Two Lost Worlds (1951)

Director:

Norman Dawn

Writers:

Boris Petroff (story)
Tom Hubbard (adaptation)

Release Date:

5 January 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Maddened prehistoric monsters wage warfare to the death!

Plot:

When the American clipper ship "The Queen" is attacked by pirates off the Hebrides in 1830, Mate Kirk...

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Colony | Rancher | American | Clipper Ship

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

James Arness	...	Kirk Hamilton (as Jim Aurness)
Kasey Rogers	...	Elaine Jeffries (as Laura Elliot)
Bill Kennedy	...	Martin Shannon (as William Kennedy)
Gloria Petroff	...	Janice Jeffries
Pierre Watkin	...	Magistrate Jeffries
Tom Hubbard	...	John Hartley
Jane Harlan	...	Nancy Holden
Tom Monroe	...	Captain Tallman
Michael Rye	...	Captain Hackett (as Rye Billsbury)
Fred Kohler Jr.	...	Nat Mercer - Sailor
Tim Graham	...	Salty - Cabin Boy
Richard Bartell	...	Mr. Davis
Robert Carson	...	Capt. Allison (as Bob Carson)
Joey Ray	...	Minor Role (as Joey Raye)
Charlene Hawks	...	Minor Role

Runtime:

61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #14478) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA

Company:

Sterling Productions Inc.

Trivia:

This film was heavily advertised as a living dinosaur/giant monster movie. However, dinosaurs appear only for 2-3 minutes in the final reel. The dinosaurs are actually only stock footage taken from One Million B.C. (1940); no original dinosaur effects were shot.

A very bad movie that deserves a wider audience

This movie is available on video, and I recommend buying it. A problem with the bad movie genre (subgenre? metagenre?) is that it is dominated by science fiction and horror. Well, this movie has elements of both, but it is mainly an adventure film gone horribly wrong. So, it is often overlooked as a source of unintentional laughs. Here's 10 good reasons to see it:

1. Look at the tattoos in the opening and closing title sequence.

2. Is it a historical drama? A pirate adventure? A monster movie? Who knows?

3. Bad narration -- lots of it! Could be missing pieces of soundtrack.

4. James Aurness (sic) -- He was more expressive as the carrot in "The Thing"

5. Bill Kennedy -- the grouchy costar was later a popular TV movie host in the Detroit area -- a special Michigan connection

6. Fight montage sequence -- there must be stuff from 10 movies in here!

7. You know, you can MOVE that camera! But this cinematographer obviously wasn't aware -- he just turned the camera on, and people walked in and out of the shot. Guess he was in the can a lot.

8. The monsters fight each other, but pose no threat to the humans. They should get guest star billing!

9. If you can tell the two lead women apart, you're doing better than me.

10. Last but not least -- the finale features the world's most powerful handheld telescope as a side-splitting topper.

I've said enough -- and last but not least -- it's SHORT! The best quality a bad movie can have. This one's a winner, folks.