The Lost World 1925 – the original silent adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, with explorers finding surviving dinosaurs. It features beautiful animation by Willis O’Brien. But more importantly, characters that we care about, and conflict between them. And a heartbreaking sacrifice by one member of the expedition.
movie review of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1960) starring Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, Jill St. John, Fernando Lamas
This is the Irwin Allen version of the movie, where the “dinosaurs” are plainly lizards with fins and horns attached, making the “frightening” monsters laughable. And that’s a crying shame. The acting is fine, and the interaction between the various A-list actors (Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas, Jill St. John, David Hedison) is one of the best things about the movie. It should also be said that, despite the title, the movie takes large liberties with the basic story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. For example, in the original novel, there were no female characters at all.