Archives On The Air 172: Jurassic Conmen—Cathrine Curtis Corporation Records

Published November 21, 2019 at 3:57 PM MST

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Newspaper clipping about the release of The Lost World, 1925. Box 2, Cathrine Curtis Corporation records.

American Heritage Center

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Newspaper clipping about the release of The Lost World, 1925. Box 2, Cathrine Curtis Corporation records.

American Heritage Center

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Promotional image from The Ghost of Slumber Mountain showing Herbert Dawley's dinosaur models, 1918. Box 1, Cathrine Curtis Corporation records.

American Heritage Center

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Promotional image from The Ghost of Slumber Mountain showing Herbert Dawley's dinosaur models, 1918. Box 1, Cathrine Curtis Corporation records.

American Heritage Center

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Promotional image from Along the Moonbeam Trail showing Herbert Dawley's dinosaur models, 1920. Box 1, Cathrine Curtis Corporation records.

American Heritage Center

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Promotional image from Along the Moonbeam Trail showing Herbert Dawley's dinosaur models, 1920. Box 1, Cathrine Curtis Corporation records.

American Heritage Center

Cathrine Curtis was an early film producer. She started the Cathrine Curtis Corporation in 1919.

In 1920 the corporation started making a silent film from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book The Lost World. In it explorers find living dinosaurs.

It was one of the first films to use stop motion animation.

Two men tried to con Curtis during production. They claimed to own the rights to dinosaur models she could use.

The dinosaur models and their rights actually belonged to Herbert Dawley. He had created them for two short films. A fired employee sold the rights to Curtis for revenge.

Curtis caught on to the scam and sued the conmen. She brought Dawley onto the project and The Lost World was released in 1925. Five years later.

Learn more in the Cathrine Curtis Corporation records at UW's American Heritage Center.