The Lost World (1960 film)
5.6 /10 1 Votes
Duration Language English | 5.5/10 IMDb Genre Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Country United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date July 13, 1960 (U.S.) Cast (Lord John Roxton), (Jennifer Holmes), (Ed Malone), (Prof. George Edward Challenger), (Manuel Gomez), (Prof. Summerlee) Similar movies Jurassic World , Jurassic Park , Journey to the Center of the Earth , Journey to the Center of the Earth , Ice Age , Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs Tagline In the middle of the twentieth century, you fall off the brink of time! |
The Lost World is a 1960 De Luxe Color and a CinemaScope fantasy adventure film loosely based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Conan Doyle and directed by Irwin Allen. The plot of the film revolves around the exploration of a flat mountain in Venezuela inhabited by cannibals, dinosaurs, carnivorous plants, and giant spiders. The cast includes Claude Rains, David Hedison, Fernando Lamas, Jill St. John, and Michael Rennie.
Contents

Plot

Professor Challenger (Claude Rains), a famed biologist and anthropologist, reports to the London Zoological Society that he has discovered living specimens of supposedly extinct animals, including dinosaurs, on an expedition to the Amazon Basin. When his colleagues dismiss his claims, he challenges the Society to mount another expedition to verify his story. Challenger and his companions travel to an isolated plateau, where they encounter prehistoric creatures and other hazards, and discover the legacy of a previous explorer that reveals the hidden past of one of their team. During a volcanic eruption, they escape from the plateau carrying the egg of a Tyrannosaurus rex. The egg hatches when it is dropped by accident, and Professor Challenger decides to take the infant dinosaur back to London with them.
Featured cast

Production

Allen purchased the rights to Doyle's novel for $100,000. He received financing to make the film from Buddy Adler, head of production at 20th Century Fox.

Allen said he wanted to cast Trevor Howard and Peter Ustinov in support to Rains.

Special effects for the film were rather basic and involved monitor lizards, iguanas, and crocodiles affixed with miniature horns and fins. Director Allen later stated that though he wanted stop motion models, he could only work with lizards and live creatures in accordance with the studio's budget.
Legacy

Irwin Allen utilized stock footage from this film for episodes of his various TV series, including Land of the Giants, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. In 1966, Irwin Allen even tried to sell a TV series based on the film as he had done with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea but was unsuccessful. Stock footage was also used in the 1970 movie When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth.
Comic book adaption


References
The Lost World (1960 film) WikipediaThe Lost World (1960 film) IMDbThe Lost World (1960 film) themoviedb.org