:28:00
Of the 44 cues listed
on Creature's cue sheets,
:28:03
29 were composed
specifically for the movie,
:28:05
with the other 15 lifted from
prior Universal pictures.
:28:08
The 29 originals were,
according to Schecter,
:28:11
composed by Hans J Salter, twelve,
Henry Mancini, ten,
:28:14
and Herman Stein, seven. The music
we're hearing now is by Herman Stein,
:28:18
and the cue is called
"Kay and the Monster".
:28:20
"The older films that contributed music to
Creature's score were from many genres"
:28:25
writes Schecter. "Some, like Mr Peabody
and the Mermaid, were water-themed,
:28:29
which is why the music was
considered for use in Creature,
:28:32
and why it was so well-suited. Westerns
also played a role in Creature's score,
:28:36
as they did in other Universal
sci-fi scores of the '50s."
:28:39
"But what sets Creature's score apart
from that of other Universal sci-fi films
:28:43
is its reliance upon a single musical
motif, Stein's three-note creature theme."
:28:50
"In the film, practically every time you see
the creature, his hands, his back, his feet,
:28:54
or even his wet footprints,
you hear his three-note theme,
:28:57
often played on flutter-tongued trumpets."
:29:00
Schecter calls the theme "a memorable
musical signature", which it certainly is.
:29:05
It's instantly recognisable, even when it
crops up in non-Universal sci-fi movies,
:29:09
like Women of the Prehistoric Planet
and Dracula Versus Frankenstein,
:29:12
that lifted music from Creature.
:29:18
People often speculate that this scene
was an inspiration to Steven Spielberg
:29:22
when he shot
some of the scenes of Jaws.
:29:24
The plot of Creature is so indebted
to King Kong, I think back to Kong.
:29:27
This scene of a curious gill-man playfully
poking and touching her legs
:29:31
reminds me of the scene where King
Kong takes Fay Wray up the mountain
:29:34
and pokes her and tickles her.
:29:36
I also wanna talk about the people
who worked on the creature costume.
:29:40
Prominent among them was a creative
designer named Milicent Patrick.
:29:43
Talk about Beauty and the Beast.
She was born an Italian baroness,
:29:47
she was a former Goldwyn Girl, a model,
an interior decorator, an artist -
:29:51
she was the first
woman animator for Disney -
:29:53
and she helped design the creature
and did some painting on the costume.
:29:57
Chris Mueller was a sculptor, Tom Case
a painter on the various gill-man suits,