THE LOST WORLD (1925) review

The first time I saw THE LOST WORLD (1925) projected was about 5 or 6 years ago in Dallas, Texas. It was at a big ol Dallas Fantasy Fair at the big ol Dallas Convention Center.

They were working on the print still at that time. They had found some new footage and wanted to show the film to the worlds two foremost experts on the original film.... Ray Harryhausen and Forrest J Ackerman.

I sat next to Harryhausen for the screening of the ‘work in progress’ print. All through the film he was talking about how Obie did this or that. How football great Bull Montana was the Ape-man. And at the end of the film he detailed all the scenes that he still remembers seeing when he saw the film originally in it’s original showings.

He described a scene where the brontosaurus while on the rampage in London stuck his head into a room where a family was eating dinner. And then there was the scene of the brontosaurus swimming away from London as a steamer was coming in.

The restoration people were both delighted and grieve stricken at the news. One, they knew what they needed to get still... BUT... they knew that the liklihood of actually finding these missing scenes was... a million to one.

About half of the film, I watched Harryhausen’s face as a boyish smile crept across his face... He was a five year old boy when that grin first crossed his face. When the meaning of his life, what he was born for crawled to life before those eyes. His mind ablaze with what he saw. No knowledge of how. No questions about it. He simply had to do whatever it was that made that happen.

For the running time of the film that night, I was a person out of time. I was not of the nineties. I had never seen Star Wars. Movies were not color. And the sound of the projector clacking thrilled me. And beside me was sitting a fellow film lover named Ray Harryhausen. And two rows in front of me was Forrest J Ackerman. They would turn and excitedly talk to one another from time to time. Like kids in a circus tent watching a flame-swallower. A giggle of joy. This is so cool.

I was so in awe of the moment. There were no shiny pennies to awake me. I was so close to my idea of heaven and bliss that I tear up just at the memory.

Years have passed. Much has changed. Since then I’ve been on a couple of panels with Ray Harryhausen. I’ve been a guest of honor with Forry Ackerman and ya know what.... In my mind, those guys are at a level of coolness and epic glory that no matter what I do in life, I will never not look up to them.

They helped shape who I am. And this film. This THE LOST WORLD, helped shape them.

It’s literally watching geek evolution in the process.

Now it’s 1999, and I am watching THE LOST WORLD (1925) at the Alamo Drafthouse. You have read my other reviews of the silent/musical events at the DRAFTHOUSE (THE GENERAL, METROPOLIS, THIEF OF BAGDAD, NOSFERATU, etc). And you know how I feel about the Drafthouse.

The film is one of my primary magical movie memories already. And rarely does the same movie breed magic twice.

This is... such a movie.

All those years ago, the film was played completely silent. No tinty piano or organ music. No symphony or canned music. It was... simply silent. Not only that, but it wasn’t in it’s original TINTED form. The magic of that evening came strictly from the film, and two aged children that sat beside me and with me as gods that I worship.

This time out though... The magic came from a gloriously restored to perfection tinted print of the film that is now... COMPLETE.

Added to that was the musical talent of a 23 member combined band of the Brown Whornet and the Golden Arm Trio. There were violins, oboes, electric guitars, saxophones, trombones, slide whistles, typewriters, synthsizers, bongos, flutes, all types of musical instruments... and my God what a glorious way to watch this movie.

My eyes were held in rapt attention to the images on the screen, to the dialogue cards, to Wallace Beery and Bessie Love. To the fantastical creatures brought to life by the ingenius talents of Willis O’Brien from the models of the brilliant Marcel Delgado... Who teamed up 8 years later to bring KING KONG and his pantheon of creatures to startling life.

As the lead violinist tortured her violin to create the sound a screeching dactyl... I smiled in utter glee. Some other instrument brought the monkey’s voice to life... and after a while, I realized that this was a rocking version of PETER AND THE WOLF, but with Dinosaurs and a team of adventurers created from the mind that created Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty.

The story and inherent beauty of the film is still wonderful today. My god... to think what might have been had Spielberg thrown out Crichton and gone to Doyle for his Lost World.... sigh.... Set the story back in the 20’s... take away all the benefits of our technology and weapons. Make the dinosaurs something beyond the cages of man.

And here... when things go bad for the team of adventurers... There is no possible helicopter team or boat off shore to rescue them. They have only themselves to count upon... and luck.

Wallace Beery is one of those actors that I’m afraid might possibly be forgotten. You never see articles on him. I never see any great tributes to the man. But for my money, he’s one of my all time favorite actors. My favorite year in Beery’s career was 1934. In that year he became a fantastic Long John Silver in TREASURE ISLAND (which lives alongside the Robert Newton version as two fantastic incarnations of the same character). Then in THE MIGHTY BARNUM, we see him bring to life P.T. Barnum and wow.... what a performance. But... my favorite Wallace Beery role was as Pancho Villa in VIVA VILLA! It is a role that is all at once disgusting and revolting.... as it is joyous and celebratory... and tender and sad. It also happens to be my second favorite Fay Wray movie, after her role with KONG. In a strange way, it’s the same part. She’s a woman entranced by a beast. And it doesn’t matter that the beast is human... he is at once revolting and horrid... but still soulful. In addition... check out THE CHAMP, TUGBOAT ANNIE, GRAND HOTEL, CHINA SEAS and THE BIG HOUSE. If Beery doesn’t teach you exactly who Gérard Depardieu should be playing roles like... then... I’m sorry.

Like all silent films your eyes take in the details of the sets and the costuming. I think the state of the print... something about the exact type of black and white... and the silent nature of it affords your eye the time and grace to soak it all in.

The long shots and locked down camera angles forces you as an audience member to take it in.... swirl it in your mouth. And gulp down like the finest of wines.

Of course the screening sold out. Which was actually a very good thing. You see... as a result, the Drafthouse has scheduled 2 more showing of THE LOST WORLD with the music this coming Thursday. You can check it out at the Drafthouse at either 7 or 9:45. And... if you really feel like it, the Cannibal Film Fest will begin again at midnight with the brilliant DELICATESSEN. If not...

Well, I wish ya could be there.

This experience... sitting next to those you love. Watching a look of pure joy cross their face from something as simple as an awol note from a violin to sound like a howl. Or the percussionary tappings to the newsroom. Or the absolutely rocking score set to the fire or the rampage of London.

Ya know... it’s awesome. As I looked at Annette Kellerman’s face a couple of times during the movie I saw bewilderment. At one point she whispered to me during an action sequence featuring really cool dinosaurs, she said, “You know... they did this before the invention of Plastic!” And I smiled at her and said, “And the re-invention of vulcanized rubber.”

It’s amazing. And what you have to tell yourself as potential young filmmakers is this. EVERYTHING done in this film, you can do with knowledge and patience. Everything.

I can’t wait to see this again this Thursday!