Director: Erle C. Kenton
Writers: Waldemar Young, Philip Wylie
Stars: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen
Run Time: 1 Hour, 10 Minutes
Synopsis
A ship at sea rescues a man floating on a small raft. They nurse the man back to health. His name is Edward Parker, and he was on a ship that sank. This ship is full of wild animals in cages, and Montgomery, the “doctor” who helps him, acts secretive and looks shifty. They send a telegram to Ruth, Edward’s fiancé explaining where they are headed. The captain has heard rumors about Dr. Moreau, the man who owns the island to which they are taking the animals.
Edward Parker notices one of the “men” on the ship has pointed, hairy ears. They deliver the animals, and the captain throws Parker in with the animals and leaves him with Moreau. Parker, Montgomery, and Moreau sail back to the small island. The other men on the boat… are unusual looking, to say the least.
They arrive at the island, and Moreau scares off the creatures with his whip. He swears Parker to secrecy and takes him to his house. “Strange-looking natives you have here,” comments Parker.
Moreau wants to show Parker to Lota, the panther woman. He wants to see what her emotional impulses will be. He leads Lota to Parker’s room and introduces them. Moreau explains that she’s Polynesian and the only woman on the entire island. They hear screaming from the House of Pain. Parker rushes to investigate, but Lota tells him not to go. Moreau is vivisecting one of the natives. They run through the jungle, straight into a native village. There are a lot of creatures, but they’re terrified of Moreau.
Moreau shows up and cows the men. He makes the Sayer of the Law recite the law:
“Not to walk on all fours.
Not to eat meat.
Not to spill blood.
Are we not men?
His is the hand that makes.
His is the hand that heals.
His is the house of pain.”
Moreau explains that he’s found a way to accelerate evolution. The so-called natives on the island are, in fact, all evolved animals. He’s taught them to talk and live more or less like civilized people. “Do you know what it means to feel like God?” He asks. Moreau is fascinated by Lota, and he wants to know how close to a real woman she will become with Parker there. Of course, he’s planning to leave in the morning on the boat.
The next morning, the boat has been sunk, so Parker can’t go home. What rotten luck! Meanwhile, Ruth asks the captain what happened to Parker, but he’s not very forthcoming. The captain does tell the consul where he left Parker, and the consul sends a rescue party. Back on the island, Parker and Lota start getting close.
Lota has claws; she is reverting slowly. Parker figures out what Lota is, and he threatens Moreau, who explains that Parker can’t leave without his help. Moreau explains to Parker that his goal was to get Lota to mate with a human and bear children. This would prove that she was a real human, evolved past her animal origins. Parker punches him in anger. Moreau wants to “burn out all the animal from her. We’ll make her completely human!” Montgomery is getting a little soft on Lota and promises her that she won’t go back to the house of pain.
Ruth and Donahue show up on the island, alone on a rowboat. They see strange creatures, and the creatures see them. They find Moreau, Montgomery, and Parker. Then they all sit down to dinner, and then it’s bedtime. One of the creatures, Ouran, breaks the bar on the window, and gets into Ruth’s room. She screams, and the Ouran runs off. Montgomery knows that this was part of Moreau’s plan, so he gives Parker the key to the gate.
Moreau tells Ouran to kill Donahue, which he does. The Sayer of the Law accuses Ouran of breaking the law. Ouran explains that Moreau told him to do it, which gets them all riled up. They examine the body of Donahue, which is obviously quite human… and quite dead. “Men can die?” “He can die!” “Law no more!” Shouts the Sayer of the Law. Moreau finds himself in trouble when they attack. They take him to the House of Pain.
The others head for the boat while Parker watches for Lota to take her with him. Ouran follows them, but Lota fights him to protect the humans. She kills Ouran but dies in the process. The others get to the boat and escape.
Commentary
The monster make-up is pretty dated, but overall is effective, and there are many creatures in this. Considering the number of monsters and the make-up, this must have been pretty terrifying at the time. It’s pretty intense.
This is the first Moreau film, and it’s very similar plot-wise to the newer two films; all three films are surprisingly similar in plots, at least for the first two-thirds of each film. They all diverge a bit after that point. This story proceeds about the same way as the newer films until Ruth arrives at the island; that sets us up for the inevitable happy ending which the two newer films managed to avoid.
It’s actually pretty good, and it’s so easy to see why they made so many remakes of the story.