There was a scene like this in every Ray Harryhausen film.

Spy flicks?

The great stop motion films: Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, etc. There seemed to be lots of scenes near ocean shores, and set ups near formations like this -- the perfect place for a cyclops or Neptune himself to suddenly appear.

On checking Wikipedia, I see he was a friend of both Ray Bradbury and Forry Ackerman, so I should've heard of him! ;)