Cowboys Battle Monsters in the Lost World of Forbidden Valley.


When a traveling Wild West show comes to town, the natives are frightened by a one-foot-tall horse that is believed to be a bad omen. The superstitious natives try to return the horse to The Valley of Gwangi to avert disaster. Tuck (James Franciscus) and T.J. (Gila Golan) try to help archaeologist Bromley (James Naismith) find the tiny equine in the valley, but they unleash a prehistoric giant monster in the process in this implausible adventure feature.


By the time of the film's release, interest in 'monster' films of this type was waning. Management at Warner Brothers and Seven Arts also changed and the film was released with little promotional effort on a double-bill with a biker film; it thus missed its target audience and was not as successful as earlier Harryhausen efforts.
The scene where Gwangi suddenly appears from behind a hill and snatches a fleeing ornithomimus in his jaws was later copied in the big-budget dinosaur movie, Jurassic Park.
During the 1980s hit TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King, anytime a television was shown on in the series, The Valley of Gwangi was on the screen.
Justin Parpan's 2006 children's read-aloud book, "Gwango's Lonesome Trail" (Red Cygnet Press, Inc., ISBN 1-60108-004-2) features a pre-historic dinosaur named "Gwango" roaming the contemporary American Southwest.
In an episode of the situation comedy Friends, Ross watches the movie while in a hospital.
In the 2011 animated movie, Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur, during a night time chase scene through the town a movie theater can be seen in the background playing two dinosaur-themed monster movies,The Valley of Gwangi and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (another Harryhausen film from Warner Bros).

Release Date: September 3, 1969

Distrib: Warner Brothers