The Alligator People *** (1959, George Macready, Beverly Garland, Lon Chaney Jr, Richard Crane, Frieda Inescort, Bruce Bennett) – Classic Movie Review 7166

Director Roy Del Ruth’s fondly regarded 1959 horror movie stars George Macready as Dr Mark Sinclair, a Louisiana bayou doctor who gives as a treatment a reptile serum that is supposed to let his patients grow new limbs but actually also turns them into alligators.

This support horror fantasy feature is incredibly daft but watchable with some good touches. It is however more commonplace than it ought to be with such a potentially engaging baroque yarn.

Macready, Beverly Garland as Joyce Webster, aka Jane Marvin, Lon Chaney Jr as Manon and Bruce Bennett as Dr Eric Lorimer give tip-top turns that keep it going, but the rest of the good cast is largely defeated by Orville H Hampton’s often struggling script.

Also in the cast are Richard Crane, Frieda Inescort, Vince Townsend Jr, Ruby Goodwin, Boyd Stockman, John Merrick, Lee Warren, Douglas Kennedy and Bill Bradley.

The Alligator People is directed by Roy Del Ruth, runs 74 minutes, is made by Associated Producers Inc, is released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Orville H Hampton, based on a story by Orville H Hampton and Charles O’Neil, is shot in black and white and CinemaScope widescreen by Karl Struss, is produced by Jerry Wald and Jack Leewood, and scored by Irving Gertz.

It went out in a double bill with Return of the Fly (1959). What a great evening that must have been!

It is on a triple feature DVD set with Lake Placid (1999) and Swamp Thing (1982).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7166

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