''Gorgo'' is a 1961 science fiction giant monster film directed by Eugène Lourié, an

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...

of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ireland. The story is about a ship’s captain and his pearl diving crew who, with other fishermen on an island and an orphaned boy, discover and capture a gigantic amphibious sea creature and take it to London for public exhibition. This results in the creature's much larger mother invading London in search of her offspring, causing catastrophic destruction across the city.

Plot

Captain Joe Ryan is salvaging for treasure off the coast of Ireland when a volcano erupts, nearly sinking his ship. Ryan and his First Officer and friend, Sam Slade, take the ship to Nara Island for repairs. Before the Harbour Master, Mr McCartin, arrives to assist them, the crew meet Sean, an orphan, who assists McCartin: he invites them to see his collection of ancient

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

relics. Ryan finds himself intrigued by a relic bearing the image of a creature that Sean calls "Ogra, the sea spirit". Joe and Sam consult the surly McCartin and discover he has more than archaeological interest when he shows them his stash of illegally salvaged gold relics from the harbour. Ryan warns him to stop being unhelpful or else he will call the police. As Ryan's divers check the harbour for other divers who mysteriously disappeared, one of them emerges and dies from "fear". That night a group of fishermen go out to check the water. They are attacked by a gigantic creature, but successfully drive it off with firebrands. After meeting the fishermen and with help from McCartin, Ryan and his crew manage to capture the creature and haul it onto their ship. Sean warns them that they have made a mistake, but the crew ignore him. Hearing of the creature, two university scientists arrive to meet Ryan and Slade, hoping to obtain it for scientific study. However, Ryan has already sold the creature to Dorkin's Circus in London. Dorkin names the creature "Gorgo", after the

gorgon A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the te ...

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

, before transporting it to a large, enclosed pit for public exhibition in Battersea Park. Ryan and Slade meet the scientists again, who inform them the creature is an infant. With its larger mother still out there, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

takes charge of the operation. Later that night Gorgo's mother emerges from the sea and attacks Nara Island in search of her offspring before leaving. When she attacks again in the morning, a Royal Navy destroyer intercepts her, but she proves immune to their weapons and sinks it, killing all aboard. The mother later attacks London. The military intervene, but fail to stop or destroy her. Ryan and Slade split up to find Sean, with the former finding the boy and keeping him safe. Gorgo's mother is eventually reunited with her offspring and frees him from the pit before they both return safely to the sea.

Cast

* Bill Travers as Captain Joe Ryan * William Sylvester as First Officer Sam Slade *

Vincent Winter Vincent Winter (29 December 1947 – 2 November 1998) was a Scottish child film actor who, as an adult, continued to work in the film industry as a production manager and in other capacities. Career Winter was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and ...

as Sean, the orphaned village boy *

Christopher Rhodes Sir Christopher George Rhodes, 3rd Baronet (30 April 1914 – 22 June 1964) was an English film and television actor. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the United States Legion of Merit for his Second World War service. Early life Rhodes w ...

as Kevin McCartin, the Harbour Master * Joseph O'Conor as Professor Leroy Hendricks *

Bruce Seton Sir Bruce Lovat Seton, 11th Baronet (29 May 1909 – 28 September 1969) was a British actor and soldier. He is best remembered for his eponymous lead role in ''Fabian of the Yard''. Early life Bruce Lovat Seton was born in Simla, British Ind ...

as Professor Marius Flaherty * Martin Benson as Andrew Dorkin, the circus owner *

Basil Dignam Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor. Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...

as Admiral Hugh Brooks * Barry Keegan as First Mate Harry * Dervis Ward as Bosun Mike * Mick Dillon as Gorgo, and as "Ogra", Gorgo's mother

Production

The film was originally intended to be set in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

as an homage to

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

; the setting was then changed to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and then finally to the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

. According to Bill Warren's film book ''Keep Watching the Skies'', southern Australia was also considered for a locale, but the producers supposedly decided that audiences "wouldn't care" if a monster attacked Australia; its alleged lack of worldwide recognisable landmarks for Gorgo to destroy was also cited as a consideration. The location where Gorgo first appears, the fictional Nara Island, is an anagram of the

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; gle, Oileáin Árann, ) or The Arans (''na hÁrainneacha'' ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony of Aran i ...

, off Ireland's west coast. The exterior scenes set in Ireland were filmed at

Bulloch Harbour Bullock Harbour or Bulloch Harbour ( ga, Cuan Bhlóic) is a small working harbour located near the heritage town of Dalkey on the southeast coast of Dublin Bay in Ireland. The current harbour quay and walls were constructed of local granite in ...

and Coliemore Harbour, both near the County Dublin town of Dalkey. Other scenes were filmed at the MGM-British Studios in

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...

, Hertfordshire. Scenes where Gorgo is driven through the streets of London were shot on a Sunday morning, when there was little other traffic. The film studio wanted Gorgo to fight the military, despite director Eugène Lourié's objections. Gorgo's special effects were achieved by suitmation and miniaturisation, a technique pioneered in the ''Godzilla'' films. The younger Gorgo was smaller than most giant monsters, so the sets around him were built to a larger scale, leading to an enhanced sense of realism. The creatures were also shot with then-pricey slow-motion cameras to create a sense of scale. The effects were complex and are well respected by special effects artists and fans. The film is also sometimes praised for its innovative ending, in which, unusually for such films, the monsters survive and prevail. All but one of the human characters with speaking roles are male, the exception being an uncredited woman reporter.

Novel and comic book adaptations

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the adve ...

of the film was released in paperback at the time of its original release, written by Carson Bingham (real name: Bruce Cassiday) and published by

Monarch Books Monarch Books was an American publishing firm in the late 1950s/early 1960s which specialised in pulp novels. Some of these, like ''Jack the Ripper'' (1960), were movie tie-ins. Published novels * ''101 - Dark Hunger'' by Don James (1958) * ''10 ...

. From 1961 to 1965,

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

published 23 issues of the comic book ''Gorgo''. It included work by

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Si ...

co-creator

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

. The series was renamed ''Fantastic Giants'' with issue #24, which turned out to be the last issue of the series. Gorgo also appeared in a three-issue miniseries that started off as ''Gorgo's Revenge'', before it was renamed ''The Return of Gorgo'' with issue #2. The series ran from 1962 to 1964. In 1990, Steve Ditko illustrated a back-up story in ''Web of Spider-Man Annual'' #6 titled "Child Star". In this story, Captain Universe creates huge versions of toys based on Gorgo and '' Konga'' to battle giant monsters that are attacking New York City. For copyright reasons, Gorgo's name was altered to "Gorga".This sequence was Ditko paying homage to his earlier work with these two characters in their 1960s

comic book series. In 1991, A-Plus Comics reprinted issues #1 and 3 in the one-shot comic ''Attack of the Mutant Monsters''. Owing to copyright issues, Gorgo's name was changed to Kegor. Some of these issues were reprinted (in black and white) in a trade paperback in 2011 called ''Angry Apes n' Leapin Lizards''. In March 2013,

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly re ...

reprinted all the issues that artist Steve Ditko worked on (''Gorgo'' #1–3, 11 and 13–16 and ''The Return of Gorgo'' #2–3) as a deluxe hardcover collection called ''Ditko's Monsters: Gorgo!''. In April 2019, IDW published a book called ''Ditko's Monsters: Gorgo vs. Konga'' which collected issues #1 and 13 of the series. In September 2021, Fantaco published all the issues Joe Sinnott and Vince Colletta worked on (issues #5-10 and 12) in a collection called ''Gorgo Attacks!''.

Home video

*Blu-ray A America - VCI, also includes ''Ninth Wonder of the World: The Making of Gorgo'', a documentary by Daniel Griffith *

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

's (Collectable Tin) of ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1 ...

25th Anniversary Edition'' contains the film, as well as an extended cut of ''Ninth Wonder of the World: The Making of Gorgo''.

''Gorgo'' in popular culture

In 1998, the film was featured on the television series ''

'' with film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

appearing at the beginning of the episode to introduce the film. The rights quickly expired and the episode only had two airings, both on the same day.

was able to license the film again and release the episode on DVD as part of the box set ''Mystery Science Theater 3000: The 25th Anniversary Edition'' in 2013. Gorgo was used by rock band

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

for the promo video for . It was the seventh release of their A to Z singles series, a year-long 26-single subscription. Using a copy of the DVD and free movie editing software, the video allegedly only cost $8.00 to produce. In 2010 a short comedy film, ''Waiting for Gorgo'', was produced by British production company, Cinemagine. The film was directed by Benjamin Craig and written by

M. J. Simpson Mike Simpson, professionally known as MJ Simpson, is a British author, journalist, scriptwriter and occasional actor. He was deputy editor of the British science fiction magazine '' SFX'' from 1995 to 1998. He was for several years an expert on ...

. The plot focuses on the D.M.O.A., a top secret British government agency charged with preventing the return of the monster Gorgo. Between 2010 and 2012, the film screened at over 26 international film festivals, including

Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (French: ''Festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand'') is an international film festival dedicated to short films held annually in Clermont-Ferrand, France. History In ...

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

, and Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. The film was awarded a Special Jury Prize at (Poland) and FILMCARAVAN International Film Festival (Italy), and Best Short Film at Cantoo Film Festival (USA). Former Maine governor

Angus King Angus Stanley King Jr. (born March 31, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maine since 2013. A political independent since 1993, he previously served as the 72nd governor of Maine from 19 ...

used a clip from ''Gorgo'' in an advertisement for his 2012 run for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

.Mistaken monster
The Bollard, 17 September 2012 In the Disney remake '' Flubber'', Flubber was seen flicking through television channels when it had separated into several versions of itself. Scenes of Gorgo's mother rampaging through London could be seen flashing on the screen as Flubber is switching channels. Gorgo made a cameo in ''

The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat ''The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat'' is an American animated television series produced by Film Roman. The series first aired on September 16, 1995 on CBS lasting for two seasons with the final episode airing on April 12, 1997. The first seaso ...

''.

References

External links

* *
''Waiting for Gorgo''
- official site for the short film

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on August 29, 2016.

{{Steve Ditko Films set in London Films set in Ireland 1961 films 1960s fantasy films British fantasy films British science fiction films British monster movies Kaiju films Giant monster films Films shot in the Republic of Ireland Films about dinosaurs Films directed by Eugène Lourié Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films adapted into comics 1960 comics debuts Comics based on films American fantasy films American science fiction films 1960s science fiction films Films scored by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino Films set in amusement parks Films about mother–son relationships Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1960s English-language films 1960s American films 1960s British films 1960s Japanese films Films about orphans American independent films British independent films