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Movie: The Lost World (1960)Michael Rennie, Jill St. John Star in Irwin Allen Sci-Fi Film
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World returned to the silver screen in 1960. Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, Claude Rains and David Hedison star.
Dinosaur lovers rejoiced when The Lost World made tracks back into movie theaters in 1960. Irwin Allen was the man behind the camera, with Michael Rennie, Jill St. John and company heading into the Amazonian basin to prove that dinosaurs still exist. Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Lost World is based on the novel of the same name by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930). Published in 1912 by Hodder & Stoughton, The Lost World was the first title in Doyle's Professor Challenger series. The Lost World (1925)The first movie version of The Lost World was released in 1925 by First National Pictures. Wallace Beery, Bessie Love and Lewis Stone had the starring roles in this 10-reel silent. The Lost World (1960)In 1960, producer/director Irwin Allen remade The Lost World for 20th Century-Fox. Allen and Charles Bennett wrote the screenplay. Charles Sawtell and Bert Shefter created the music score. Michael Rennie, Jill St. John Head CastMichael Rennie (Lord John Roxton) and Jill St. John (Jennifer Holmes) head the cast. Also on board are David Hedison (Ed Malone), Claude Rains (Professor George Challenger), Fernando Lamas (Manuel Gomez), Richard Haydn (Professor Summerlee), Ray Stricklyn (David Holmes), Jay Novello (Costa) and Vitina Marcus (Native Girl). Not particularly thrilled with doing The Lost World was contract player David Hedison. "I read the script and thought, 'I don't want to do this. Jill St. John in pink tights and that silly little dog...'" the actor told Science Fiction Confidential in 2002. Filmed on Fox Studio LotThe Lost World, which began shooting in February 1960, was filmed entirely on the 20th Century-Fox lot. The cave was a set, recycled from an earlier Fox production, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959). The 1960 actor's strike had temporarily halted production on The Lost World, forcing cast and crew to work long hours after the strike had been settled. Dinosaurs in South AmericaThe Lost World opens in London, where Professor Challenger gives a lecture at the Zoological Institute. "There exists today many forms of creatures long believed to be extinct," he states. An expedition is mounted to prove Challenger's claims. Joining the professor on his South American safari are academic Walter Summerlee, adventurer Lord John Roxton, newspaperman Ed Malone, pilot Manuel Gomez and femme fatale Jennifer Holmes, her brother David and her poodle Frosty. Bad luck befalls the expedition, but they do find their dinosaurs, along with a genuine lost world woman clad in skimpy attire. Release, ReviewsThe Lost World was released on July 13, 1960. "The Jurassic Age monsters...have it all over the principals, the director and the script of this obvious, plodding and often heavy-handed remake..." observed A.H. Weiler of The New York Times (7/14/60). Film AnalysisDinosaur enthusiasts and Jill St. John fans will love 1960's The Lost World. Others, well... The dinos featured here are actually real lizards, with horns/spikes attached to their heads. Irwin Allen had wanted to use stop-motion photography, as had been employed in the 1925 film, but budget constraints had dictated otherwise. Jill St. John is a scream -- literally -- clad in her pink pedal pushers and letting loose with cries of horror. Fernando Lamas plays a mean guitar while Michael Rennie, Claude Rains and David Hedison look a bit, well, lost. DVDThe 1960 and 1925 versions of The Lost World are available together on DVD (Fox, 2007). "The best title for a woman is still Mrs!" Lord Roxton proclaims. Feed that male chauvinist to the dinosaurs...
The copyright of the article Movie: The Lost World (1960) in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films is owned by William J. Felchner. Permission to republish Movie: The Lost World (1960) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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