Lady from the Black Lagoon with Mallory O’Meara

05/14/20 • 28 min

The Creature from the Black Lagoon was always my favorite classic monster movie growing up. The "creature" is certainly one of the most original and iconic monsters to ever grace the silver screen. But did you know that it was designed by a woman? Millicent Patrick was a makeup artist, animator, special effect designer, and an actress, but unfortunately her contributions to the horror film genre have largely been forgotten. My guest today is Mallory O'Meara and she has written the first biography of Millicent's life and career in Hollywood, The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Millicent Patrick. Mallory is an award-winning author, co-host of the literary podcast Reading Glasses, and she works in the horror movie industry as a screenwriter and producer. Today, Mallory and I discuss Millicent's unique childhood, how she entered Hollywood, and how the film industry failed to recognize her achievements.

If you've never experienced this classic film or want to revisit it, you can rent or buy The Creature from the Black Lagoon from Amazon Prime Video.

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If you've never experienced this classic film or want to revisit it, you can rent or buy The Creature from the Black Lagoon from Amazon Prime Video.

Want to listen to new episodes a week earlier and get exclusive bonus content? Consider becoming a supporter of the podcast on Patreon!

Like the podcast? Please subscribe and leave a review! Follow @CMTUHistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & TikTok

Previous Episode

Biography of Resistance with Dr. Muhammad H. Zaman

As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the topic of infectious diseases has taken centerstage in our public consciousness. While COVID-19 may be viral in nature, many of the most dangerous diseases are caused by bacteria. Medicine has traditionally treated these infections with antibiotics, but increasingly our antibiotics are becoming less and less effective. My guest today is Dr. Muhammad H. Zaman who joins me to discuss his new book Biography of Resistance: The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens. Dr. Zaman is a professor of Biomedical Engineering and International Health at Boston University and his research has led him to become a Fellow with the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering. He has shared his expertise with newspapers across globe with columns appearing in over thirty countries. Dr. Zaman joins me via Zoom from his home in Massachusetts to discuss the evolutionary history of bacteria and the microscopic war that has occurred between them for millions of years, the first human efforts to understand these organisms and influence that battle, and how those efforts have led the world of medicine into an age of highly resistant "superbugs."

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Next Episode

The Contact Paradox with Keith Cooper

Are we alone in the universe?

Since humans first gazed up into the cosmos, we have tried to answer to this question, sometimes using theology and sometimes philosophy. In our literature, particularly in the science fiction genre, we have speculated what contact with otherworldly beings could look like. In recent centuries, we have used science and our ever-increasing advances in technology to look out into the heavens and search for tell-tale signs that someone else is out there.

Studying the stars for alien life has a long and interesting history, most notably with the founding of SETI (The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) nearly sixty years ago. My guest today is Keith Cooper, author of The Contact Paradox: Challenging Our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, who joins me to discuss the history surrounding academic efforts of "seeking out new life and new civilizations." Keith has a background in astronomy and astrophysics and has served as the Editor of Astronomy Now since 2006. His articles on cosmology, planetary science, astrobiology, and related disciplines have appeared in Sky & Telescope, Physics World, and the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. In our conversation, Keith and I discuss early searches for ET intelligence and the origins of the SETI program, what SETI has done to listen for signals from other worlds, and the controversy surrounding the idea of whether or not we should respond if we do indeed intercept an alien signal. Keith and I then dive into our own evolutionary history to speculate on how life might have evolved elsewhere, and we explore examples from Earth's history of first contact between cultures to see what lessons we might be able to apply to first contact with an extraterrestrial civilization.

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Like the podcast? Please subscribe and leave a review! Follow @CMTUHistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & TikTok