The Land Unknown * (1957, Jock Mahoney, Shirley Patterson, William Reynolds, Henry Brandon) – Classic Movie Review 11,566

The spectacularly creaky 1957 sci-fi adventure film The Land Unknown is infamous for its men in dinosaur suits, pathetic puppets and lizards standing in for dinosaurs.

Director Virgil W Vogel’s 1957 black and white sci-fi adventure CinemaScope film The Land Unknown stars Jock Mahoney, Shirley Patterson, William Reynolds, and Henry Brandon. It is produced by William Alland for Universal-International Pictures, and was shot at Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California.

Antarctica is the setting for an aviation crash that plunges the survivors – three men on a naval expedition and a woman, newspaper reporter Maggie Hathaway – into a crater 1000 meters below sea level, a prehistoric steamy tropical forest land of deadly dinosaurs and battling beasts.

The Lost World-style story (by Charles Palmer), supposedly inspired by the discovery of unusually warm water in Antarctica in 1947, is hackneyed, the acting is feeble and the trashy Fifties-style B-movie production just won’t do.

However, though The Land Unknown is spectacularly creaky, it is still some fun for collectors of amusingly bad movies and fans of antique sci-fi adventures, though they would have to forgive (or enjoy) the risibly amateur special effects. Indeed the film is infamous for its low-budget special effects, including men in dinosaur suits (Tim Smyth as a Tyrannosaurus Rex), puppets and monitor lizards standing in for dinosaurs. William Reynolds recalled the Universal studio spent so much money on its mechanical dinosaur it could not afford to shoot the film in colour as planned.

Orien Ernest, Jack Kevan and Fred Knoth are the special effects creators. The Visual Effects are by Roswell A Hoffman.

Jock Mahoney.

Movie Tarzan Jock Mahoney puts his best foot forward as Commander Alan Roberts and Shirley Patterson has her charms as Maggie Hathaway.

The cast are Jock Mahoney as Commander Alan Roberts, Shirley Patterson (billed as Shawn Smith) as Maggie Hathaway, William Reynolds as Lieutenant Jack Carmen, Henry Brandon as Dr Carl Hunter, Douglas Kennedy as Captain Burnham, Phil Harvey as Machinist’s Mate Steve Miller, and Tim Smyth as a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Obviously, despite spending 25 days in the jungle without toiletries or shaving equipment, the film star three male actors remain clean shaven.

The Land Unknown is directed by Virgil W Vogel, runs 78 minutes, is made and released by Universal-International, is written by László Görög [Laszlo Gorog] and William N Robson, is shot by Ellis W Carter, is produced by William Alland, is scored by Hans J Salter, Henry Mancini, Heinz Roemheld and Herman Stein, and is designed by Alexander Golitzen and Richard H Riedel, with Roswell A Hoffman.

Universal Pictures released The Land Unknown in its DVD boxed set The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, which also includes Dr Cyclops, Cult of the Cobra, The Deadly Mantis, and The Leech Woman.

Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,566

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