''The People That Time Forgot'' is a 1977

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

based on the novel '' The People That Time Forgot'' (1963) and '' Out of Time's Abyss'' (1963) by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

. Filmed in

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

, it was produced by Britain's

Amicus Productions Amicus Productions was a Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film production company, based at Shepperton Studios, England, active between 1962 and 1977. It was founded by American producers and screenwriters Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg. ...

and directed by Kevin Connor. Like Connor's other two Burroughs-derived films, '' The Land That Time Forgot'' and '' At the Earth's Core'', the film was distributed in the United States by

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

. It is the last film made by Amicus before the production company folded. The film is a direct sequel to '' The Land That Time Forgot'', which initiated the series in 1974. The story follows a rescue expedition, led by Patrick Wayne in search of his friend, played by

Doug McClure Douglas Osborne McClure (May 11, 1935 – February 5, 1995) was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his role as the cowboy Trampas during the entire run from 1962 to 1 ...

, who had vanished many years before. The expedition lands on Caprona, the same fantastic

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

land where

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s and

barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

tribes of men co-exist.

Plot

Major Ben McBride ( Patrick Wayne) organises a mission to the Antarctic wastes to search for his friend Bowen Tyler (

) who has been missing in the region for several years. A British naval survey ship takes them to Caprona. McBride's party: the

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Norfolk ( Thorley Walters), gunner and mechanic Hogan ( Shane Rimmer) and photographer Lady Charlotte 'Charlie' Cunningham ( Sarah Douglas) fly over the mountain wall of Caprona in an amphibious aircraft, but are attacked by a fierce giant

pterodactylus ''Pterodactylus'' (from ) is a genus of extinct pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, ''Pterodactylus antiquus'', which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile and one of the first prehis ...

and forced down. They find themselves in a world populated by primitive warriors and prehistoric creatures, all of whom they must evade in order to get back safely to their ship. They meet a cave-girl, Ajor (

Dana Gillespie Richenda Antoinette de Winterstein Gillespie (born 30 March 1949), known professionally as Dana Gillespie, is an English actress, singer and songwriter. Originally performing and recording in her teens, over the years Gillespie has been involved ...

), who can speak English (she was taught by Tyler); she leads them to the land of a race of

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

-like warriors called the Nargas, who are keeping Tyler prisoner. When the volcano that the Nargas worship erupts, they must escape the cataclysm engulfing the land. Tyler sacrifices himself to cover their retreat.

Cast

* Patrick Wayne as Ben McBride *

as Bowen Tyler * Sarah Douglas as Lady Charlotte "Charly" Cunningham *

as Ajor * Thorley Walters as Norfolk * Shane Rimmer as Hogan *

Tony Britton Anthony Edward Lowry Britton (9 June 1924 – 22 December 2019) was an English actor. He appeared in a variety of films (including '' The Day of the Jackal'') and television sitcoms (including '' Don't Wait Up'' and '' Robin's Nest''). Backgrou ...

as Captain Lawton *

John Hallam John William Francis Hallam (28 October 1941 – 14 November 2006) was a character actor from Northern Ireland, who frequently played hard men or military types. Early life John Hallam was born, the son of a superintendent at the Port o ...

as Chung-Sha *

David Prowse David Charles Prowse (1 July 1935 – 28 November 2020) was an English actor, bodybuilder, strongman and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and a manservant in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film '' A Clockw ...

as Executioner *

Milton Reid Milton Rutherford Reid (29 April 1917 – c. 1987) was a British-Indian actor and professional wrestler. He was born in India, the son of a Scottish-born Customs and Excise inspector and an Indian woman. He wrestled in England under the name of ...

as Sabbala *

Kiran Shah Kiran Jethalal Shah (born 28 September 1956) is a Kenyan actor and stunt double. Shah was born in Nairobi, Kenya to an Indian family. He lived in Kenya until he was twelve years old, when he moved to India with his family. While living in Ind ...

as Bolum * Richard LeParmentier as Lieutenant Whitby * Jimmy Ray as Lieutenant Graham

Production

* According to Kevin Connor, Amicus Productions wanted to follow '' At the Earth's Core'' with an adaptation of the ''

John Carter of Mars John Carter of Mars is a fictional Virginian soldier who acts as the initial protagonist of the Barsoom stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A veteran of the American Civil War, he is transported to the planet Mars, called Barsoom by its inhabit ...

'' stories, but could not afford the rights, so they made this sequel instead. * Although the film was made by Amicus Productions, the company folded before it was released, meaning AIP took sole credit.Ed. Allan Bryce, ''Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood'', Stray Cat Publishing, 2000, p. 150

Critical reception

'' Time Out'' commented: "A lame sequel to Connor's earlier Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation, ''The Land That Time Forgot'', which was at least occasionally lively"; the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' called it an "OK sequel," but a "constipated confection" with "ludicrous mechanised dinosaurs and hopeless acting from an interesting cast." The reviewer however, found that "A few shots, composed around celebrated fantasy illustrations, compensate for all the film's shortcomings"; and critic Derek Winnert similarly opined "the monsters and special effects are below par," but "there are effective moments, and there is some curiosity value in seeing singer Dana Gillespie playing Ajor"; while ''Blu-ray.com'' thought the film "may not be the most polished effort around, but there's fun to be had with its crazy dino encounters."

References

External links