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| The Land Unknown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Virgil W. Vogel |
| Screenplay by | László Görög |
| Story by |
|
| Produced by | William Alland |
| Starring | Jock Mahoney Shirley Patterson Henry Brandon |
| Cinematography | Ellis W. Carter |
| Edited by | Fred MacDowell |
| Music by | Henry Mancini Heinz Roemheld Hans J. Salter Herman Stein |
| Distributed by | Universal-International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Land Unknown is a 1957science fictionCinemaScopeadventure film about a naval expedition trapped in an Antarctic jungle. The story was allegedly inspired by the discovery of unusually warm water in Antarctica in 1947. It starsJock Mahoney andShirley Patterson and was directed byVirgil W. Vogel. The film's low-budget special effects include men in dinosaur suits,puppets andmonitor lizards standing in for dinosaurs.
Commander Harold Roberts is leading an expedition intoAntarctica for theUnited States Navy to study waters which are unexpectedly warm for a place so close to theSouth Pole. The other expedition members are helicopter pilot Lt. Jack Carmen, machinist Steve Miller, and reporter Maggie Hathaway. As their helicopter approaches the area of study, they are called back to their ship via radio because of an unexpected storm approaching. Too low on fuel to fly around the storm, they fly into a foggy but calm break in it. With visibility inhibited, they collide with apterosaur, bending the rotor control rod and tearing off the antennae. Unable to stay in the air, they descend and land well belowsea-level in a warmvolcanic crater. Inside, they discover a steamy tropical jungle with livingdinosaurs and giant carnivorous plants. Even search planes passing directly overhead cannot pick up their radio calls, and when they try to straighten the bent rod, it breaks. They are trapped.
As the crew split up to scout the area, Maggie is abducted by Dr. Carl Hunter, the lone survivor of a plane crash from a 1947 expedition. He has survived by blowing aconch that drives off the animals and by raiding their nests. Having morally regressed over his decade of isolation, he intends to keep Maggie as a sexual plaything. Seeing Hunter's footprints near Maggie's last known location, Harold, Jack, and Steve track him to his cave and hold him at bay with their guns. Hunter offers the remains of his airplane to repair the helicopter, but only if the crew agree to leave Maggie with him. The crew refuses, intending to locate the wreck by themselves. They know that after 25 days their ship will have to leave before the Antarctic winter sets in, so Maggie offers to sacrifice herself and stay with Hunter. Harold refuses, and kisses her.
Maggie is later attacked by anElasmosaurus. Hunter rescues her by repeatedly thrusting torches into its mouth, and again brings her back to his cave. Steve arrives, defeats Hunter, and begins using one of his torches to torture Hunter for the airplane's location. Harold arrives and adamantly states that they are not going to turn on each other to escape this land, either by sacrificing Maggie or torturing Hunter. His humanity stirred, Hunter gives them the map to the airplane. Maggie decides to stay with Hunter voluntarily.
After repairing the helicopter, the crew take off in a hurry as aTyrannosaurus rex attacks. After Maggie faints during a dinosaur attack on the cave, Hunter decides to take Maggie back to the others. The helicopter crew uses a winch and harness to lift her up from Hunter's raft. The Elasmosaurus returns and, having learned from its previous encounter with Hunter, submerges before he can get close enough to use a torch, then surfaces beneath his raft, upending it. The crew come to his rescue, flying in close and firing a signalflare into its mouth. They retrieve Hunter from the water and fly out of the crater with him. The crew arrange a rendezvous with their ship by radio. The helicopter runs out of fuel and crashes into the ocean as it reaches the vessel. The crew are rescued. Once safely on the ship Harold proposes to Maggie.
The film was produced byWilliam Alland forUniversal International Pictures. The studio originally planned to makeThe Land Unknown a lavish,Technicolor feature, but the movie's budget was slashed after the disappointing box office performance of Universal'sThis Island Earth (1955). Although the feature was shot inCinemaScope, black-and-white film was used, and plans to shoot at the off-studio back lot Falls Lake were canceled. The production instead was filmed entirely on interior sets. Also due to budget constraints, the cast was made up ofB movie actors.[3]
The jungle scenery included a massivecyclorama hung around the entire sound stage, and tropical plants hung upside down to make them appear more prehistoric.[3] Dinosaurs featured in the film include aPteranodon; anElasmosaurus; a pair ofStegosaurus, played bymonitor lizards; and aTyrannosaurus rex, played by Smyth.[4] A giant, carnivorous plant is depicted as well. The mammal found by the crew, then later eaten by the plant, is referred to as atarsier, but is actually aloris.
The Land Unknown was given a wide release on October 30, 1957.[5] Some sources (including Bill Warren) list its initial release as August, 1957.[citation needed]
The film was released onLaserDisc in the 1990s.Universal Studios Home Entertainment released it onDVD in 2007 as part of a boxed set calledThe Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, along withDr. Cyclops,The Leech Woman,The Deadly Mantis andCult of the Cobra.[6] Kino Lorber's 2019 Blu-ray release featured a fact-filled audio commentary by Tom Weaver and David Schecter.
Matt Brunson ofFilm Frenzy gave it 2 out of 4 and called it "A lesser entry in Universal's robust run of 50s sci-fi flicks."[7]
