:43:02
There is such a thing as rotenone,
they didn't make it up.
:43:05
It's a crystalline substance
used in insecticides.
:43:08
Universal decided not
to use real rotenone,
:43:11
so they had to do some
experimenting during preproduction,
:43:14
combining pure cream with aluminum
for shots of rotenone on the surface,
:43:18
and they used pure cream alone
for the underwater shots.
:43:27
Here in one rowboat are the two
leading sci-fi stars of the '50s.
:43:30
Richard Carlson was in
It Came from Outer Space,
:43:32
The Magnetic Monster,
The Maze and Riders to the Stars.
:43:35
Denning was in Target Earth,
Creature with the Atom Brain,
:43:38
The Day the World Ended
and Black Scorpion.
:43:40
They were both in Black Lagoon, of
course. So they're even, sci-fi-wise.
:43:44
When I asked Denning about Carlson,
he wasn't crazy about the guy.
:43:48
Denning said Carlson could be uppity,
:43:50
and that goes along with what
other people have told me.
:43:53
The one who said it best was
Michael Fox, who worked with Carlson
:43:56
in Magnetic Monster and Riders to the
Stars, and half a dozen other movies.
:44:00
He said Carlson envisioned himself
an actor, writer, producer, director.
:44:03
And Carlson was all those things
at various times, by the way.
:44:06
Fox said it was sad. Carlson was
a good-looking guy, he was bright,
:44:10
he was quite well read in many areas,
but the moment Carlson thought
:44:13
somebody else was in authority,
he'd tell that person how to do his job.
:44:16
According to Fox, "Carlson was used to
being the intellectual limelight."
:44:20
"He did not like to share it with
someone who was, in his opinion,
:44:23
lesser than he."
:44:26
Incidentally, Richard Denning,
who's out to bag the creature,
:44:29
certainly did know his way around
boats and nets and traps.
:44:32
When Denning got back
from serving in World War II,
:44:35
he, like a lot of other young actors
who'd had their careers interrupted,
:44:39
had a hell of a hard time
getting it started again.
:44:41
He and his actress wife Evelyn Ankers
had used all their savings,
:44:44
so they moved into
a house trailer at Paradise Cove,
:44:47
and he set up 100 lobster traps.
Denning had always loved the water
:44:51
and boats, so I guess this was
almost second nature to him.
:44:54
He had a rowboat -
he couldn't afford an outboard -
:44:56
and he would row the traps out in
the evenings and collect them at dawn.