THE LOST WORLD

US, 1960, 98 minutes, Colour.
Claude Raines, Michael Rennie, David Hedison, Richard Haydn, Fernando Lamas, Jill St. John.
Directed by Irwin Allen.

The Lost World is a colourful production of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel, filmed with great success by Harry Hoyt in the mid-'20s. In the late '50s there was a spate of Jules Verne science fiction films in the wake of the successful 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Titles included Journey to the Centre of the Earth and From the Earth to the Moon. However, the films were given rather lavish production - but the mentality was still the very popular family entertainment or Saturday matinee material. This film was not well received at the time. It is interesting to note in retrospect that it was written, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, more successful as a producer of disaster films (The Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno) than writer-director (The Swarm, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure).

The film retains the basic outline of Conan Doyle's imagination, how ever it has been updated. Not everyone will be able to accept such a fantastic world in the '50s-'60s context. However, for those willing to suspend disbelief, there are the stereotype characters, the Lost World imagination and its prehistoric animals and dangers. The focus is on colourful special effects. The cast was a modest star-studded group of the time. Of special note, however, is the credit to Willis O’ Brien for technical effects - one of the men responsible for the original film King Kong. The film can be compared - as have critics and audiences - to the '20s version with its more limited budget and technical know-how.