Island of Lost Souls

Synopsis: Feature film adapted from H.G. Wells’ short novel The Island of Dr Moreau (1896). The hubristic scientist, Dr Moreau, is banished from his home to a remote island where he proclaims himself the absolute authority. He governs the island by means of reign of terror while tutoring the brutish creatures in language skills and civilised behaviour. The film reduces the female presence on the island bringing it closer to Shakespeare’s narrative.
Language: English
Country: United States
Medium: Film
Technical information: Black-and-white / Sound
Year of release: 1932
Duration: 71 mins

Producer

Erle C. Kenton

Cinematographer

Karl Struss

Writer

H G Wells

Screenplay

Philip Wylie; Waldemar Young

Art Direction

Hans Dreir

Cast

Charles Laughton	Dr Moreau (Prospero)
Kathleen Burke	Lota the Panther Woman (Miranda)
Richard Arlen	Edward Parker (Ferdinand)
Leila Thomas	Ruth Thomas

Production type: Fiction Films
Plays: Tempest, The
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: science fiction films; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); horror films

Notes: Available on DVD and Blu-ray, from Eureka in the UK and Criterion in the US.
General: The film was banned in Great Britain from 1933-1959, and was then released with cuts. It is likely that the censors were alarmed by the fact that Moreau uses vivisection to turn animals into humans in his ‘house of pain’.
Reviews: For a critical analysis of the film see Judith Buchanan, Shakespeare on Film (Harlow: Pearson Education, 2005), pp 92-5. Buchanan notes `...considerable points of coincidence with Shakespeare’s narrative - a shipwreck, an unchartered island, an exiled magus, a primitive savage, an aspiration to imprint civilisation upon the barbarous and a carefully choreographed encounter between an unsocialised virgin and a shipwrecked man...'

Name: Eureka Entertainment
Email: info@eurekavideo.co.uk
Web: http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/ External site opens in new window
Phone: 020 8459 8054
Fax: 020 8459 5162
Address: Unit 9, Ironbridge Close
Great Central Way
London
NW10 OUF
Notes: An independent distributor specialising in releasing classic and early/silent films on DVD, including the Masters of Cinema curated collection of classic and world cinema. Sale via retail outlets.

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