Curucu – Beast of the Amazon 1956

This appeared on a Double Bill with ‘The Mole People’ featured on here before but I personally did not know about ‘Curuca Beast of the Amazon’ which means that I must get a DVD Copy and watch it.

John Bromfield and Beverly Garland travel up the Amazon to kill the title character, a large parrot like creature.

The best thing about the film is that it was shot in the Amazon, which means we get all sorts of shots with various animals ranging from pythons to huge spiders.

Filmed on location in Eastman Color, Beverly Garland plays a doctor in Brazil who learns that if the local headhunters in Amazon territory can shrink heads then maybe the formula can be used to shrink cancer cells in humans.

She is accompanied by plantation owner John Bromfield who is tracking down a legendary monster that is killing and terrorising the natives in the region.

Tribal dancing, anaconda, spiders, piranha, cayman, a jaguar, a water buffalo stampede, snake charmer, scary natives and more punctuate the adventure, and, as such, is still exciting and interesting.

The spectacular Iguazú Falls (a stand-in for the fictional “Curucu Falls” in the film) is the backdrop for a sequence, featuring stunt doubles for the stars.

This film was made in Eastman Colour – very good but over time the colours fade and this trailer looks very much like that has happened.

A Very early Eastman Color Film – Summer Madness 1955

Technicolor Films on the other hand, have a beautiful colour that looks as fresh today as it did when the film was made.

I marvel at films like ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ 1952, ‘Treasure Island’ 1950 and ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ 1952 also ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ 1950 – for the beautiful Technicolor which in my view has never been equalled.

Technicolor in some hands might have been seen as a gimmick. In others, it was an art.

However all in all, it was a spectacle.

ABOVE another picture of the large Technicolor Camera being used

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