The Lost World (1960 film)
A 1960 adaptation of Conan Doyle's dinosaur adventure.
The Lost World is a 1960 American fantasy adventure film directed by Irwin Allen, loosely based on the 1912 novel of the same name by Arthur Conan Doyle. The film follows Professor Challenger and an expedition to a Venezuelan plateau inhabited by dinosaurs, cannibals, and other dangers. It is notable for its use of live animals in special effects and for being a later adaptation of a classic story.
- Release year
- 1960
- Director
- Irwin Allen
- Country
- United States
- Genre
- Fantasy adventure
- Based on
- 1912 novel by Arthur Conan Doyle
- Cinematography
- De Luxe Color, CinemaScope
- Notable cast
- Claude Rains, David Hedison, Fernando Lamas, Jill St. John, Michael Rennie
Lore & Background
The film's plot centers on Professor Challenger, a biologist and anthropologist, who reports to the London Zoological Society that he found living dinosaurs on a plateau in the Amazon Basin. He challenges the Society to sponsor a second expedition, which attracts a big-game hunter, a newsman, and others. The journey includes aerial views of Rio de Janeiro and Angel Falls. On the plateau, the group encounters a Tyrannosaurus rex that wrecks their helicopter, giant spiders, carnivorous plants, and cannibals. They discover a previous explorer, Burton White, living as a blind hermit. The expedition eventually escapes during a volcanic eruption, with Lord Roxton pocketing diamonds and Challenger carrying a generic dinosaur egg that hatches.
Reader's Guide
The Lost World (1960) is significant as a color, CinemaScope adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel, though it received harsh criticism from film scholar Dana M. Reemes, who called it 'an abominable travesty' that obscured the importance of the silent version. The film's special effects were basic, using monitor lizards, iguanas, and young crocodiles with miniature horns and fins, as director Irwin Allen could only work with live animals due to budget constraints. Despite its negative reception, the film had a legacy through Irwin Allen's reuse of its stock footage in his television series such as Land of the Giants, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Allen also attempted to sell a TV series based on the film in 1966 but was unsuccessful. The film was adapted into a comic book as Dell Four Color #1145 in August 1960.
Did You Know?
- The film was shot in De Luxe Color and CinemaScope.
- Special effects used live monitor lizards, iguanas, and young crocodiles with miniature horns and fins.
- Irwin Allen recycled footage from this film in episodes of Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
- The film was adapted into a comic book as Dell Four Color #1145 in August 1960.
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