Let’s make one thing clear:
The Island of the Lost is not a film version of The Island of Dr. Moreau.
Not officially, that is. Yeah, the story is about as close to H.G. Wells as any of the movies based on the book have been.
But that doesn’t mean that they did anything crazy like paying Wells for the rights to the story.
Actually, I’ve heard that this was common for German silents. Most memorably, this happened with Nosferatu, which was such a shameless Dracula rip off that they were sued by Bram Stoker’s estate.
Mind you, the people who made this film obviously didn’t think Wells’ novel was exciting enough, so they decided to throw in a romantic triangle and a black comic relief servant.
It’s nice to know that sort of thing wasn’t restricted to the American film industry.
I guess.
Robert Marston, a wealthy young man, who’s so rich he has his own submarine (complete with deck gun!), learns that someone has found a message in a bottle from his former fiancé, Jane. She vanished mysteriously from England months before, and her message claims she’s been kidnapped and is being held on an unknown island.
No one believes the story, but Robert wants to go to her aid.
Mind you, his new fiance isn’t exactly happy about that.
Meanwhile, his unsuccessful doctor friend, Dr. Ted Fowler, is having his troubles. He doesn’t have any patients and his newspaper ad claiming he created an artificial man backfires on him. He’s eager to get out of town, and he convinces Robert to sail off in the submarine to find the island.
…Did I mention that Jane has been kidnapped by a mad scientist who’s been making beast people on this island, and plans to use her in his latest experiment?
Oh, you guessed.
Now the beast men aren’t exactly impressive, with a bit of fur and some face paint., and the laboratory is just a single hut on stilts in a pond. I think we all expected more than that.
What is a little odder is that our mad scientist introduces himself as Dr. McClelland, but before we can get too comfortable with that named, his guests realize that he is really the infamous Dr. Thompson.
Not Moreau.
Well, I guess we expected that, too. That name would have cost them money.
Island of the Lost is played mostly for comedy, although there are a few scary moments and a lot of melodrama. it’s definitely not as polished as the German silents of the next decade, and there are a few moments that will offend modern sensibilities.
But it is an interesting version of a classic tale, even if there isn’t much of the original left.
However, if you are not into silent film, Island of the Lost may not be the one to start with.
While it has a few nicely eccentric details, it really isn’t Expressionist. Instead, it verges on silly at times and relies on a tried-and-true plot (even if they did add a quirky twist at the end, when a deus ex machina shows up to save the day).
But, if you don’t expect too much and accept it for what it is, Island of the Lost is moderately entertaining.
Even if we never do get a good look at that Perfect being Dr. Thompson is making…
(My thanks once again to the incomparable Janne Waas of Scifist for introducing me to this film)
rivets on the poster 