The People that Time Forgot (5 Stars)

This film, made in 1977, is a sequel to "The Land that Time Forgot", which was made two years earlier. Dana Gillespie, pictured on the left, jokingly refers to it as "The Film that People Forgot". That's not true. The Blu-ray disc contains interviews with the two actresses that were filmed in 2016. Dana (whose name rhymes with spanner) says that after making the film she didn't watch it for years, until she was surprised to see it being shown on television not long before the Blu-ray was released. Sarah Douglas calls it the film that she most enjoyed making, even though she's better known for her role as Ursa in the first two Superman films. Dana forgot the film. Sarah didn't.

I also didn't forget the film. I saw it in the cinema when it was first released. I didn't see it again until the early 1990's. I was in Gemini, a shop on Stuttgart's Königstraße, that sold CDs. It was being played on a television screen, without sound, but I recognised it immediately. It was one of the first films I bought after I bought my first DVD player in 2003. I recently rebought it on Blu-ray, and I don't regret it at all. The film looks much better in high definition; even the cheap special effects.

I never forgot the film, even in the many years I didn't watch it. It's always meant a lot to me. I feel sentimental about it, even if I don't consider it good enough to be included in my top 100 films list. Maybe it's because of my feelings about Dana Gillespie. In the 1970's she was the Queen of Scandal, and the Sunday newspapers were always reporting about her exploits. Maybe the reports were exaggerated, but I still enjoyed reading them. At the time she was more active as a singer than an actress. I didn't like her early albums, but when I heard "It belongs to me" (1985) I was amazed. I went on to buy most of her CDs of Blues music, and also her spiritual CDs with Sanskrit texts. I probably had about 20 of her albums, until they were stolen by Thomas Kuzilla of Dearborn Heights, Michigan.

This is Dana Gillespie being carried away by Darth Vader. What I actually mean is that she's being carried by David Prowse, the actor who played Darth Vader in the first three Star Wars films. He was an English bodybuilder who frequently appeared as an extra in English films and television series. Whenever a big muscular man was needed, he was the one the studios called. He was never used for speaking roles, because he wasn't much of an actor. "Star Wars" was his first big role, and it's what he'll always be remembered for, but even then he wasn't allowed to speak. His voice was dubbed by the American actor James Earl Jones. His face was hidden by a mask, so he could be called a non-actor. Only his body was used, because the film needed a big, muscular man.

Sarah Douglas was still a relatively unknown actress at this time. Her breakthrough role was as Ursa in "Superman", which she made immediately after "The People that Time Forgot". It was a seamless transition from one film to the other. When she finished the last day of shooting, she went straight to a casting interview in another part of London. She was accepted immediately, and she flew to America the next day. It was only later that she found out that Dana Gillespie had already auditioned for the role. I have nothing against Sarah Douglas, but I think Dana would have been better for the role. Click here to see Dana's audition tape and tell me what you think.

At the end of the last film, Bowen Tyler (played by Doug McClure) threw a bottle into the sea with a message saying where he was shipwrecked. That was in summer 1916. The bottle was found on the coast of Scotland in 1917. At first nobody did anything about the message, because they were too occupied with the war. In early 1919 an expedition is sent to find him, led by Tyler's school friend Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne). The expedition is being financed by the Times of London, so a photographer has been sent to record the trip. That's Charlotte, nicknamed Charly, played by Sarah Douglas. She's an emancipated young woman, in complete contrast to the chauvinistic Ben. They don't like each other very much, and it's made worse by Ben's frequent remarks. "I believe in a man doing a man's work". Patrick Wayne has inherited the macho posturing from his father John. In the case of John Wayne it wasn't just acting, he really was a male chauvinist. In the case of Patrick I know too little about him to pass judgment.

Some time after the end of the previous film Tyler was captured by a tribe called the Naga. Their appearance is unusual for a tribe living on a prehistoric island. They look like Japanese Samurai warriors on horseback. They speak English, because Tyler has taught them the language. First, it's amazing that the whole tribe has mastered the language in less than three years. They must be more intelligent than the average American (or any other nationality). Second, why would they bother? Why learn a language for the sake of talking to one man? The only logical reason, although it's not stated in the film, is that they're planning a future attack on the outside world.

That's an amazing outfit. It even looks like a Samurai sword at his side. My guess is that it's due to the film being made on a low budget. They had to borrow the outfits from another film. Does anyone recognise them?

We see the outfits better when Ben and Tyler steal outfits to sneak into the Naga throne room. Definitely Samurai swords! Interesting. Is Patrick Wayne left-handed?

These are the three members of the expedition. From left to right, Ben McBride, Dr. Norfolk and Charly. There's also a pilot who remains with the plane.

Soon after arrival, they're joined by Ajor (Dana Gillespie), a member of the Galu tribe who can also speak English. It seems like Tyler got around.

When dealing with Ajor you can look but not touch. She doesn't carry a Samurai sword. All she needs is a short dagger to deal with men who come too close.

In her 2016 interview Dana Gillespie says that she wasn't too worried whether she was given film parts or not, because her priority was her career as a singer. In case you don't know, she recorded more than 60 albums from 1968 to 2014, making her one of England's most prolific singers ever. However, when she looked back at this film she was amazed at how beautiful she looked, so she says that she wishes she'd made more films at this time in her life. In the interview she says she was 23, but her memory is failing her; she was 28. If she'd been picked to play Ursa she would have been offered a lot more film roles. Just look at that mean expression as she threatens Patrick Wayne with her knife. She would have been perfect as Ursa.

Patrick's starting to sweat. Is it the knife or something else?

I wouldn't mess with Dana. I'd keep a safe distance.

Dana Gillespie was one of the most beautiful actresses of the 1970's. It wasn't just her voluptuous figure. If you manage to look a bit higher, you'll see she also has a beautiful face.

What a face! And those eyes!

Stunning!

In case you're still not convinced, here's a close up of her face.

Sultry, seductive, evil. Dana Gillespie is perfect.

Of all the lost world dinosaur films made in the 1960's and 1970's, this is the best. Modern viewers might laugh at the dinosaurs. Those were the days before computer animation, so the dinosaurs were made of cardboard. In her interview Sarah Douglas tells us that the cardboard models were too big, so they had to be cut in half. Sometimes we see the front half of a dinosaur, sometimes the tail, but never both at once. That's the magic of cinema! Absolute perfection isn't needed to make a monster credible.

The dialogue is so corny that viewers will either wince or smile, depending on their feelings towards classic monster movies. For instance, when Tyler lies dying in Ben's arms he holds a final speech:

"Remember when we were kids, Ben? I always wanted to play the hero. Only then the arrows weren't real".

I didn't just smile when I heard these words. I laughed to myself.

This is Sarah Douglas in 2016.

This is Dana Gillespie in 2016.

They're two very fine ladies.

Despite being released as recently as 2016, the film is no longer available in England or America, neither on Blu-ray nor DVD. You might be tempted to look for a used copy on Ebay, but I have a better suggestion. The film is available on Blu-ray in Germany, if you know where to look. The German release is called "Caprona 2. Teil" (which means "Caprona Part 2"). The German release of "The Land that Time Forgot" is called "Caprona: Das Vergessene Land" ("Caprona: The Lost World"). The strange titles come from the lost island being called Caprona. Supposedly. The island isn't named in either of the films, but in the trailers the island is called Caprona. The films are based on novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's possible that he used this name in his books. Nevertheless, the German Blu-ray contains English dialogue and English subtitles.