Main Cast: Ward Ramsey, Paul Lukather, Kristina Hanson, Alan Roberts, Gregg Martell
Release Year: 1960
Country: US
Run Time: 85 minutes
Plot
Slipping along an ill-defined track between seriousness, subtle farce, and all-out slapstick, this sci-fi comedy-drama by director Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr. (The Blob, 1958) would be entertaining enough for the moppet set and highly amusing in many spots for adults as well. What sets the ball rolling is that a tyrannosaurus rex, a brontosaurus, and a neolithic man are brought back to life from their prehistoric world. As desperate leaders of the modern world try their best to kill off the carnivorous tyrannosaurus rex, the caveman is receiving high-voltage culture shock from the "civilization" he encounters all around him. One sequence has him coming face to face with a woman in full make-up -- and both go screaming off in terror. Gregg Martell is the confused Neanderthal, Julio (Alan Roberts) is a boy who tries to make friends with the brontosaurus, and Mike Hacker (Fred Engelberg) is the requisite villain. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Fred Engelberg - Mike Hacker; Jack Younger - Jasper; Howard Dayton - Mousey; James Logan - O'Leary; Wayne Treadway - Dumpy
Credit
Jack Senter - Art Director, Irvin Shortess Yeaworth, Jr. - Director, John A. Bushelman - Editor, Ronald Stein - Composer (Music Score), Don L. Cash - Makeup, Stanley Cortez - Cinematographer, Jack H. Harris - Producer, Irvin Shortess Yeaworth, Jr. - Producer, Herman Schoenbrun - Set Designer, Tim Barr - Special Effects, Wah Hang - Special Effects, Gene Warren - Special Effects, Wah Chang - Special Effects, Jean Yeaworth - Screenwriter, Dan E. Weisburd - Screenwriter
Dinosaurus! is a 1960 science fiction film directed by Irvin Yeaworth and produced by Jack H. Harris.[1] The leading role was intended for Steve McQueen, who starred in The Blob two years earlier, also directed by Yeaworth Jr. But for reasons not clear, the offer was never made to McQueen.
The movie is about American men building a harbour on a Caribbean Island when they accidentally uncover two dinosaurs that have been frozen in suspended animation for millions of years. They are a Brontosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus rex. One night, during a storm, the beasts are struck by lightning and come alive. The islanders have no idea that the dinosaurs have actually been alive and because of the storm are now roaming the island. Also awoken is a caveman (played by Gregg Martell) who befriends Julio, an island boy, and along with the Brontosaurus get into a series of wacky misadventures, which lead to the death of the Brontosaurus and the caveman. Meanwhile the islanders have found refuge from the Tyrant Lizard King by hiding in the old fortress, which is protected by a ring of burning fuel. To ensure the Tyrannosaurus does not get in, the hero Bart (played by Ward Ramsey) drives out to face the beast in a mechanical digger. The two duel on the edge of an island cliff and, after a tense fight, the Tyrannosaurus is knocked into water, ending the island terror.[2] The film ends with a picture of the apparently dead Tyrannosaurus on the sea bed, with 'THE END' followed by '?' superimposed. Even though the movie ended with a question mark there was, as of October 30, 2009, no sequel.
Production
Parts of the film were shot on location. Some location shooting took place on the Island of St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Many of the scenes with dinosaurs were filmed using the technique of stop-motion animation.
During special-effects work on this picture, the crew used their Brontosaurus model and miniature jungle set to film a shot for an episode of TV's The Twilight Zone (1959), called "The Odyssey of Flight 33".
The New York Times reviewer Howard Thompson said of this film, "If ever there was a tired, synthetic, plodding sample of movie junk, it's this "epic" about two prehistoric animals hauled from an underwater deep-freeze by some island engineers."[1]
^Webber, Roy P.; Aupperle, Jim; Maylone, Bill (2004). The dinosaur films of Ray Harryhausen: features, early 16mm experiments and unrealized projects. McFarland. p. 152. ISBN0786416661.
