# Life Magazine Color Creature from the Black Lagoon photos



## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

These color photos from Life magazine were originally posted here:

http://images.google.com/images?q=gill+man&q=source:life

But, as you can see, they really appear too _magenta_. Jack Theakston took it upon himself to do some color corrections and posted the fantastic results here:

http://www.thephotoplayer.com/colorcreature/

- GJS


----------



## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Here are another set of color corrections ( virtually identical to Jack Theakston's ). This set is done by comics artist Kerry Gammill:


http://gammillustrations.bizland.com/lifecreature/colorcreature.htm

- GJS


----------



## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Excellent pics Batman. I've never seen them before. Thanks for posting them.:thumbsup:

Chris.


----------



## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Auroranut said:


> Excellent pics Batman. I've never seen them before. Thanks for posting them.:thumbsup:
> 
> Chris.


 
They are previously unpublished photos from Life magazine's archives.

- GJS


----------



## schmidtjv (Apr 7, 2004)

54 year mystery solved, his lips ARE red!

Thanks Batman!!!

John


----------



## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

...maybe it's Maybelline...


----------



## mrmurph (Nov 21, 2007)

Someone once posted the color cover of Mechanix Illustrated. In those photos, the suit was almost yellow. 
I seem to remember reading that there were different suits made - one for land and one for photographing in the water.
Thanks for the links.
Interesting....


----------



## frankenstyrene (Oct 5, 2006)

Interesting that there really is gold-painted scale highlights on the suit...I thought the PennPlax people just made that up.

Also - do those eyes look like glass with the centers drilled out? They're really startling looking in those shots.


----------



## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

frankenstyrene said:


> Interesting that there really is gold-painted scale highlights on the suit...I thought the PennPlax people just made that up.
> 
> Also - do those eyes look like glass with the centers drilled out? They're really startling looking in those shots.


I remember reading about the gold highlights a long time ago, apparently used to help brighten the suit in underwater shots, but never saw a color photo for verification...until now! What great reference.

Now that these photos are available I hope it doesn't prevent people from using their own color schemes - which are sometimes more effective than the actual colors!


----------



## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Okay, the red lips are goofy.


----------



## frankenstyrene (Oct 5, 2006)

ChrisW said:


> I remember reading about the gold highlights a long time ago, apparently used to help brighten the suit in underwater shots, but never saw a color photo for verification


Makes sense...I assumed they were to suggest scaly shininess (or shiny scaliness). 



> Now that these photos are available I hope it doesn't prevent people from using their own color schemes - which are sometimes more effective than the actual colors!


Very true. I've seen lots of bass and cat but never any fish with anything close to red lips or a solid dark green belly. Even the usual schoolbus-yellow belly Creech is an improvement...not much, but some.


----------



## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

schmidtjv said:


> 54 year mystery solved, his lips ARE red!


wll, not really. the suit was repainted for the few color publicity shots. (there are more than these, and theyve been circulating for ages.) it only had the red lips there. same with the gold drybrushing.
as to the eyes, there were 3 different sets. the close-up and publicity set had a transparent pupil. 
heres a couple of others, including a behind the scenes shot of the underwater suit, which, as you can see, has no gold on it at all.


----------



## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

So then where did the yellow abdomen come from?


----------



## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

schmidtjv said:


> 54 year mystery solved, his lips ARE red!





razorwyre1 said:


> wll, not really. the suit was repainted for the few color publicity shots. (there are more than these, and theyve been circulating for ages.) it only had the red lips there.


Correct. In fact, Julie (Julia) Adams has stated in interviews (and specifically in the "making of" documentary on the _Creature From The Black Lagoon_ dvd) that the lips on the original Creature costumes used during filming were not red:

"Well, the original Creature was this, uh, sort of a softer moss green, a very very subtle color so that it picked up shadows, and...and it had the feeling of a reality of flesh, really, being there, and most of the recreations are too bright. They're...they're much too vivid a green...and sometimes the lips are red, and uh...it's, uh...they're garish compared to the original."



Frankie Boy said:


> So then where did the yellow abdomen come from?


The mind of artist James Bama, who did the box art for most of Aurora's "monster" kits.


----------



## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Look at creature3.jpg to see the slight head-ridge, which Aurora made much bigger. 

Nice to see colour pictures, because knowing what shades of green the Creature was meant to be is difficult when you're about to paint the kit.


----------



## Duck Fink (May 2, 2005)

Thanks for posting these! Downloaded all of them!


----------



## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Does anyone know what happened to the original Creature Suits ?...They've got to be somewhere right? Either the studio or a collector may have them...but someone must know the whereabouts of these suites 
Mcdee


----------



## The-Nightsky (May 10, 2005)

God Julie Adams was hot!!!!!


----------



## dreamer 2.0 (May 11, 2007)

Yes she was.

Fantastic find! So that's the story behind the "gold suit"! It's difficult to make out the green in those publicity shots unless you already know to look for them. That belly always looked pewter grey to me in the few I'd seen.


----------



## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

mcdougall said:


> Does anyone know what happened to the original Creature Suits ?...They've got to be somewhere right? Either the studio or a collector may have them...but someone must know the whereabouts of these suites
> Mcdee


I just learned over at the Clubhouse that these suits and masks were made of Latex and over time have turned to dust...I should have known this because the same thing has happened over the years to some masks I used to own.
Mcdee


----------



## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Another detail I read somewhere was that the costume was put over a wetsuit. Is that right? If you have a look at your Aurora kit you'll find a button somewhere near the sleeve. You can see where the costume halves are buttoned, and the low area under them is black. I don't have my kit in front of me so I can't check my facts.

Chris.


----------



## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

no, they were put over a fabric unitard of some kind.


----------



## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

Zombie_61 said:


> Correct. In fact, Julie (Julia) Adams has stated in interviews (and specifically in the "making of" documentary on the _Creature From The Black Lagoon_ dvd) that the lips on the original Creature costumes used during filming were not red:
> 
> "Well, the original Creature was this, uh, sort of a softer moss green, a very very subtle color so that it picked up shadows, and...and it had the feeling of a reality of flesh, really, being there, and most of the recreations are too bright. They're...they're much too vivid a green...and sometimes the lips are red, and uh...it's, uh...they're garish compared to the original."
> 
> The mind of artist James Bama, who did the box art for most of Aurora's "monster" kits.


it may have been bama, but it was probably the studios style guide, the bible for the look of merchandise based on a given character. (universal cribbed a lot of bama's work for other merchandise, so in this case it may have worked the other way around.)


----------



## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Thanks Razorwyre.:thumbsup: I was sure about the button though. I might have to dig mine out....
I think I might have read it in an article about the new(at the time) Horizon Creature. Was there ever an article about creech colours?

Chris.


----------



## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

The-Nightsky said:


> God Julie Adams was hot!!!!!


Yes!!!


----------



## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

razorwyre1 said:


> it may have been bama, but it was probably the studios style guide, the bible for the look of merchandise based on a given character. (universal cribbed a lot of bama's work for other merchandise, so in this case it may have worked the other way around.)


Knowing Universal, that's possible. However, I recently read that Aurora had received several complaints about the first kits because the box art didn't match the kits within so, starting with The Mummy and The Creature, Aurora sent Bama black and white photos of the prototypes for him to work from. The photos often were not very clear, so Bama went back to using movie photos for details. Regarding The Creature, Bama said, "I guess I painted him wrong. I based the Aurora cover colors on the Universal movie poster, by artist Reynold Brown, so I thought The Creature had those red lips!”


----------



## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Zombie_61 said:


> Regarding The Creature, Bama said, "I guess I painted him wrong. I based the Aurora cover colors on the Universal movie poster, by artist Reynold Brown, so I thought The Creature had those red lips!”













http://arglebarglin.blogspot.com/2006/07/reynold-brown-at-work.html


----------



## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

Fantastic photos! Thanks,Batman!

He is my favorite 50's monster, and seeing him in color, WOW...:woohoo:


----------



## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

John P said:


> Yes!!!


its amazing that the backlot lake simply didnt boil away to nothing the second she dived in.


----------



## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

John P said:


> Okay, the red lips are goofy.


[1950s narrator voice] Goofy, yes, but imminently kissable for other such creatures in an elaborate underwater mating ritual never before realized for the movie screen.[/1950s narrator voice]


----------



## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Zombie_61 said:


> In fact, Julie (Julia) Adams has stated in interviews (and specifically in the "making of" documentary on the _Creature From The Black Lagoon_ dvd) that the lips on the original Creature costumes used during filming were not red:
> 
> "Well, the original Creature was this, uh, sort of a softer moss green, a very very subtle color so that it picked up shadows, and...and it had the feeling of a reality of flesh, really, being there, and most of the recreations are too bright. They're...they're much too vivid a green...and sometimes the lips are red, and uh...it's, uh...they're garish compared to the original."


Ah, true... However, here is how film historian and dvd commentator Tom Weaver responded to the same line of thinking:



Tom Weaver said:


> Welllllllll, I think we should still think of the Creature as having red lips, because Universal put red lips on him on the poster and red lips on the costume for the publicity shots and obviously wanted the public to perceive the Creature as having red lips even if, during the actual black-and-white shooting, he didn't. If the Wolf Man was hot-pink during shooting but brown in color publicity shots and brown on the posters, fans can file the "hot-pink" away in their brains as a piece of interesting trivia but all representations of the Wolf Man oughta be brown. IMHO.


Originally posted here: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/20271?page=1

Personally, I feel it's up to the individual to decide. The film is in b&w so, the Creature can be any colors _you_ imagine him to be!

I still love these color photos, though...

- GJS


----------

