Island Of Lost Souls (1932)

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932)

Dir: Erle C. Kenton

Charles Laughton as Dr. Moreau

It’s 1932, and there are two horrific films about deformity unleashed upon the public. One is the first feature length adaptation of H.G. Wells’ book The Island Of Dr. Moreau and the other is from the superstar director of Dracula (1931). How would audiences react?

Tod Browning was a shining star for Universal Pictures. He birthed the Universal monsters with Dracula in 1931. Because of his status, the studio gave him carte blanche for his next film. He decided to make Freaks (1932), and it ruined him. After Freaks, he had a few uncredited directorial efforts and Mark of the Vampire (1935) before fading away into infamy. His progressive film provided a safe environment for individuals with varying physical disabilities to create real performances and transcend their ‘freak’ status. Browning, wanted to show the non-disabled in the film were the real Freaks. But this backfired when audiences were horrified by little people, conjoined twins, individuals suffering from sacral agenesis, and microcephaly. Browning’s career suffered. When we talk about films that took years to find their following, Freaks is at the top of that list. Why is that relevant? Because, had Browning placed Bela Lugosi under impressive makeup as well as the rest of the cast in Freaks, his career would have soared.

This is no disrespect to Island of Lost Souls, as the film is a more than serviceable telling of H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau. But the addition of a love story and witnesses to the protagonist’s encounters, destroy the best part of Moreau. In the final pages of Wells' story, Edward Prendick can no longer function in society because of the lingering fear that all humans are about to revert to their natural animal state. A very real fear in 1896 or 2021. Wells, himself, spoke out against the film’s overuse of effects and underuse of any philosophical ideas.

Island of Lost Souls also had its own bit of trouble, but this was later during re-issues. When the film was released in 1932, it was Pre-Hayes Code and it was released as is. There were 14 states that disagreed with any of the film’s beliefs of evolution. This made it a difficult sell. Later, in the 1940’s during the height of Hayes, all of Charles Laughton’s dialogue about creating the beasts or knowing what it was like to be God had to be removed. But, this controversy pales in comparison to Browning losing his career. Kenton went on to Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), House of Frankenstein (1944), and House of Dracula (1945) – the lesser Universal sequels.