The Ghost of Slumber Mountain

The Ghost of Slumber Mountain was a 1918 film, written and directed by special effects pioneer Willis O'Brien, produced by Herbert M. Dawley, and starred both men; Dawley played Uncle Jack Holmes, while O'Brien played the ghost of Mad Dick the Hermit. Although most of the film itself is lost, it is often cited as a trial run for The Lost World. Most of the plot is unknown; The Ghost of Slumber Mountain originally took up 3000 feet of film, equiva... more

The Ghost of Slumber Mountain was a 1918 film, written and directed by special effects pioneer Willis O'Brien, produced by Herbert M. Dawley, and starred both men; Dawley played Uncle Jack Holmes, while O'Brien played the ghost of Mad Dick the Hermit. Although most of the film itself is lost, it is often cited as a trial run for The Lost World. Most of the plot is unknown; The Ghost of Slumber Mountain originally took up 3000 feet of film, equivalent to approximately 90 minutes, but Dawley cut out almost all of it, reducing it to only 11 minutes in length, though a restored version runs approximately 19 minutes. Why he butchered the film to such a degree is unknown. In the version available today, Holmes (Dawley) is telling his nephews about an adventure he had in the woodlands around Slumber Mountain, near the Valley of Dreams. He found the cabin belonging to the late hermit Mad Dick, who Holmes's friend Joe once saw carrying a strange telescope-like instrument. That night, Holmes... less