And Even More About

Reptilicus has garnered more mail than any movie I've reviewed... five whole pieces! Two of which helpfully pointed out another piece of the Historica Reptilicus, namely the whole reason the movie was dubbed into English.

The first letter comes from frequent contributor (Mark of Dracula and Breeders) Howard Paul Burgess:

You left out one of the most fascinating details about this very strange
movie. It was originally filmed in English.

Well, sort of English. The director had the brilliant idea of having
the actors speak their lines in English, which they learned one syllable
at a time with no concept at all of what they were saying. Sort of like
human parrots.

The head honcho for American-International went to a screening of the
finished product. It was well into the screening that he realized that
this was supposed to be English. It was in this sing-song like the
Swedish Chef on Sesame Street. Everything had the same lyrical lilt to
it, even the lines like "We must destroy the monster before he eats the
orphanage."

So it was dubbed by native English speakers, who had an easy time of it
as they could match the lip movements exactly. However, the actors did
not speak with the cadences of native speakers so they were forced to
speak rather slowly.

Next, Grey Wizard, the proprietor of The Unknown Movies page (which is, incidentally, highly recommended - click on over!) sent the following excerpt from Samuel Z. Arkoff's Flying Through Hollywood By The Seat Of My Pants:

[Previously, Sam was talking about his relationship with Sidney Pink (THE ANGRY RED PLANET). A.I.P. invested $100,000 in REPTILICUS, and Sam flies to Europe to see the rough cut of it.]

...But having seening not much more than a reel of the rough cut, I shut off the projector. I leaned back in my seat with a horrified expression on my face - and not because the prehistoric reptile was so frightening.

'My God, Sidney, what have you done! You're going to have to loop this entire picture!'

'What do you mean, Sam?" he said. 'It's already in English.'

'Well, you've got these Danes speaking English, and they've all got that sing-song Scandinavian accent! That will nevery fly in the U.S. This is a science fiction film - but those voices have turned it into a comedy. If we showed it in the Sates the way it is now, audiences would laugh themselves
silly until they got enough energy to demand their money back!'

Sidney had been in Denmark for so long that he didn't even hear the Scandinavian accents anymore. He was so proud of his movie - much prouder than it really warranted. 'Sam, you're kidding me on this one, aren't you? These actors are speaking just fine. Just fine.'

'Look,' I said, 'we have to distribute this picture in the States. Science-fiction aficionados are serious people. We can't run the movie with the existing soundtrack. You'll have to get some American voices and loop it.'"

[By the end of the meeting, Sidney and Sam were furious with each other. Sidney threatened to sue A.I.P., and three months later, he filed suit]

"But I figured it would never stand up in court. 'First of all, the suit will drag on for two or three years just waiting for a trial date, and that will hold up the release of the picture,' I warned Sidney's lawyer. 'Then when we show it to an American jury, they won't be able to understand half of the dialogue in the movie. Sidney will be the laughingstock of Hollywood.'

Sidney arranged for his lawyer and a few industry friends to see the film. A week after that screening, the suit was dropped, apparently at the attorney's urging. Sidney agreed to have the picture looped with American voices at Titra studios in New York. The picture was not a big hit but no
one questioned the English."

Interestingly, The Fantastic Film Appreciation Page gives this reason for the Pink lawsuit: " Director Sid Pink filed his own lawsuit against AIP and comic book publisher Monarch over near- pornographic sex scenes in the comic book adaption of the film."