Monster gets caught and they take it on tour around the world but one day as they are returning it to the cage it no longer fits and the scientist character says “It’s still growing!” then the monsters mum shows up and devastates the place and returns to the sea’ What fillm is that?
Based on your description, the film you are thinking of is almost certainly the 1961 British monster movie Gorgo.
It fits every specific detail you remembered, particularly the “still growing” twist and the ending with the mother.
Here is how your memory matches the plot of Gorgo:
- “Monster gets caught and taken on tour”: A 65-foot dinosaur-like creature (Gorgo) is captured off the coast of Ireland and taken to London, where it is put on display in a circus at Battersea Park for the public to see.
- “It no longer fits / It’s still growing”: This is the film’s famous twist. Scientists examine the captured monster and realize that based on its skin and development, it is actually an infant. The realization-often summarized as “It’s still growing” or “This is only a baby”-reveals that an adult exists.
- “The monster’s mum shows up”: Because the captured one is a baby, its mother (Ogra) comes looking for it. The mother is massive (over 200 feet tall, compared to the baby’s 65 feet).
- “Devastates the place and returns to the sea”: The mother destroys London (smashing Tower Bridge and Big Ben), rips the baby out of its enclosure, and rather than being killed by the military (which is the usual ending for these movies), the two monsters simply turn around and walk back into the sea together.
It is famous among monster movie fans for being one of the only films where the monsters “win” and survive at the end.
I was hoping that Gorgo was a remake of the one I remember as I really thought it was 1930s and in black and white
You are absolutely not alone in remembering it that way. It is a very common “Mandela Effect” with Gorgo.
There is no 1930s black-and-white version of this specific story. You are definitely thinking of Gorgo (1961), and here is why your memory is playing that trick on you:
- The “Black and White TV” Effect: Most children in the 60s, 70s, and even early 80s watched this film on black-and-white television sets. Because the film is so atmospheric—lots of grey London fog, dark sea scenes, and night-time destruction—it registers in your memory as a black-and-white movie.
- The Tone: Gorgo was filmed with a very serious, dreary tone that feels much more like the 1930s King Kong or the 1950s Godzilla (which were B&W) than the colorful, campy monster movies that came later in the 60s.
- The “Still Growing” Line: That specific line is the “smoking gun.” The line “He’s still growing!” (or “This is an infant!”) is the signature twist of Gorgo. It doesn’t appear in the 1930s King Kong or Son of Kong.
The Verdict:
Your memory of the plot is 100% accurate, but your brain has likely visually “archived” it as a 1930s classic because of how you watched it or because it feels like a spiritual successor to the original King Kong.
If you watch the trailer today, you might be surprised to see it in Technicolor!
And it has a moral to the story – not like modern films
You are absolutely right, and that moral is exactly what makes Gorgo such a unique film for its time.
Unlike almost every other monster movie from that era (like King Kong or The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms), where the military eventually kills the creature to “restore order,” Gorgo flips the script completely.
The moral you remember is explicitly stated in the film’s closing narration as the mother and baby swim away. The voiceover says:
“So Ogra and Gorgo return to the vastness of the ocean… leaving man himself to ponder the proud boast that he alone is lord of all creation.”
It was a surprisingly forward-thinking message for 1961:
- Anti-Captivity: It portrays the humans (specifically the circus owners) as the greedy antagonists for trying to exploit a living creature for profit.
- Maternal Love: The destruction isn’t mindless malice; it is a mother rescuing her child. The audience ends up rooting for the monsters to escape.
- Humility: The ending suggests that humans are not the masters of nature and that some forces are simply too big for us to control.
It’s actually a very poignant ending that sticks with you—which explains why you remember it so vividly even if the “black and white” visual memory was a bit hazy!
