The Lost World

The Lost World
1925 - First National
Directed by Harry O. Hoyt



SYNOPSIS

In order to win over the heart of his fiancee, newspaperman Ed Malone (Lloyd Hughes) must do something death-defying. He hears a lecture by the possibly crazy Professor Challenger (Wallace Beery) who claims that dinosaurs are alive and well on a remote plateau in the jungles of South America. Challenger assembles a team, including Malone, to go in search of the beasts and the missing explorer who discovered them. The expedition soon finds the beasts but are threatened by them and a volcano ready to erupt.



MY THOUGHTS

The father of all cinematic stories of giant beasts threatening man. King Kong, Godzilla, Jurassic Park and countless other films all owe a huge debt to this classic.

The film is based on the book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who appears at the beginning to introduce the film. It would be interesting to hear what he had to say, but the film is silent.

The story was clearly lifted (with few minor changes) for King Kong. The expedition in Kong featured one woman, a possible crazy man in charge, a square-jawed hero, just as The Lost World does. This film's end, complete with a dino running amok through the streets of London, mirrors Kong as well.

The special effects still hold up reasonably well. The dinos were done with stop-motion animation, like 'King Kong' and the countless classic special effects films by Ray Harryhausen like 'Jason And The Argonauts' and 'Mysterious Island.' Rarely do the effects look ridiculous, but they are clearly not 2009-era quality, but they do have some charm.
The dinosaur models are very well done, they breathe and I think I even saw one blink. The film features a dinosaur-greatest hits collection. The Brontosaurus, Triceratops, Pterodactyl, Stegosaurus, and the Allosaurus (close cousin of the T-Rex) duke it out in the prehistoric paradise.
The most ridiculous part was the man/monkey/beast creature that pursued the expedition. The monkey suit was somehow even faker looking than the 'gorillas' that would torment the Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, or the Bowery Boys.



The film moves at a brisk pace and never creeps along like many silent films do to modern audiences.
The acting is more realistic/ naturalistic than the average silent film as well.
Wallace Beery, as Prof. Challenger, is his usual strong self in a role where he could have easily played it way over the top, but he keeps the character real. He won an Oscar 6 years later for the title role in "The Champ."
Overall the film is an important to the history of film and still remains fun to watch nearly 85 years later.