The Ghost of Slumber Mountain

Lore & Background

The Ghost of Slumber Mountain was produced by Herbert M. Dawley, who hired O'Brien to write, direct, co-star and produce the effects for a budget of $3,000. The collaboration was not a happy one, and Dawley cut the 45-minute film down to 12 minutes and claimed credit for much of O'Brien's pioneering effects work. Dawley then used a lot of the cut effects footage in a sequel Along the Moonbeam Trail (1920) and his 1923 documentary Evolution. O'Brien received very little financial reimbursement from the project.

The film originally took up 3000 feet of film and three reels, equivalent to approximately 40 minutes. After the film premiered at the Strand Theater, manager Walter Hayes ordered Dawley to cut the film down to about one reel because it was too long. At one point, the film was cut down to 12 minutes by the producer, and for years this shortened version was the only one thought to exist, but it was eventually restored back to 19 minutes. The rest of the footage is presumed lost.

Researcher Christopher Workman wrote that it has been suggested the missing footage was deemed too homosexual in subtext, an idea borne out by a scene that did get restored in which Jack tries to persuade Joe to remove his clothes and pose as a faun, but Joe refuses because there are too many mosquitoes around. Oddly, the actor who played Joe in the film is unknown.

Reader's Guide

The Ghost of Slumber Mountain holds a significant place in film history as the first to combine live actors with stop-motion creatures, a technique that would be refined in The Lost World (1925). The film attracted the interest of Watterson R. Rothacker, founder of the Industrial Motion Picture Company, who was so impressed by its special effects that he joined forces with O'Brien to create the dinosaurs of The Lost World, a classic that advanced the development of special effects techniques. Barnum Brown, the renowned dinosaur hunter who discovered Tyrannosaurus rex, served as technical advisor, and O'Brien based the dinosaur models on paintings by paleoartist Charles R. Knight. The film was a box office hit, grossing over $100,000 on a $3,000 budget. The New York Times called the animated dinosaurs 'remarkably lifelike,' and Variety stated 'These dinosaurs....walk, twist, gaze and eat as we might imagine they must have in the long, long, long ago.' What remains of the film was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012, and it is available as a supplementary material item on the 2017 The Lost World Blu-ray disc from Flicker Alley, in a new 2K HD restoration by the 'Dinosaur Museum.'

Did You Know?

• The film was originally 40 minutes long but was cut to 12 minutes by producer Dawley after the Strand Theater manager deemed it too long.
• Barnum Brown, the discoverer of Tyrannosaurus rex, served as technical advisor on the film.
• The actor who played Joe in the film is unknown.
• The scene of the Tyrannosaurus fighting the Triceratops was featured in 3-D Dinosaur Adventure, where it was dubbed over by voice actors for a humorous tone.