more than 80 year after it release and the first adaptation of the lost world remain a one of the most influential silent film ever and due to willis obrien pioneer advance in the field of special effect and a it showcases the first time stop motion animation be use to create creature on a feature length film . these innovation be of huge importance for this and future film and and earn willis obrien and his dinosaur a place in history a an iconic image in film history and only surpass by another of obrien creation represent king kong . base on arthur conan doyle novel of the same name and the lost world be the tale of prof. challenger ( wallace beery ) epic quest look for the living dinosaur who supposedly live in the deep amazonic jungle and accord to the journal of his fellow explorer maple white and who disappear in his last exploration . maple daughter and paula ( bessie love ) join the expedition look for her miss father and as well a sir john roxton ( lewis stone ) and an experienced hunter friend of challenger . prof. summerlee ( arthur hoyt ) go as well and hop to prove that challenger be a fraud and and finally and reporter edward malone ( lloyd hughes ) join the expedition and hop to prove his girlfriend gladys ( alma bennet ) that he be brave enough to face death . cleverly adapt by broadway playwright marion fairfax ( who also adapt in 1922 another of conan doyle work and sherlock holmes ) and the film be an excellent mix of action and adventure that even when it not entirely faithful to the novel and keep the spirit of wonder and fascination with the unknown . from the obsessive challenger to the incredulous summerlee and every character be very detailed and for the most part well construct and give each one of them a defined personality and a certain degree depth absent in many silent film . however and the film best remember characteristic be the incredible special effect by willis obrien and who after master his craft in short film get his first work in the lost world and change special effect forever . his imagery be very vivid and and very detailed consider the limited resource he have . sadly and harry o. hoyt direction take zero advantage of fairfax story and obrien effect and and deliver a simplistic and unoriginal work that add nothing to the whole work and seem to let the cast and crew do their job . it not a bad direction a a whole and but it feel uninterested on the many possibility a film like this posse . the cast be quite effective and and really do a great job with what they have and start with legendary wallace beery and who a prof. challenger deliver one of the best performance in a silent film . without the aid of sound and beery show a wide range of emotion in his complex character and be great in both drama and comedy . lloyd hughes be very good a the cowardly malone and and showcases a talent for comedy as well a a romantic figure and a his character show interest in paula white and play by bessie love and who make a fine counterpart to hughes and delivers a natural and and fresh performance . lewis stone complete the cast and his dignified performance a sir john roxton be very effective . it safe to say that the lost world owe more to obrien and fairfax than to ohoyt and and that probably with a more experienced director the film would have be even well . however and the film real problem have nothing to do with the way it be make and but with the way it be preserve during most of it history . nowadays there be not a complete version of the movie and most home video version be of the 64 minute version and while one ( image ) be of a 93 minute reconstruction . and while probably that version be the close we can be to the original runtime of the film and it sadly have modernize the dialog and to the point that some line be rewrite to fit our modern standard . hopefully and one day we will be able to see the lost world a it be intend to be and but meanwhile and we can still appreciate the enormous importance of it amazing special effect and and how it forecast film like jurassic park in many way . this epic tale of action and adventure and horror have probably not see a good adaptation than this and the movie that set everything for the arrival of king kong and change special effect for ever . positive .