The photos from the set of the movie Creature From the Black Lagoon are a window into the world of what monster movies looked like in the days before CGI. The film was a major production in its day, and the main object of terror—and an effective one—was a dude in a costume.
The movie, which was shown in 3-D, cost $550,000 to make (a little over $6 million in 2025 dollars), and people generally liked it. The American Film Institute writes writes, “At the time of its release, Creature from the Black Lagoon enjoyed critical and popular success, and has since gained status as one of the most important science-fiction films of the era, with the Gill Man emerging as one of the genre’s most iconic monsters.”
LIFE’s object of interest on the Florida set was not in fact Gill Man, but rather the movie’s lead actress, Julia Adams. The photos were taken for a story headlined “Julia in Jeopardy,” and was about how Adams was always playing women in danger. “Julie’s current opus is Creature From the Black Lagoon, a science fictioner in which she hoped her perils would end and her acting begin,” LIFE wrote. “But she swallowed up her disappointment when she wound up in the arms of a 6-foot, 5-inch Gill Man, who keeps her amply jeopardized, most of the time under water.”
The images by LIFE staff photographer Edward Clark capture Gill Man carrying off Clark in what is supposed to be the Amazon jungle. A secondary figures who pops up in one of Clark’s images is Bud Westmore, who was one of Hollywood’s grand wizards of makeup and worked on more than 400 films, including another movie whose set LIFE visited, Spartacus.
And while the headline of this story is “They Don’t Make Them Like This Anymore,” plenty have wanted to take their shot. The list of directors who have tried to remake Creature from the Black Lagoon includes some impressive names: John Landis, John Carpenter, Ivan Reitman, and Guillermo del Toro among others. In 2024 Australian director James Wan was the latest to be attached to a Creature remake.
Makeup artist Jack Kevan assisted with Gill Man’s costume on the set of the movie ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’, 1953.
Edward Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Lead actress Julie Adams on the set of the movie ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’, with the creature lurking in the background, 1953.
Edward Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
“Gill Man” carried actress Julie Adams on the set of the movie ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon,’ 1953.
Edward Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Actress Julia Adams is carried by “Gill Man”, the titular creature of the movie “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” 1953.
Edward Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Actress Julia Adams is carried by Gill Man on the set of the movie Creature from the Black Lagoon, 1953
Edward Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A scene from the movie ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ starring Julia Adams, 1953.
Edward Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Gill Man emerged from the water on the set of the movie “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” 1953.
Edward Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Universal makeup department chief Bud Westmore (left), rowing on the set of the movie “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” 1953.
Edward Clark/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
