The Monster That Challenged the World

Previously an empty desert sink nearly as far below sea level as Death Valley, the Salton Sea originally formed in 1905-07 from a pre-Hoover Dam flood of water from the Colorado River. The 1931 project that created Hoover Dam (aka Boulder Dam) was the result of flood control on the river. Eventually becoming the largest lake in California, a boom town grew around the lake, with all the typical real-estate promotional development and hype, peaking in the 1950s. In the ensuing decades, as the lake slowly began to shrink, land values dropped, tourism faltered, the salinity of the water and pollution have increased, and the area has become a virtual ghost town.

The magazine and story told in this movie are real and true. When Dr. Jess Rodgers (Hans Conried) is explaining how it is possible that the Monsters came into existence suddenly in the Salton Sea, he shows a Life Magazine dated October 17, 1955. This magazine actually had an article about fresh-water shrimp that suddenly appeared in a once-dry Mojave desert lake. David Duncan had read the article when it was first published and used it as the basis for his screenplay.

In the laboratory, above the filing cabinets on the right, is an aerial picture of the K-25 plant, the largest building in the Manhattan Project. It was authorized in late 1942 and was 11 miles from the WWII "secret city" of Oak Ridge, TN. The plant was intended to produce enriched uranium. The photo on the left appears to be a closeup of K-25.

The majority of the underwater scenes were shot near Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. The closeups later were filmed in a tank filled with water and plastic seaweed.

In the early scenes in the radio shack, a poster is seen on the back wall. It is a 1954 ad designed by Jan Lavies for the Dutch airline KLM for the resort of Scheveningen.