The Lost World (The Silent Version)

The Lost World (1925)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Harry O. Hoyt

Starring: Wallace Beery, Bessie Love, Lloyd Hughes, Lewis Stone, Alma Bennett

From: First National Pictures

It was overdue for me to return to the era of reviewing feature length films from both the Golden Age of Hollywood and the silent era, which I haven’t done in the past several months. This was a DVR recording made from a recent Turner Classic Movies airing. I hadn’t seen this before & a 100th anniversary is a good reason for a review. Of course I haven’t read the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel before but to clarify, this is the full film and not the truncated version that was the only one available before various elements were combined together to finally present a complete print after all those decades. Flicker Alley and Lobster Films were behind that restoration.

The film can be seen as the old-timey version of a blockbuster. Wallace Beery (accompanied by a spectacular beard and even more spectacular head of hair) is Professor Challenger, who decrees that he found dinosaurs in the jungles of South America-however, there’s the little problem that he offers no evidence of this. His presentation in London doesn’t go well; that said, several people volunteer to accompany Challenger on his return voyage. There’s action, adventure, drama, a few scares, romance, some laughs involving a capuchin monkey, a Missing Link… for those that have only followed me in the past few months, I’m happy to bash modern blockbusters. Well, The Lost World was a lot more appealing to me than most modern blockbusters.

This regrettably has a blackface supporting character; the intertitles also reveal this white dude w/ shoe polish on spoke in a stereotypical dialect; aside from that and pacing that isn’t always on-point, overall The Lost World was a pretty good time. Naturally, the stop-motion effects from Willis H. O’Brien are still breathtaking a century later. Plenty of dinosaurs are seen walking around, flying about, or fighting w/ each other. Those aforementioned effects are the highlight although the story did entertain. One person on the journey is looking for her missing father, another was challenged by his love to do something brave, and yet another is doing it for scientific reasons, etc.

The Lost World isn’t boring; those that enjoy silent adventures stand a good chance of thinking this was an unforgettable journey. The finale was an obvious inspiration for an all-timer from the early 30’s.