The Ghost of Slumber Mountain
“These giant monsters of the past are seen to breathe, to live again, to move and battle as they did at dawn of life.”
About The Ghost of Slumber Mountain
Uncle Jack dreams that he looks through a dead hermit's magic telescope. In the glass, animals from millions of years ago move and fight. Willis H. O'Brien and Herbert M. Dawley both appear on screen.
Cast & crew
More about The Ghost of Slumber Mountain
O'Brien wrote and directed. Dawley produced and co-wrote. World Film Company released the picture in 1918. O'Brien and Dawley play the leads, with Alan V. Day and Chauncey A. Day also billed.
Themes
In film history
Watterson R. Rothacker, of the Industrial Motion Picture Company, saw the effects and then worked with O'Brien on the dinosaurs for The Lost World (1925). The short is often cited as a trial run for that film.
Look
Willis H. O'Brien photographed the film, stop-motion creatures included.
Technique
It is the first film to place live actors and stop-motion creatures in the same scenes.
Preservation
After the Strand cut, a later restoration reached 19 minutes; the rest of the negative is presumed lost. Flicker Alley's 2017 Blu-ray of The Lost World includes a 2K restoration by the Dinosaur Museum that runs 13 minutes once the restoration credits end.
Notes
- It opened at the Strand Theater at 3,000 feet, three reels.
- Theater manager Walter Hayes told Dawley the picture was too long and had him cut it toward a single reel.
Scenes
- Uncle Jack sets his eye to the hermit's telescope and watches the monsters fight.
Also available
- Flicker Alley Blu-ray of The Lost World (2017)
