Valley of the Dragons

This movie was on fairly regularly when I was a kid; my cousin and I would frequently watch it together (she didn't share my enthusiasm for the animal skin-clad women, but she loved a scene where one of the cavemen gets eaten by a dragon).

It was years later that I saw One Million B.C. for the first time; I knew it was hailed as a classic, but while I found it enjoyable (I fell in love with Carole Landis), VOTD still held more of a mystique for me.

I have since looked for it in various video rental places with no success. It seems that these days even the networks aim for more sophisticated fare and overlook simpler joys like this. Just because the movies have graduated to Jurassic Park shouldn't mean that we can't suspend our disbelief for a brief period. VOTD should not be allowed to become extinct!

This was one of the very first dinosaur movies I ever watched. When I was a kid I loved the a lot of the scenes, especially the ones from the volcanic eruption. Little did I know at the time that most of the footage was "borrowed" from the original "jurassic classic" One Million B.C. (1940). Also, I didn't find out until several years later that this film was based on a work by the master of science fiction, Jules Verne. This is an okay film for lovers of B movies. Too bad that they don't really show it on television anymore.

I cannot believe you guys! All this claptrap and no mention of Joan Staley's infamous underwater swimming scene?!?

I saw this movie when it was first released and I was barely pubescent at that time. The audience was quietly taking in the Verneian antics of our shanghaied duo, until one of the main characters (I forget which) runs off for a swim with the Joan Staley character (Deena).

OK, so Deena takes off her prehistoric sunsuit and lo and behold she is wearing a Stone-Age bikini! OK, nothing to get excited about --- pretty chaste even for 1961. No elastic in prehistoric times, though, so the top fits rather loosely.

So the couple jump in the lagoon and start playfully swimming and diving underwater. The decent underwater cinematography lingers on each of the characters as they cavort about.

It quickly becomes evident that Deena's bikini top is not going to hold her fairly ample anatomy securely in hiding from the voyeurs in the audience.

I will never forget the eruption of hoots and whistles from the darkened theater as the camera continued to follow Ms. Staley from such a point of view as to make it all too evident that Deena would have no trouble feeding any of her progeny, especially considering the equipment on display.

Granted, this sort of thing hardly rates the consideration of a PG rating today, but in 1961, it was dynamite. I was at a point in my development where the fuss being made by the male members of the audience only served to make me embarrassed and uncomfortable. The scene seemed to go on forever.

I was elated to be able to get recently a VHS copy of the movie (recorded, believe it or not, from a TV presentation), and waited breathlessly for the scene burned into my mind as a young lad.

And there it was in all its glory. And every bit as provocative as it was in that little Galveston, Texas theater back in '61.

One of the best bits of vintage, unexpected cinematic cheesecake I have ever had the pleasure to encounter.

Okay, I admit it...this little film holds a special place in my heart. It is the absolute first movie I can ever remember watching on television. I remember watching it on a Saturday morning after cartoons, and looking at the TV Guide to see that it was actually classified as a "melodrama". All I really remember from that initial viewing was the fight between the two lizards and the attack by the giant spider.

I recently managed to obtain a copy of the movie and finally re-watched it after what was probably thirty years. First of all, I never knew it was based on a Jules Verne novel, who is one of my favorite authors of all time. Too bad it was based on one of the few Verne books I haven't read.

Cesare Danova is great as the French duelist who is picked up with an American who had affronted him in a disagreement over a woman. What follows turns into your standard caveman/regular-lizards-pretending-to- be-dinosaurs type film. The two end up becoming the leaders of opposing prehistoric tribes and things continue from there.

The movie is nothing really that great, but it's a fun little movie that's on a par with any 1950's programmer.

A Frenchman (Cesare Danova) and an American (Sean McClory) are about to fight a duel in Algiers in the year 1881 when a passing comet sweeps them up. Apparently the comet does this every hundred thousand years or so and each time it picks up pieces of Earth, along with people and animals. So the two men find themselves hurtling through space on the comet, in a strange world with prehistoric people and creatures, including dinosaurs.

Danova and McClory are both likable. They're joined by Danielle De Metz and former Playboy centerfold Joan Staley as the cavegirls these lucky dogs find themselves paired up with. Staley's underwater swimming scene is a highlight of the movie. Based on the Jules Verne story "Off on a Comet," the premise is outdated and ridiculous but that's part of what I like about it. I enjoy fanciful old science fiction stories from a time when people didn't think they had everything figured out. There was still a sense of wonder about discovery and exploration in the world that seems to be sadly missing today. Yeah, the special effects are hokey and it borrows liberally from other movies, including a good bit of stock footage. Still, I found it a fun, charming B movie. If you're a fan of sci-fi and fantasy movies from this period, I'm sure you'll find it appealing despite its faults.