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The Giant Behemoth (1959)

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Image gallery for The Giant Behemoth
Credits for The Giant Behemoth


Eugène Lourié's dinosaur trilogy
← The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
The Giant Behemoth
Gorgo →
The Giant Behemoth
See alternate titles
The American poster for The Giant Behemoth
Directed by Eugène Lourié, Douglas Hickox[note 1]
Producer Ted Lloyd
Written by Eugène Lourié, Daniel Hyatt
Music by Edwin Astley
Distributor Allied Artists ProductionsU.S., Eros FilmsUK
Rating X (theatrical, initial)UK, 1959,[2]
A (theatrical)UK, 1959,[2]
PG (home video)UK, 2008[2]
Running time 71 minutesUK
(1 hour, 11 minutes)
80 minutesUS
(1 hour, 20 minutes)
Aspect ratio Various
Rate this film!
3.85
(13 votes)

For the titular monster, see the Paleosaurus.
“
THE BIGGEST THING SINCE CREATION!
„ 

— American tagline

The Giant Behemoth is a 1959 science fiction giant monster film produced by David Diamond Productions for distribution by Allied Artists in the United States and Eros Films in the United Kingdom. Allied Artists released it to American theaters on March 3, 1959, with Eros releasing a shorter version in the United Kingdom in October of the same year retitled Behemoth the Sea Monster.

Plot

At the Conference on Atomic Energy in London, American marine biologist Steve Karnes gives a presentation on the potential threats remote atomic testing pose to the global marine ecology. Citing research he conducted following Operation Crossroads, Karnes points out that although radiation was measured at safe levels in the sea water, the concentration of radioactive particles increased exponentially up the food chain. His sensationalistic speech alienates some colleagues, but Karnes is defended by Professor Charles Bickford, the top atomic researcher in England.

Fisherman Thomas Trevethan and daughter Jean return home to Looe, Cornwall, with a small catch. Jean leaves to prepare the fish for dinner but secures her father's promise that he'll be home by dark to eat it. Hauling the boat up the beach, Tom is attacked by a swirling electrical glow from out of the sea. When he fails to show up by nightfall, Jean and neighbor Tom search the beach for him, eventually finding him covered in grotesque burns. When they ask him what happened, he can utter only the word "Behemoth" before succumbing to his injuries. After his burial some days later, Jean and John find their beach littered with thousands of dead fish. John finds amid the carcasses a throbbing jellylike mass which severely burns his hand.

Hearing the news of the unexplained dead fish and a sarcastic report of a sea serpent, Karnes asks Bickford's permission to look into the matter himself. The two men travel to Cornwall only to learn no autopsy had been performed on Trevethan and that the fishermen had already disposed of the rotting fish. One old man tells them he saw mysterious lights under the water but didn't stick around to see what caused them. John shows his burns to Karnes, who's reminded of the wounds inflicted by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They're also shown the spot on the beach where the mass had wounded him, but their equipment detects no radiation.

Back in London, testing on various fish samples from across the British Isles shows an enormous amount of radioactive matter in a catch off Plymouth. Further testing on the fish reveals the radioactive mass to be the stomach cells of an unidentified creature. Karnes requests a fishing boat in Plymouth to investigate the area where the fish were caught. That night, aboard the Molly T, Steve's Geiger counter suddenly reacts to the presence of extreme radiation. He and the skipper spot the serpentine neck of a large animal and give chase, but quickly lose it amid the dark ocean waves. The next morning, the overdue British steamship Valkyrie is found wrecked with no survivors. The loss of the Valkyrie brings in the Royal Navy, and Karnes and Bickford present to the admiralty their evidence for a sea beast, which they call "Behemoth," as the cause of all these incidents.

Behemoth makes landfall at a farm in Essex, destroying the property and projecting radiation that kills all who see it. A photograph of the monster's reptilian footprint sends Karnes and Bickford to Professor Sampson, the curator of the Natural History Museum. The paleontologist identifies it as the Paleosaurus species, a massive semi-aquatic dinosaur known to possess an electric defense mechanism. When told that a Paleosaurus is alive somewhere off the British coast, Sampson suggests it might be headed for the Thames, as fossils of the species have been found in freshwater rivers. While Karnes and Bickford survey defense preparations, a helicopter carrying Sampson and an assistant spots Behemoth just below the surface of the Thames. The creature proves invisible to radar, spoiling the intended countermeasures. A low approach by the pilot alerts Behemoth, which directs an electro-radioactive pulse at the chopper and kills all aboard. After the monster briefly surfaces and sinks a ferry, docks and populated areas along the banks of the river are evacuated. Bickford warns that bombs and artillery would only scatter innumerable pieces of radioactive matter across the city, so Karnes suggests a radium-tipped torpedo, which would pierce the creature's hide, accelerate its radioactive decay, and keep the detonation contained underwater.

Before the latest countermeasures can be employed, however, Behemoth comes ashore in London's evacuated dockyards and advances immediately into populated areas. A mad panic ensues, in which many people are burned and killed by the radioactive emissions. Small arms prove totally ineffective and Behemoth advances freely into the heart of the city. Its unchecked rampage ends only when it collapses through the Westminster Bridge back into the Thames. At the recommendation of Karnes and Bickford, the miniature submarine to fire the radium-tipped torpedo is fitted with a device to track Behemoth's radioactivity underwater. The submarine is deployed and nearly meets disaster when Behemoth attacks. In its second pass, however, the damaged submarine fires its torpedo down Behemoth's throat. The ensuing explosion annihilates the creature without spreading any debris beyond the Thames.

Leaving the dock, Bickford and Karnes hear a breaking news report over the car's radio that mountains of dead fish have washed ashore in the United States, from Maine to Florida.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

  • Directed by   Eugène Lourié, Douglas Hickox (uncredited)
  • Written by   Eugène Lourié, Daniel Hyatt
  • Produced by   Ted Lloyd
  • Music by   Edwin Astley
  • Cinematography by   Ken Hodges
  • Edited by   Lee Doig
  • Production design by   Harry White
  • Assistant directing by   Kim Mills
  • Special effects by   Jack Rabin, Irving Block, Louis de Witt, Willis O'Brien, Pete Peterson

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Gene Evans   as   Steve Karnes
  • André Morell   as   Professor James Bickford
  • John Turner   as   John
  • Leigh Madison   as   Jean Trevethan
  • Jack MacGowran   as   Dr. Sampson
  • Maurice Kaufmann   as   Mini submarine officer
  • Henri Vidon   as   Thomas Trevethan
  • Leonard Sachs   as   Scientist

Appearances

Monsters

Gallery

Main article: The Giant Behemoth/Gallery.

Alternate titles

UK Behemoth the Sea Monster title card
  • Behemoth the Sea Monster (United Kingdom; Behemoth, o Monstro Marinho, Portugal)
    • Behemoth - Sea Monster (Бегемот - Морской Монстр, Russia)
  • Sea Monster Behemoth (海獣ビヒモス, Japan)
  • Giant Sea Monster Behemoth (大海獣ビヒモス, Japanese home video title)
  • The Undersea Monster (O Monstro Submarino, Brazil; El Monstruo Submarino, Spain)
  • The Monster of the Sea (Το Τέρας Της Θαλάσσης, Greece)
  • The Dragon from the Abyss (Il Drago Degli Abissi, Italy)
  • The Loch Ness Monster (Das Ungeheuer von Loch Ness, West Germany)


Theatrical releases

Video releases

Warner Home Video VHS (1997)

  • Region: NTSC
  • Tapes: 1
  • Audio: English (Mono, hi-fi)
  • Notes: 1.33:1 aspect ratio ("open matte"). Runtime 71 minutes. This is the U.S.-released Allied Artists version of the film with nearly ten minutes of footage (most notably Behemoth's attack on a ferry) missing around 50 minutes into the film.

Warner Home Video DVD (2007) [Cult Camp Classics No. 1]

  • Region: 1
  • Discs: 3
  • Audio: English (2.0)
  • Subtitles: English, French
  • Special features: Audio commentary by Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett
  • Notes: 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Packaged with Queen of Outer Space and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Reissued in 2011 by the Warner Archive Collection as a single disc.

Run Corporation DVD (2009)

  • Region: 2
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: English
  • Subtitles: Japanese

Simply Home Entertainment DVD (2010)

  • Region: 2
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: English

L'atelier 13 DVD (2015)

Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray (2019)

  • Region: N/A
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0)
  • Subtitles: English
  • Special features: Audio commentary by Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, theatrical trailer (2:05)
  • Notes: 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

Videos

Trailers

The Giant Behemoth trailer

The Giant Behemoth trailer (no narration)

West German The Giant Behemoth trailer

Miscellaneous

Comparison of differing
dialogue in the U.S. and UK releases

Main titles from the U.S. and UK releases

AMC The Giant Behemoth promo (1997)

See also

Trivia

Notes

  1. ↑ British union rules required that Hickox and Lourié co-direct.[1]

References

This is a list of references for The Giant Behemoth. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. ↑ Berry, Mark F (2002). The Dinosaur Filmography. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-7864-2453-5.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "The Giant Behemoth". BBFC. Retrieved 30 November 2025.

 
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