The Secret of the Loch (1934)

Director:

Milton Rosmer

Writers:

Charles Bennett (writer)
Billie Bristow (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

May 1934 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Comedy

Plot:

A batty Scottish professor attempts to prove the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, but everyone thinks he's crazy...

Cast

Seymour Hicks	...	Professor Heggie
Nancy O'Neal	...	Angela Heggie
Gibson Gowland	...	Angus
Frederick Peisley	...	Jimmy Andrews
Eric Hales	...	Diver
Ben Field	...	Piermaster
Hubert Harben	...	Prof. Fothergill
Stafford Hilliard	...	Macdonald
Rosamund John	...	Maggie
Robb Wilton	...	Reporter
John Jamieson
Elma Reid	...	Bit Role
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
D.J. Williams	...	Judge (uncredited)

Directed by
Milton Rosmer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Charles Bennett		writer
Billie Bristow		writer
Arthur Conan Doyle		story "The Lost World" (uncredited)

Produced by
Ray Wyndham	....	producer

Original Music by
Peter Mendoza

Cinematography by
James Wilson

Film Editing by
David Lean

Production Design by
J. Elder Wills

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hector Elwes	....	assistant director
Graham Soutten	....	assistant director (as B. Graham Soutten)

Sound Department
Eric Williams	....	sound recordist
John W. Mitchell	....	sound assistant (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cecil R. Cooney	....	camera operator
Eric Cross	....	underwater photographer

Production Companies

• Ray Wyndham Productions

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Ray Wyndham Productions

Trivia:

First film of Rosamund John.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dinosaur Movies (1993) (V)

creaky old curiosity

This obscure British made item is a far as I can tell the first film about the loch ness monster. The year this film was made, was when the loch ness monster first began to get international notoriety. The first half deals with the comical attempts of a reporter to get the scoop on the monster from the local scientist who distrusts the press. The reporter also romances the scientists niece. The second half deals more with the search for the monster. There is a credit for underwater photography, but most of the underwater sequences look as though they were shot in a dry tank. The monster itself is played by an iguana. In one sequence the monster eats a diver. The locals also blame the monster for several strange deaths. As far I know, the only threatening encounter with the monster was the one told by Saint Columbia. Some names in credits include David Lean (editor) and Charles Bennet (writer) who wrote many scripts for Hitchcock and later Irwin Allen.