The Reese Project Silent Film Series 

THE LOST WORLD (1925)

The Lost World is a 1925 silent film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's book of the same name. It stars Wallace Beery as Professor Challenger. This version was directed by Harry O. Hoyt and featured pioneering stop motion special effects by Willis O'Brien (an invaluable warm up for his work on the original King Kong directed by Merian C. Cooper). The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.  

The journal of explorer Maple White is recovered from a plateau in South America featuring sketches of dinosaurs, which is enough proof for the eccentric Professor Challenger that dinosaurs still walk the earth. With that, John Roxton (sportsman), news reporter Edward Malone (whom wishes to go on the expedition to impress his fiance'), Challenger and Paula White (as well as an Indian servant, Zambo) leave for the plateau. They get onto the plateau by cutting down a tree and using it as a bridge, but it is knocked over by a brontosaurus, leaving them trapped. The explorers are shocked when they discover that a large rock has been sent their way by an ape-man perched on top of a ledge. As the crew look up to see their attacker, Challenger spies a Pteranodon (mistakenly referred to as a pterodactyl in the film) overhead and proves that the statement in Maple White's diary is true. The explorers witness various life-and-death struggles between the prehistoric beasts of the platue. During which, an Allosaurus makes its way to the camp site and attacks the exploration party. It is finally driven off by Ed Malone who throws a burning torch into the beast's mouth. Convinced that the camp isn't safe, Ed Malone climbs a tree to search for a new location, but is attacked by the ape-man. John Roxton succeeds in shooting the ape man, but the creature is merely wounded and escapes before John can finish him off. The explorers then make preparations to live on the plateau potentially indefinitely. A catapult is constructed and a in search for Maple White, his remains are found confirming his death. It is at this time that Ed confesses his love for Paula and the two are unofficially wed. Shortly afterwards, as the paleontologists are observing a Brontosaurus, it is attacked by an allosaur and falls of the edge of the platue, becoming trapped in a mud bank. Soon afterwards, a volcano erupts, causing a mass stampede among the giant beasts of the prehistoric world. In the end, the crew is saved when Paula White's pet monkey Chico climbs a rope up the plateau and the crew climb down. As Ed makes his descent, he is again attacked by the ape-man who pulls the rope later. The ape-man is again shot, and this time killed, by Sir. John Roxton. The Brontosaurus that was pushed off the plateau had landed softly in the mud at the bottom of the plateau, and Challenger manages to bring it back to London, as he wants to put it on display. However, it escapes and causes havoc until it reaches the London Bridge, where it's massive weight causes it to break through, into the English channel where it swims away. Challenger is morose as the creature leaves, whereas Edward Malone discovers that the love he left in London has married in his absence, allowing him and Paula to be together.