By Richard Harland Smith
Valley of the Dragons
Brief Synopsis
A comet transports two enemies to a jungle on the moon.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Edward Bernds
Director
Cesare Danova
Hector Servadac
Sean Mcclory
Denning
Joan Staley
Deena
Danielle De Metz
Nateeta
Gregg Martell
Od-Loo
Film Details
Genre
Horror/Science-Fiction
Release Date
Jan
1961
Premiere Information
Kansas City, Missouri, opening: 25 Oct:
Production Company
Z. R. B. Productions
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Sugested by the novel Hector Servadac: voyages et aventures à travers le monde solaire by Jules Verne (Paris, 1877).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 19m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Synopsis
In 1881, a duel between two adventurers, Servadac and Denning, is halted by a tremendous windstorm that sweeps the two men onto a passing comet inhabited by prehistoric beasts and men. An attacking mammoth separates them; Servadac retreats to the River People and a beautiful blonde, Deena, while Denning finds his way to the Cave People and a brunette, Nateeta. After battles with dinosaurs and less-than-humans, the two men are reunited in rescuing the Cave People from attacking dragons. They also persuade the two peoples to end their constant warring and live in harmony. Servadac and Denning then settle down with Deena and Nateeta to wait for the time when the comet will again pass close to the earth.
Director
Edward Bernds
Director
Cast
Cesare Danova
Hector Servadac
Sean Mcclory
Denning
Joan Staley
Deena
Danielle De Metz
Nateeta
Gregg Martell
Od-Loo
Gil Perkins
Tarn/doctor
I. Stanford Jolley
Patoo
Michael Lane
Anoka
Roger Til
Vidal
Mark Dempsey
Andrews
Jerry Sunshine
Leclerc
Dolly Gray
Mara
Crew
Richard Albain
Special Effects
Don Ament
Art Director
Brydon Baker
Director of Photography
Edward Bernds
Screenwriter
Edwin Bryant
Film Editor
Lambert Day
Sound
Ben Lane
Makeup Supervisor
Ruby Raksin
Music
George Rhein
Assistant Director
Charles J. Rice
Sound Supervisor
Byron Roberts
Producer
Alfred Zimbalist
Executive Producer
Donald Zimbalist
Story
Film Details
Genre
Horror/Science-Fiction
Release Date
Jan
1961
Premiere Information
Kansas City, Missouri, opening: 25 Oct:
Production Company
Z. R. B. Productions
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Sugested by the novel Hector Servadac: voyages et aventures à travers le monde solaire by Jules Verne (Paris, 1877).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 19m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Articles
Valley of the Dragons -
Jules Verne was obliged to soften the tone of his darkly satiric 1877 novel Hector Servadac: Or the Career of a Comet when he was reminded by his Paris publisher that a significant percentage of his readership was juvenile. In America, adaptations of Verne's science fiction/fantasy classics (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island) have in the main been pitched to the matinee crowd but the Al Zimbalist-Edward Bernds produced Valley of the Dragons (1961) is the easily the most infantile of the lot - and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Produced on a shoestring budget cadged from Columbia Pictures' New York office on jungle sets left over from Edward Dmytryk's The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) and utilizing footage repurposed from One Million Years, B.C. (1940) and even the Japanese Rodan (1956), Valley of the Dragons (1961) is the most unscientific saga of a Frenchman (Cesare Danova) and an American (Sean McClory) who are whisked off Algerian sands circa 1881 by a runaway comet and deposited in a strange world where man's primordial past has been preserved as a playground for dinosaurs. Columbia more than recouped its initial investment when Valley of the Dragons became a staple of kiddie matinees and Saturday afternoon Creature Features. Director Bernds had previously helmed the similar World Without End (1956) while producer Zimbalist was responsible for the schlock classic Robot Monster (1953).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Valley of the Dragons -
Jules Verne was obliged to soften the tone of his darkly satiric 1877 novel Hector Servadac: Or the Career of a Comet when he was reminded by his Paris publisher that a significant percentage of his readership was juvenile. In America, adaptations of Verne's science fiction/fantasy classics (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island) have in the main been pitched to the matinee crowd but the Al Zimbalist-Edward Bernds produced Valley of the Dragons (1961) is the easily the most infantile of the lot - and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Produced on a shoestring budget cadged from Columbia Pictures' New York office on jungle sets left over from Edward Dmytryk's The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) and utilizing footage repurposed from One Million Years, B.C. (1940) and even the Japanese Rodan (1956), Valley of the Dragons (1961) is the most unscientific saga of a Frenchman (Cesare Danova) and an American (Sean McClory) who are whisked off Algerian sands circa 1881 by a runaway comet and deposited in a strange world where man's primordial past has been preserved as a playground for dinosaurs. Columbia more than recouped its initial investment when Valley of the Dragons became a staple of kiddie matinees and Saturday afternoon Creature Features. Director Bernds had previously helmed the similar World Without End (1956) while producer Zimbalist was responsible for the schlock classic Robot Monster (1953).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Footage from One Million B. C. (1940) and The Lost World (1960) May have been used.
