The Land Unknown

The Land Unknown is a 1957 science fiction CinemaScope adventure 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 starred Jock Mahoney and Shirley Patterson and was directed by Virgil W. Vogel. The film is notable for its low-budget special effects, which include men in dinosaur suits, puppets and monitor lizards standing in for dinosaurs. William Reynolds recalled the studio spent so much money on their mechanical dinosaur that they could not afford to shoot the film in color as they first planned.[2]

The Land Unknown
Directed byVirgil W. Vogel
Produced byWilliam Alland
Screenplay byLászló Görög
Story by
  • Charles Palmer
  • William N. Robson
StarringJock Mahoney
Shirley Patterson
Henry Brandon
Music byHenry Mancini
Hans J. Salter
Herman Stein
CinematographyEllis W. Carter
Edited byFred MacDowell
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • October 30, 1957 (1957-10-30)[1]
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A small crew led by Commander Harold Roberts and reporter Maggie Hathaway are on an expedition into Antarctica for the United States Navy. During a helicopter flight, they are called back to their ship via radio because of an unexpected storm approaching. At first they try to fly around the storm, but low on fuel, they fly into the storm, where they almost collide in mid-air with a man-sized pterosaur. Their rotor control rod is bent. Unable to stay in the air, they start to descend and are surprised when they end up landing well below sea-level in a warm volcanic crater. Inside, they discover a steamy tropical jungle with living dinosaurs, giant flesh-eating plants, and fresh human footprints. They cannot contact the ship by radio. When they try to straighten the bent rod, it breaks. They are trapped. The crew encounter many dangers and perils in the jungle in a fight for survival.

The crew meet Hunter, the lone survivor of a plane crash from the 1947 expedition. He has learned to survive in this land with the aid of a conch that drives off the animals and by raiding the dinosaurs' nests. He offers the remains of his airplane to repair the helicopter, but only if the crew agree to leave Maggie with him. The crew refuses, but they also know that after 25 days their ship will have to leave before the Antarctic winter sets in. Unsuccessful in finding the remains of the plane, hidden by Hunter, the crew debate leaving Maggie, or forcing the information out of Hunter by torture. Commander Roberts refuses to sink to either low. Maggie is later attacked by an Elasmosaurus, but Hunter rescues her. After a fight and learning that the crew refuse to torture him for the location of his plane, Hunter gives them the map to its location.

After repairing the helicopter, the crew take off in a hurry as a Tyrannosaurus rex attacks their base. They fly to pick up Maggie, who is with Hunter at the time. Hunter is ambushed by the Elasmosaurus, and the crew come to his rescue. They fly out of the lost world with him. Once clear of the crater, the crew are able to communicate again by radio with their ship; however, the helicopter runs out of fuel and crashes into the ocean before it reaches the vessel. The crew are rescued, and once safely on the ship Harold and Maggie declare their love for one another.

The animals featured in this film include a Tyrannosaurus, Elasmosaurus, Stegosaurus live acted by monitor lizards (which would make them megalania), a pair of Pterosaurs and a giant flesh-consuming plant. The mammal found by the crew then later eaten by the carnivorous plant is referred to as a tarsier but is actually a loris.

Cast

Production

Release

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.

The film was released on LaserDisc in the 1990s. Universal Studios Home Entertainment released it on DVD in 2007 as part of a boxed set called The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, along with Dr. Cyclops, The Leech Woman, The Deadly Mantis and Cult of the Cobra.[6] Kino Lorber's 2019 Blu-ray release featured a fact-filled audio commentary by Tom Weaver and David Schecter.

Reception

The film currently holds a rating of 5.9/10 from 812 users on the Internet Movie Database and a low score of 22% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Comic book adaption

References
  1. http://www.anyfilm.co/the-land-unknown-1957/
  2. There's Always Tomorrow
  3. Larson, Peter L.; Carpenter, Kenneth (2008). Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Tyrant King. ISBN 978-0253350879.
  4. "The Land Unknown". imdb.com. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  5. "The Land Unknown (1957)". Allmovie. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  6. Erickson, Glenn (September 13, 2007). "DVD Savant Review: The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2". DVD Talk. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  7. "Dell Four Color #845". Grand Comics Database.
  8. Dell Four Color #845 at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
  9. https://www.lambiek.net/artists/t/toth_a.htm
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