The Films of My Life: Reptilicus

 

American International's American version of Reptilicus (1961)--there is also a Danish version--is a variation on Godzilla, which was itself a variation on King Kong (1933). The American version opens in Lapland but soon the action moves to Kobenhavn where we get several picture postcard moments of the city, particularly its Tivoli Gardens. We even get to hear a song sung in English by popular Danish singer Birthe Wilke, about the joys of nights at the Tivoli, "Tivoli Nights". The Danish military, of course, ends up having to battle the revivified reptile. Thankfully, and of course, the Danish military is led by an American, who provides the excuse for the aforementioned travelogue when he arrives at the aeroport and is driven to the Aquarium where the frozen Reptilicus is being stored and studied. How else, after all, would the Danish military win the battle against the giant lizard even though the American military man does get a little help from his Danish scientist friend, making Reptilicus a liberal film in Peter Biskind's typology of American films of the fifties?