The Island of the Lost

The Island of the Lost (German: Die Insel der Verschollenen) is a 1921 German silent science fiction film directed by Urban Gad and starring Alf Blütecher, Hanni Weisse and Erich Kaiser-Titz.[2] It is a loose unauthorized[3] adaptation of the 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells. Author Wells was allegedly unaware that this unauthorized version of his novel existed. It was a common practice in the silent era for European filmmakers to produce unauthorized versions of famous works of literature, as evidenced by F.W. Murnau's Der Januskopf (1920) and Nosferatu (1922).[4]

The Island of the Lost
Directed byUrban Gad
Written byH.G. Wells (novel)
Hans Behrendt
Bobby E. Lüthge
StarringAlf Blütecher
Hanni Weisse
Erich Kaiser-Titz
CinematographyWilly Hameister
Production
company
Corona Filmproduktion
Distributed byTerra Film
Release date
21 November 1921
Running time
90 minutes[1]
CountryGermany
LanguageSilent
German intertitles

Thought at one time to have been lost, a print has turned up at the Bundesarchiv in Berlin, Germany. The film was only screened in the US for the first time at a "Monster Bash" convention in 2014. Comments from the attendees included the fact that the film was somewhat illogical, and had more emphasis on comedy and romance than horror, but that it offered "memorable glimpses of human-animal hybrids"[5]

Director Gad began his film directing career in his native Denmark where he met and married actress Asta Nielsen, but later they both moved to Germany where he had a successful filmmaking career that lasted until 1927.[6] The film's sets were designed by the art director Robert A. Dietrich. The Wells novel was adapted earlier in 1913 as a silent film called The Island of Terror.[7]

Plot

Dr. Marston (Alf Blutecher) leads a small party to a deserted island in the South Seas where they discover a hidden research facility run by a Professor McClelland (Erich Kaiser-Titz). The scientist is experimenting with mixing the DNA of animals and humans, with frightening results.

Cast

In alphabetical order

  • Fritz Beckmann as Jim
  • Hans Behrendt as Pat Quickly
  • Alf Blütecher as Robert Marston
  • Tronier Funder as Dr. Ted Fowlen
  • Umberto Guarracino as Product from the Professor's Secret Workshop
  • Ludmilla Hell as Evelyn Wilkinson
  • Erich Kaiser-Titz as Mc Clelland
  • Nien Tso Ling as Fung-Lu
  • Hermann Picha as Jess
  • Desdemona Schlichting as Last Survivor
  • Hanni Weisse as Jane Crawford

References
  1. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  2. Bock & Bergfelder p.145
  3. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  4. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  5. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  6. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  7. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

Bibliography
  • Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema. Berghahn Books, 2009.
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