Island of Lost Souls (1932) on Netflix
NR19321h 10mAdventureHorrorRomance
Shipwrecked Edward Parker is thrown overboard by a freighter captain and lands on Dr. Moreau's island, where beast-like humanoids recite a Law on the doctor's order. Parker meets Lota.
- Netflix4.0/5
- IMDb7.3/1012,413 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
A freighter carrying animals for Dr. Moreau rescues the shipwrecked traveler Edward Parker. Parker fights the freighter's drunken captain, who has mistreated the bestial passenger M'ling, and the captain throws him into the boat of Mr. Montgomery, bound for Moreau's remote island. Moreau welcomes Parker and presents Lota, a young woman he describes as Polynesian. Screams from a room Lota calls the House of Pain send Parker to look, and he finds Moreau and Montgomery at work on a creature that resembles a person, with no anesthetic. When Parker tries to leave, humanoids that look like beasts come out of the jungle. Moreau cracks his whip, and they recite the Law.
Cast
- Hans Steinkeas Ouran
- Jack Bardetteas Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Show all 20 cast
- Evangelus Berbasas Undetermined Role (uncredited)
- Jacob Danceas Beast (uncredited)
- Harry Ekezianas Gola (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- An extra dressed as a beast-man got too close to a tiger's cage during a scene, and the tiger nearly tore his arm from its socket; Charles Laughton's wife, Elsa Lanchester, confirmed the story, recalling that the incident shocked him and others on the set.
- A contest to cast the Panther Woman drew around 60,000 applicants; the four finalists were Lona Andre, Gail Patrick, Kathleen Burke and Verna Hillie.
SPOILER
The film was banned in several countries, among them Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, India and New Zealand; when the UK ban was lifted in 1958, censors cut the entirety of Charles Laughton's death scene.- Bela Lugosi joined the cast after declaring bankruptcy, having lost most of his money to friends; he was paid $875 and took over from George Barbier as the Sayer of the Law.
- Norman Taurog, who had won an Academy Award for Skippy, was replaced as director 11 days before production was set to begin after Variety reported Paramount was "having trouble injecting comedy into Island of Lost Souls"; Erle C. Kenton took over.
- Nancy Carroll and Randolph Scott, both under contract to Paramount, were announced to play Ruth and Edward Parker, but the roles went to Richard Arlen and Leila Hyams.
- The camera negative was lost and the film survived only in a handful of positive prints, so the Criterion Collection restored it by combining two 35-millimeter prints and collectors' copies of missing frames; its president Peter Becker called it "one of the two or three most challenging reconstructions and image restoration jobs we've ever done".
