The Giant Claw (1957) – A Movie A Day 2021 #45
The Giant Claw (1957) – A Movie A Day 2021 #45
For today’s movie I came back to America for a staple of United States horror in the 1950s, the giant monster movie. I decided to pick one I hadn’t seen before but knew by reputation, The Giant Claw. I first became intrigued with the movie when I saw a poster for it. The poster I saw showed a giant bird-like creature, but it didn’t have a head. Did the monster actually look like that in the movie. It turns out, no, it doesn’t, but the mystery of the poster was explained by the fact that almost no one knew what the monster would look like until the movie was finished and screened for the first time. Why? Because the monster looks completely ridiculous.
The story of The Giant Claw is about as basic as it gets for this type of film. A test pilot sees something he can’t identify in the sky, and various planes begin to disappear. Turns out a giant bird is the culprit, and the plot involves the test pilot and a beautiful mathematician (who of course ends up being the test pilot’s love interest) trying to figure out how to kill the giant beast. Silly destruction ensues, and the story ends happily (except for the people who died). What makes The Giant Claw remarkable is the giant beast itself. Well, I say remarkable, but infamous might be a better word.
Apparently the director initially wanted stop-motion animation for his monster, but since the budget didn’t allow that, he had a puppet built instead. The actors filmed their parts not knowing how the monster would look, because all the monster carnage was done with effects and cutaways. The monster ended up looking like some giant, malformed buzzard that look more sad and goofy than in any way frightening. The bird creature ha been mocked repeatedly over the years, so I’m not really going to add to that. I’ll just say that it’s not so much the campy effects that hurt the beast, it’s the gloriously goofy design. It’ actually quite cute in a lot of ways. The thing is, the first third of the movie is nicely done (if somewhat formulaic), but the monster’s appearance completely undercuts any tension that was building up for its reveal.
Overall though, I enjoyed the movie fine. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen nearly this exact same plot play out numerous times, but I’m totally cool with that. The lead actor were fun to watch, and their struggles and triumphs were entertaining. I think if I watch The Giant Claw again I’ll have a better appreciation for it. That probably won’t happen for a long time, but as gar as American monster movies from the 1950s go, it’s fine.