The CineFiles

Millicent Patrick appears to have been a casualty of professional jealousy and the studio system. Despite some wonderful creature design work on not only The Creature from the Black Lagoon but also This Island Earth and It Came From Outer Space, she never worked behind the scenes again after Bud Westmore declined to renew her contract. The real shame of it is that it was Universal’s decision to tout her as the “beauty who created the beast” for promotional purposes as having a woman, and a very attractive one at that, be a special effects wizard seemed like a novel hook to intrigue audiences.  In interviews, Patrick regularly touted Westmore’s sterling contributions to the final creature creation but that was not enough. She may have dodged the webbed hands of the creature from the black lagoon, but the green-eyed monster of jealously took out her career in the end.