| Yeti: The 20th Century Giant | |
|---|---|
American film poster
| |
| Directed by | Gianfranco Parolini (as Frank Kramer) |
| Written by | Gianfranco Parolini Marcello Coscia Mario di Nardo |
| Produced by | Gianfranco Parolini Mario di Nardo Wolfranco Coccia Nicolò Pomilia |
| Starring | Antonella Interlenghi Jim Sullivan Mimmo Crao John Stacy Tony Kendall |
| Cinematography | Sandro Mancori |
| Edited by | Manlio Camastro |
| Music by | Sante Maria Romitelli |
Production | Stefano Film |
| Distributed by | Stefano Film (Italy) |
Release date |
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Running time | 105 minutes (United States) |
| Countries | Italy Canada |
| Languages | Italian English |
Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century (Italian: Yeti – Il gigante del 20º secolo, lit. 'Yeti: The 20th Century Giant') is a 1977 Italian-Canadian giant monster film directed by Gianfranco Parolini (as Frank Kramer),[1] co-written by Parolini, Marcello Coscia, and Mario di Nardo, with special effects by Giovanni Cappelli, Nello Cappelli, Giuseppe Carrozza, Beniamino Carrozza, Amerigo Casagrande, Marcello Martinelli, Germano Natali, Augusto Possanza, and Fabio Traversari. An industrialist's orphaned grandchildren and their collie befriend an awakened Yeti.
Industry tycoon Morgan Hunnicut asks his friend Professor Waterman to lead an expedition to study the giant Yeti creature found frozen in a large ice block on Newfoundland's coast. The professor does not know that Hunnicut intends to use the prehistoric creature as a trademark of its multinational industrial group. The expedition includes company representative Cliff Chandler and Morgan's grandchildren Jane and her younger brother Herbie, the latter of whom discovered the Yeti. The siblings' parents died in a plane accident, which Herbie was also in, but he survived and has been mute since.
The expedition thaws out and awakens the Yeti. However, their bright lights and camera flashes cause it to rampage, making everyone panic and rendering Jane and Herbie unconscious in the chaos. After the Yeti calms down, the children's dog Indio leads him to where they were left behind, and Jane and Herbie awaken to the Yeti towering over them. After looking at the children curiously, the Yeti takes them away, with Indio, Professor Henry, Cliff, and two other men following. After the Yeti sets the kids down, Jane sends Indio to find and lead the search party to them. Jane and Herbie discover the Yeti is friendly and befriend him as he shares fish with them. Upon seeing the kids with the Yeti, the professor believes their fur-lined and trimmed coats made the creature think they're also of his kind. Reuniting with Herbie and Jane, he also theorizes the Yeti has adopted them as family, seeing them as his son and wife, respectively.
While RKO and Universal Pictures battled over King Kong's rights, Dino De Laurentiis, the producer for the 1976 King Kong remake would next produce another giant monster film which would be filmed in the Himalayas, entitled Yeti. David Z. Goodman wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Italian author Giorgio Moser.[1][3][4]
A retrospective review at Nanarland stated. "Totally anachronistic due to the gap between its technical obsolescence and its stated ambition, Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century is a blatant example of total unconsciousness on the part of its authors, convinced of revolutionising the genre of monster film while they were only burying Italian cinema. It must be seen to be believed: years after its production, this family show amateurishly assembled against common sense still resonates in our ears like a true cannon shot at good taste and morals!"[5]
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