THE LAND UNKNOWN

Henry Brandon vs plesiosaur

THE LAND UNKNOWN (1957). Director: Virgil Vogel. 

Commander Roberts (Jock Mahoney), reporter Maggie Hathaway (Shawn Smith/Shirley Patterson), pilot Lt. Carmen (William Reynolds of Cult of the Cobra), and Steve Miller (Phil Harvey) take off in a copter from a Naval ship in the hopes of finding a reported area of warmer temperatures, and find it they do. Only this valley, far below sea level, is full of prehistoric animals and one crazed survivor (Henry Brandon) of an earlier plane crash. He can help get the others out of the valley before the ship strands them near the South Pole, but in return he wants the woman ... 

Mahoney, Reynolds, Smith and Harvey

The Land Unknown was supposed to be a major release from Universal, and there are still signs of this in the finished production, which is a CinemaScope feature with an elaborate sound stage set employing large matte paintings and classy Jurassic art direction. The film betrays its "B" status from the studio with its cast -- no major names although Mahoney did star in several low-budget films and Brandon was a well-known character actor -- and black and white filming. 

Shawn Smith and Henry Brandon

The dinosaurs consist of blown-up real-life lizards as well as one mechanical T-Rex which is serviceable but extremely fake-looking next to the lizards. There is also a well-designed sea serpent or plesiosaur that bedevils Brandon in the lake near his cavern home -- it has limited mobility but looks a lot better than the tyrannosaur. The picture is fast-paced and works up some suspense, both in the scene when the copter descends into a thick fog and the passengers have no idea what they're getting into, and the exciting climax. The effective musical score is taken from several sources. The actors all give professional performances -- Brandon underplays as a man driven mad by loneliness -- although it's amazing that the script doesn't have anyone astonished  by the presence of living dinosaurs -- they all react as if finding them is an everyday occurrence! 

Verdict: Fun lost world-dino movie must be seen in widescreen. ***.