Coincidence?

Ben Thompson is the name of the main villain of the piece, played by Guy Prescott. Robert Wilke, who plays Bentley (the guy staked next to the snake) appeared in another 1955 film, Wichita (also produced by Allied Artists), playing a character called, you guessed it, Ben Thompson. The latter came out a little over two months later, but I don't know if that definitely means it was made later.