Valley of Gwangi released September 3, 1969

The Valley of Gwangi is a 1969 western-fantasy film directed by Jim O’Connolly and written by William Bast. The film is also known as Gwangi, The Lost Valley, The Valley Time Forgot, and The Valley Where Time Stood Still. It was filmed in Technicolor.

The film is known for its creature effects provided by Ray Harryhausen.

Tagline: Cowboys Battle Monsters in the Lost World of Forbidden Valley.

A cowboy captures a prehistoric beast and hits on the idea of putting it on show at a traveling circus. The beast, however, has other ideas.

Trivia:

During the 1980s hit TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King, anytime the television was on, The Valley of Gwangi was showing. It is said to be an inside joke.

Although Harryhausen intended Gwangi to be an Allosaurus, he based the model of the dinosaur on Tyrannosaurus. Harryhausen occasionally confuses the two, stating in a DVD interview: “We called it an Allosaurus, occasionally… They’re both meat eaters, they’re both Tyrants… one was just a bit larger than the other.”

The roping of Gwangi was achieved by having the actors hold on to ropes tied to a “monster stick” that was in the back of a Jeep. The jeep and stick when filmed with Gwangi are on a back rear projection plate and hidden by his body and the portions of rope attached to his body are painted wires that are matched with the real ropes.

Gwangi was originally conceived by Willis O’Brien, the man who did the animation for the original King Kong. In O’Brien’s script, then called Valley of the Mists. In the original version, cowboys going around America find an Allosaurus in the Grand Canyon. After finally roping the dinosaur, they put it in a Wild West show, but when the creature, now called Gwangi, breaks free, it fights escaped lions in the show. After killing the lions, Gwangi goes on a rampage around the town and was run over a cliff by a man in a truck.

Actress Gila Golan’s accent was so strong, all her lines were redubbed on the film by a voice over.

Actor Laurence Naismith who plays Professor Bromley was in another Harryhausen movie, 1963′s Jason and the Argonauts as the shipbuilder Argos.

The movie was filmed in Cuenca, Spain.

Visual Effects Department
Ray Harryhausen … visual effects
Gerald Larn … matte painter (uncredited)

Filed under: Science Fiction

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