"This was the first screen adaptation of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story of prehistoric creatures still alive on a remote Amazon plateau. An expedition is lead (sic) by Professor Challenger and consists of a newspaper reporter, a big-game hunter, and his servant as well as the daughter of the plateau's discoverer, who is still stranded in this uncharted land. After a long journey, the group finds the prehistoric land and encounters all kinds of remarkable plants, dinosaurs, and ape-like men," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.<br /><br />Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" makes its impressive movie debut; the creatures, characters, and situations continue to be imitated, with no end in sight. Oddly enough, this silent version is a case where the original is not the greatest. Herein, the creatures and humans are not scripted, directed, or edited to full advantage; at times, it seems as if the characters are watching a dinosaur movie. More interaction between dinosaur and human was difficult, but possible; a similar lack of contact between apeman and human is inexplicable.<br /><br />The possibilities lost in this outing would be found, to the extreme, in "King Kong" (1933); a film which makes excellent use of Willis O'Brien's extraordinary stop motion animation effects. That film certainly takes fuller advantage of human/animal interaction.<br /><br />"The Lost World" adds Bessie Love (as Paula White), to up the expedition's romance level. Ms. Love's character wasn't even in the original novel; so, it's an understandably weak addition. However, she helps adventurer Lewis Stone (as John Roxton) give the film's best performance; as his longing for Love is just about the only interesting "non-creature" element. Wallace Beery (as Professor Challenger) and Lloyd Hughes (as Edward Malone) are good, as the film's other leading players.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the film includes not only explicit, but also implicit racially insensitive and inaccurate images. <br /><br />******* The Lost World (2/2/25) Harry O. Hoyt ~ Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Lloyd Hughes