When the world’s youngest animal trainer is shipwrecked on a remote island, she and her menagerie survive and thrive. Meanwhile, her grieving grandfather is trying everything, even mysticism to track her down.
Home Media Availability: Released on DVD and Bluray.
Monkeyshines
There were a few plot devices that the silent era never tired of using. A shipwrecked wild child (played by a stunning actress, naturally). Mysticism and visions. Animals galore. Circuses, too. And what could be better than combining these elements? More has to be more, right? That was certainly the plan Universal must have had when it produced Lorraine of the Lions.
The film opens with a steamer making its way to San Francisco. It carries the Livingston Circus, including all the animal performers. The owner (Frank Newburg) is estranged from his wealthy father, who does not approve of his son marrying an animal trainer (Rosemary Cooper). The couple’s daughter, Lorraine (Doreen Turner), is going to be sent to live with her grandfather so that she can have more opportunities in life.
A storm strikes and the ship sinks but Bimi the gorilla saves Lorraine and swims for shore along with the rest of the Livingston menagerie. Gorillas can’t actually swim—don’t try this at home— but Bimi is an actor in a gorilla suit, so all is well. After a quick fight with (exasperated sigh) cannibals, Lorraine and the animals settle on an island.
Meanwhile, old Mr. Ezra Livingston (Joseph J. Dowling) receives word that the entire Livingston Circus went down with the ship. He is horrified but then experiences a vision of Lorraine walking down the stairs and embracing him. Convinced that he has received an uncanny message signaling her survival, Livingston gives himself over to the occult in hopes of finding her.
Lorraine grows into Patsy Ruth Miller and, protected by Bimi, is boss of the island. She has no idea that her grandfather has spent years seeking out every mystic who will take his money. Hartley (Philo McCullough), Livingston’s heir with Lorraine lost, and his attorney Colby (Harry Todd) are annoyed at Livingston wasting his time and resources on such nonsense but they don’t want to make their disapproval too obvious and miss out on the gravy train.
Things take a turn when Don Mackay (Norman Kerry), a ditzy mystic, accidentally walks into oncoming traffic and is struck by Livingston’s car. The men strike up a friendship and, at the urging of Hartley and Colby, Don agrees to have a vision of Lorraine’s death so that Livingston can be at peace. Unfortunately for them, after all the mystic phonies, Don is the genuine article and instead has a vision of Lorraine, alive, grown up and living on an island.
Livingston forms an expedition with Don, Hartley and Colby and rushes to rescue his granddaughter.
Naturally, not everything goes to plan as Lorraine has lost all of her human manners. She pulls Don’s mustache, wears a blouse as trousers and has to stop the protective Bimi from clobbering the interlopers. Things take an even darker turn when Hartley tries to seduce Lorraine in order to win her fortune, which sends Bimi over the edge…
I am not sure I can say this is a good movie but it is definitely an interesting and entertaining one. There are moments of genuine brilliance—Livingston’s ghostly vision of Lorraine approaching is beautiful— that punctuate a contrived and choppy story. (It is worth noting, however, that the surviving material was intended for home release and seems to have been trimmed slightly from its theatrical cut.) Nobody goes into one of these wilderness pictures expecting Pulitzer material but several good plot threads are left behind.
Norman Kerry, by his own description, was no actor and was just happy to collect his paycheck by being Universal’s resident Handsome Guy. So, Lorraine of the Lions is an interesting turn for him as a spacy mystic who is just as surprised by his genuine powers as everyone else. Unfortunately, once the search party reaches the island, Don has a personality transplant and is back to being Universal’s resident Handsome Guy. I was looking forward to seeing what the plot did with the Wild Child and the Mystic.
The wild child raised by animals and/or Indigenous people has been a narrative device for thousands of years, though most twentieth century versions will be inevitably compared to Tarzan. The lovely wild child could be found prior to Tarzan of the Apes 1912 literary debut, Rima the Jungle Girl was introduced in the 1904 novel Green Mansions, for example. However, Tarzan was enjoying considerable success and a connection to a popular property certainly would not have hurt. “The he role is now a she role” was a beloved way of freshening stories up in the twenties.
Lorraine is a typical character for this type of story but director Edward Sedgwick devises to amusing ways to illustrate her animal upbringing. Lorraine throws things and pokes at the humans monkey-style. The scene where she plays around with a revolver with no idea of its deadly nature is quite amusing.
Lorraine of the Lions has an inconsistent tone, generally, lighthearted humor one moment and graphic violence the next, usually at the hands of Bimi. I think this is intentional since it definitely keeps the viewer on their toes, which is not an easy accomplishment with such a well-worn plot.
The climactic sequence during which Lorraine loses control of Bimi during a rain storm and is carried away by him is probably the part of the film that will receive the most attention and interest. The scene is a dramatic echo of the film’s early shipwreck scene, in which Bimi rescues Lorraine from the sinking steamer and carries her to safety as the rain pours down. Comparisons to King Kong are also inevitable. After all, a gorilla carrying the woman he loves and protects to a great height only to be killed by the authorities is a pretty specific scene.
The image of a heroine being carried off by a “monster” was a popular one and was used for military recruitment during WWI with the tagline “Destroy this mad brute.” While the title cards establish sympathy for Bimi and show that he is afraid and abandoned, the film still ends with a smile and some romance in the wake of his tragic demise. Some compassion for the mad brute but not enough to give up a happy ending.
The scene is quite exciting with Kerry racing to the rescue and eventually battling Bimi on the mansion’s striped awnings. There are some spectacular downward shots to increase the suspense. Fans of King Kong will probably find plenty to interest them, though animal lovers should probably think twice before viewing.
Fred Humes suited up to play Bimi and, while I appreciate that no gorillas were harmed in the making of this picture, Sedgwick and company seemed to lack confidence in the costume. There are few closeups of Bimi’s face and such shots would have gone a long way toward making the tragic finale more poignant.
Also, despite the film’s title and several loving shots, lions don’t figure prominently into the story. I suppose Lorraine and Bimi didn’t quite have that same box office pizzazz. Lions figured prominently into the picture’s pre-production buzz, such as a trade paper ad calling for “Wanted— A prepossessing young lady to play with thirteen lions, one elephant, one monkey and twenty-nine assorted wild animals.” Movie theaters featured lion stuffies in their décor and fan magazines breathlessly recounted tales of Sedgwick and the camera crew shooting the big cats from inside a cage.
Feedback from theater owners was almost universally positive with the picture being described as “dandy,” “pleased 100 percent,” “they just ate it up,” and, my favorite from a theater in Osage, Oklahoma, “we crammed them in until their feet stuck out the windows.”
Lorraine of the Lions is a wildly mixed bag but certainly worth your time and attention if you are interested in this rather pulpy genre and its descendants. It’s also a fine example of higher budget silent era crowdpleaser, the type of film that wasn’t going to win awards but would pack the theater until the fire marshal wept.
Where can I see it?
Released on DVD and Bluray as part of the Accidentally Preserved Volume 5 collection. The film features a rousing score by Jon C. Mirsalis. I was provided with a review copy by Undercrank Productions.
☙❦❧
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Movies Silently 