The RITA - From ‘The Creature From The Black Lagoon’ (1954) Directed by Jack Arnold, Produced by William Alland
The Rita, is the boat enlisted by a scientic team that is searching remote backwaters of the Amazon for evidence of the ‘gill man’. in teh classic 1960s Horror / sci-fi Monster movie ‘ The Creature From The Black Lagoon’ The gill man himself was 'kitted' by Aurora in theor mosnters of the movie sereis, inclusing the re-issue with ‘glows in the dark’ parts. So I have imagined an Aurora kit of the boat.
The film was made in 3D, so i thought anm interesting gimmick for the kit would be to include the Aurora ‘Photsacope’. This was something that was featured in a few submarine kits ) Nautilus and Skipjack I believ) as well as some tanks. Basically, a small photographic trasnsparemcy twas suspeneded in a small tube - approx 1/2 2 diameter which was open at both ends. You looked through one end and light came in through the other open end, lighting up the slide. It was a simple gimmick, There’s a scene in the film where the creature is captured and locked in the hold of the Rita, an excellent scene for a photascope gimmick where you could look down into the hold and see the creature in there!
I have not been able to.find out the origin of the boat. There is some information online that speculates this started life as a shrimp boat - whwre the udnerwater scenes were filmed. But all of the shots involving the boat were filmed in California at Universal Studios. I iamgien this kist woudkl eb approx 10 or 11 inches long and would come with figures of Dr Reed, Kay, Dr Williams, Dr Maia, Dr Thompson and Capt Lucas.
I am not sure what tyoe of boat this is. i am pretty sure it is a real baot, and not something designed and made at the studio. But I have been unable to find any details. If you have info please email me,
Watch the video ‘What If… Fantasy Model Kits ‘#15’: