TCDE-Team: Created page with "{{Cargo_Reviews_Articles |Date=1993-01-01 |Book=The Lost World |BookAuthor=Willis O'Brien |Reviewer=Barbara Roden |Topics=Cinema }} This review of the 1925 movie ''"The Lost World", by Willis O'Brien'' was written by Barbara Roden and published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 4, 1993). == Review == File:Acd-society-journal-1993-vol4-p197-review-broden.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doy..."

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Created page with "{{Cargo_Reviews_Articles |Date=1993-01-01 |Book=The Lost World |BookAuthor=Willis O'Brien |Reviewer=Barbara Roden |Topics=Cinema }} This review of the 1925 movie ''"The Lost World", by Willis O'Brien'' was written by Barbara Roden and published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 4, 1993). == Review == File:Acd-society-journal-1993-vol4-p197-review-broden.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doy..."

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{{Cargo_Reviews_Articles
|Date=1993-01-01
|Book=The Lost World
|BookAuthor=Willis O'Brien
|Reviewer=Barbara Roden
|Topics=Cinema
}}
This review of the 1925 movie ''"The Lost World", by Willis O'Brien'' was written by [[Barbara Roden]] and published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 4, 1993).

== Review ==
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1993-vol4-p197-review-broden.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 4, 1993, p. 197)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1993-vol4-p198-review-broden.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 4, 1993, p. 198)]]

: [[File:1925-the-lost-world-poster.jpg|100px]]
: ''' 'The Lost World' '''of Willis O'Brien
: edited by Roy Kinnard
: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1993; xvi + 160pp; £29.95 ISBN 0-89950-861-8

'''Reviewed by Barbara Roden'''

It has been estimated that some 60 per cent of the films made before 1930 have disappeared completely, and admirers of [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]] and early cinema should be grateful that 52 minutes of the 1925 film of [[The Lost World (movie 1925)|The Lost World]] have survived. After reading Kinnard's book, which contains the complete shooting script of the movie and many fascinating stills, gratitude turns to anger, however: for as the book makes clear, the original film ran for 104 minutes, and was an entirely different work from the movie that survives today.

Kinnard's Introduction is an informative read, although it could perhaps have been slightly longer. However, he makes clear that The Lost World was a cinematic milestone: nothing like it had ever been seen before, and it paved the way for one of the most famous monster movies ever filmed, ''King Kong'' (1933). [[Willis O'Brien]] was the special effects genius who created the stop-motion animation dinosaurs which thrilled viewers in both films, and his methods were painstaking: the dinosaur models had to be moved one frame at a time, and a normal day's work by O'Brien and his crew would result in about thirty seconds of completed film. Two years of tests were followed by fourteen months of filming, at a time when the average film was made in three weeks, and the budget was an almost unheard-of $1 million.

The film was an instant success with the public; but by the 1930s, the film had been cut to the 52 minute length it exists in today. The original negative was turned over to ''Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.'' in 1948, and the company edited a ten-minute short subject from the footage. While the negative was in the company's possession, however, the original nitrate stock deteriorated and was thrown away. A duplicate print has never been found, although a few odd scenes exist in various places. Kinnard's gloomy conclusion is that it is highly unlikely that the complete film will ever be recovered.

To say that is a shame is an understatement. The film that survives contains most of O'Brien's dinosaur work, but the characters remain ciphers, as most of the scenes dealing with their characterisation and motivation have been cut. Malone's fiancée Gladys, and a half-caste native girl who figures in the South American scenes, have been cut entirely, and Mrs Challenger's appearances have been drastically cut. The bickering between [[Professor Challenger|Challenger]] and Summerlee, a major part of the script, has been cut from the film as it stands, as has most of the relationship between Roxton and Paula White, the token female interest. The ape man, played by Bull Montana, is also more prominent in the script than in the existing movie, and his death, a very moving affair in the script, has been cut completely.

Another scene that has been cut completely is one from the start of the film, showing [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]] sitting at his desk, thinking. He writes the verse that begins [[The Lost World]] ('I have wrought my simple plan / If I give one hour of joy / To the boy who's half a man / Or the man who's half a boy'), then smiles to himself, thinks for a moment, and begins to write his tale. Oh, to have even this one scene restored! On the positive side, however, there is [[Wallace Beery]]'s performance as [[Professor Challenger|Challenger]]. He looks physically right for the part, and manages to dominate every scene he is in. And of course there are the dinosaurs. They may look rather primitive now, especially when compared to Jurassic Park, but it is easy to see how powerful they would have been in their day. When the volcano on the plateau erupts, and the dinosaurs flee for their lives, the stampeding triceratops still look stunning: marvelously fluid and real.

It is a shame that this fascinating book is priced so highly at £29.95. If you can borrow a copy, however, then by all means do so. '[[The Lost World (movie 1925)|The Lost World]]' of [[Willis O'Brien]] is an excellent accompaniment to a classic motion picture: but one which ultimately leaves the reader mourning the film which seems to have been lost as surely as [[Arthur Conan Doyle|ACD]]'s mysterious world.

Barbara Roden

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