nurse (uncredited)
Vince Townsend Jr.	...	Toby, the butler (uncredited)
Lee Warren	...	Second Male Nurse (uncredited)

Directed by
Roy Del Ruth

Writing credits
Orville H. Hampton		(screenplay)
Orville H. Hampton		(story) and
Charles O'Neal		(story)
Robert M. Fresco		uncredited

Produced by
Jack Leewood	....	producer

Original Music by
Irving Gertz

Cinematography by
Karl Struss		(director of photography)

Art Direction by
John B. Mansbridge		(as John Mansbridge)
Lyle R. Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Joseph Kish
Walter M. Scott

Makeup Department
Eve Newing	....	hair stylist
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Dick Smith	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Herbert E. Mendelson	....	production manager (as Herb Mendelson)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herbert E. Mendelson	....	assistant director (as H.E. Mendelson)

Art Department
George Westenhiser	....	property master

Sound Department
W.D. Flick	....	sound (as W. Donald Flick)
Arthur Cornell	....	sound effects (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Fred Etcheverry	....	special effects

Stunts
Bob Bryant	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ollie Hughes	....	costume supervisor
William McCrary	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Harry W. Gerstad	....	supervising film editor (as Harry Gerstad)
Orven Schanzer	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Mary Coleman	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Associated Producers (API) (as Associated Producers, Inc.)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Bausch & Lomb  CinemaScope lenses by

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Louisiana, USA

Company:

Associated Producers (API)

Trivia:

This film was made because Twentieth Century-Fox needed a low-budget "monster movie" in the CinemaScope format to play on the bottom of a double bill with Return of the Fly (1959), the sequel to its "sleeper" hit The Fly (1958). Fox did not produce this film, however. It was made by independent producer Jack Leewood and bought by Fox.

Quotes:

Manon: Dirty, stinkin', slimy gators!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect (2000) (TV)

To Beverly, Bruce & Lon: 'See You Later, Alligator!'

The very good last third of this film and an outstanding ending made this movie worthwhile for me to watch. One has to be patient in some of these classic films, as many of them begin rather slowly.....but there is a reward if you stick with it.

This story is told in flashback as a woman "Joyce Weber," played by Beverly Garland) is given an injection and relates to two doctors the amazing story of what happened to her and her missing husband.

Garland did well and looked terrific. She was a little over 30 years of age at the time she made this film. Sadly, she just died a few months ago (as of this review) at the age of 82. She has a long resume of movies and TV shows.

Lon Chaney plays a goofy role, a man who is obsessed with shooting alligators after one had the nerve to eat his hand. He makes a play for Beverly in one scene, trying to get her drunk and have his way with her. Can't blame the poor slob.

Bruce Bennett, who plays the main doctor here, also died recently, passing away at the age of 90 in 2007. Bennett did some great 1940s films like "Mildred Pierce" and "Dark Passage," plays the main doctor. George Macready, whose best days were behind him, too, ("Gilda" is my favorite film of his) is the other doctor, who is there to witness "Joyce's" story as it is told under some sort of truth serum.

Lesser-known Richard Crane plays the "Paul Crane," the alligator man.

The title of the film is a bit misleading. "Alligator People" imply plural - more than one, but there really is only one alligator man in this film, and he only looks like a guy with a bad sunburn and acne! At the end, though, Crane dons a rubber suit with an alligator head that will have you howling - in laughter, not fear! The other alligator-men are only shown as patients lying in their beds. It's all part of a man-plays-God experiment in which the good doctor is trying to help people who are desperate straights.

Without giving the last 25 minutes away - which was very good - along with particularly excellent ending that had some intelligent twists to it - suffice it made up for the earlier slower moments.