Review of Island of Lost Souls

Just watched this, the first filmed version of H. G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau" called Island of Lost Souls. It stars Charles Laughton as the lead character who loves performing experiments making animals into humans. It seems Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) gets thrown overboard to his island when the drunken Captain Davies (Stanley Fields) forces him to the "nearby port". There, he meets an exotic woman named Lota (Kathleen Burke) and the doctor's assistant, Mr. Montgomery (Arthur Hohl), before seeing the gentlemanly, if crafty, Moreau himself. Meanwhile, his finance Ruth Thomas (Leila Hyams), with the help of Captain Donahue (Paul Hurst), looks for Ed...I have to admit first out that I didn't find this very scary until the final 10 minutes and some of the dialogue is kinda bland and the lack of a music score (except for the beginning and ending credits) doesn't help. Still, Laughton brings a subtle chill every time he speaks and his later scenes with Bela Lugosi as Sayer of the Law are still pretty effective today especially when the latter keeps saying, "Are we not men?" So that's something to look forward to. But having said all that, Erle C. Kenton provides fine touches in many night scenes and the makeup of the creatures are fascinating in a theatrical way. And Ms. Burke, as Lota, does provide a little sexy presence with Ms. Hyams, as Ruth, some class. (By the way, Kathleen Burke spent the rest of her life in Chicago, Ill., my birthtown, where she previously was a dental assistant.) So on that note, Island of Lost Souls is worth a look.