The Valley of Gwangi is a 1969 American fantasy Western film produced by Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen, directed by Jim O'Connolly, written by William Bast, and starring James Franciscus, Richard Carlson, and Gila Golan. Creature stop-motion effects were by Harryhausen, the last dinosaur-themed film that he animated. He had inherited the film project from his mentor Willis O'Brien, responsible for the effects in the original King Kong (1933). O'Brien had planned to make The Valley of Gwangi decades earlier but died in 1962 before it could be realized. Producer Charles H. Schneer called it "probably the least of the movies Ray and I made together."
Plot In early 20th century Mexico, T.J. Breckenridge hosts a rodeo. Her former lover, Tuck Kirby, a former stuntman working for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, wants to buy her out. He is followed by Lope, a Mexican boy who intends to join the rodeo on a quest for fame and fortune. T.J. is not interested in Tuck, who is still attracted to her. T.J. accepts Tuck when he saves Lope from a bull. T.J. has an advantage she hopes will boost attendance at her show – a horse called El Diablo. Tuck meets British paleontologist Horace Bromley, who is working in a nearby Mexican desert. Bromley shows Tuck fossilized horse tracks, and Tuck notes their similarity to El Diablo's feet. Tuck sneaks Bromley into the circus for a look at El Diablo, which Bromley declares to be an Eohippus. The horse came from a place known as the Forbidden Valley. Romani Tia Zorina claims that the horse is cursed, and demands that it be returned. Later, she and the other Romani collaborate with Bromley to steal El Diablo and release it in the valley. Bromley hopes to follow the horse to its home in search of other prehistoric specimens. Carlos, a former member of the Romani tribe now working for T.J.'s circus, walks in on the theft and tries to stop it, but is knocked out. Tuck arrives just as the Romani leave. Carlos sees him as he is regaining consciousness. Tuck notices that the horse is missing, and follows Bromley. T.J. and her crew discover Carlos, who claims that Tuck stole El Diablo for himself. Carlos, T.J., and the others decide to follow Tuck and Bromley into the valley. In the Forbidden Valley, Tuck, T.J., and the rest of the group gather and discover why the valley is said to be cursed when a Pteranodon swoops down and snatches Lope. However, due to the extra weight, it falls back to the ground. After Carlos kills the Pteranodon, they spot an Ornithomimus, which they try to capture. It is eventually killed by Gwangi, an Allosaurus, which chases Bromley and the rest of the group. However, a Styracosaurus appears and drives Gwangi away, while Lope reveals Carlos's lie. Gwangi pursues the group to their base camp. They try to rope him, but he breaks free when the Styracosaurus reappears. Gwangi kills the Styracosaurus and later kills Carlos, but is knocked out by a rockslide while trying to exit the valley in pursuit of the rest of the group. Securing the creature with ropes, Tuck and the other men in the group take Gwangi back to town to be put on display in T.J.'s show. On the opening day, a dwarfed Romani who works for Tia Zorina sneaks in and begins to unlock Gwangi's cage to free him, but is killed when Gwangi breaks free. The crowd flees as Gwangi attacks, and Tia Zorina is trampled to death. Bromley is crushed by a broken piece of the cage, and Gwangi kills an Asian elephant and a few cowboys before rampaging through the town. Tuck, accompanied by T.J. and Lope, tries to hide the crowd in a cathedral, but Gwangi breaks in. Tuck urges the crowd to leave through a back exit, leaving himself inside with Gwangi, T.J. and Lope. Gwangi tries to eat them, but is distracted when the cathedral's organ sounds. Tuck wounds him and throws a torch onto the floor near it, setting the building on fire. Tuck and the others escape, leaving Gwangi trapped in the collapsing building. Shrieking as he is burned alive, Gwangi is finally crushed to death by the debris. Lope sheds tears for the dinosaur as he, Tuck, T.J. and a crowd watch the cathedral burn.
Cast James Franciscus as Tuck Gila Golan as T.J. Richard Carlson as Champ Laurence Naismith as Professor Bromley Freda Jackson as Tia Zorina Gustavo Rojo as Carlos Mario De Barros as Bean (as Mario de Barros) Dennis Kilbane as Rowdy Jose Burgos as the Dwarf Curtis Arden as Lope
Production
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
