Too Tufts To Die

 

 (imdb)

SERPENT ISLAND-1954-A rummy sailor Pete Mason (Sonny Tufts) agrees to help Miss Ricky Andre (Mary Munday) find the family treasure using the infamous Andre Letter which she carries. They charter a boat for Haiti from Capt. Ellis (Tom Monroe) who doesn't like Mason and vice-versa and eventually they have a fight. Pete and Ricky go off to an island as he doesn't believe the gold is in Haiti. On the island Pete puts his moves on Ricky. At first, she resists but then accepts it and judging by the scenes of crashing waves they have a great time! Pete and Ricky are captured by the island natives. There are actually only two. The rest is stock footage. Pete even knows the head priestess (Rosalind Hayes). Her servant Jacques (Don Blackman) has a couple of fights with Pete. The gold they are looking for is an idol worshiped by the locals. A giant snake almost kills Ricky but Pete saves her. Ellis however has other plans but he's bitten by a snake. Pete & Ricky escape, gold-less but in love. 

This romantic adventure story is very cheap with a minimal cast. This was writer/director Tom Gries debut but he went on to TV in the '50's and '60's and much later made some bigger budgeted movies like WILL PENNY (1967), the TV mini-series HELTER SKELTER (1976), THE GREATEST (his last in 1977) and others. Mr BIG himself Bert I. Gordon was the producer and cinematographer, a year before he directed his first film, KING DINOSAUR! Star Sonny Tufts had been in CAT-WOMAN OF THE MOON the year before.

Thanks for reading!

Terry

 

TERRY AND THE PIRATES-1940-Tough guy scientist adventurer Pat Ryan (Granville Owen aka Jeff York) and his wimpy over anxious buddy Terry Lee (William Tracy) are in Asia to deliver some important papers to Terry's dad Dr. Lee (J. Paul Jones). They find that Dr. Lee has already left on an exhibition into the jungle because he didn't get their telegram. The two, along with their (fake) Asian servant Connie (Allen Jung) get a surly greeting from everyone they encounter (including the alcoholic governor). The town is run by the malevolent Master Fang (Dick Curtis) who intercepted Ryan's telegram and sends a lackey with a gorilla Baboo to get the papers. Fang is also after the treasure from The Temple of Mara, overseen by it's queen The Dragon Lady (Shelia Darcy). Rich white guy Allen Drake (Forrest Taylor) and his daughter Normandie (Joyce Bryant) help Pat and Terry mount the search party despite threats from Fang who sends his white gang disguised as natives to break up Pop Lee's party. On the first night of Pat and Terry's exploring, his group with Connie and huge local magician Big Stoop (Victor DeCamp) are attacked by the fake natives and left to burn to death in a tent. 

Of course since this is a 15 part serial produced by Columbia Pictures every episode has a (mostly) cheat cliffhanger ending that the heroes escape from at the last minute in the following episode. It's based on a comic strip created Milton Caniff (who hated the serial) in 1934. Caniff also created "Steve Canyon".  

Director James Horne had directed KOLLEGE with Buster Keaton in the silent days and later several Laurel & Hardy movies as well as a few other serials but died suddenly in 1942. 12 years later “Terry” portrayer Tracy would have a co-starring role in a “Terry And The Pirates” TV series.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading!

Song of Kong

  (TCM.com)

SON OF KONG-1933-In the aftermath of King Kong's rampage, Carl Denham (Rboert Armstrong) is hiding out in a boarding house trying to avoid process servers. After he meets up again with Capt. Engelhorn (Frank Reicher), they leave NYC and wind up in the Dutch Indies. There they see a show of performing monkeys run by a young woman Hila (Helen Mack) and her father. At night the old man is drinking with a former ship captain Hellstrom (John Marston). The two have a fight and the old man is killed and their place burns down. 

Hellstrom it turns out sold the original map of Skull Island to Denham. He tells the two about another map that leads to a treasure on the island. They set sail and unknown to them Hilda has stowed aboard. Later due to Hellstrom's meddling the crew mutinies. Denham, Engelhorn, Hida and Charlie the cook (Victor Wong) are cast adrift. Hellstrom is thrown over too. They make it to the island but the chief of the natives (returning Noble Johnson) forces them to flee. On another part of the island they find a white haired mini-Kong who's much cuter, friendlier and more helpful than dad. Baby Kong (as he's referred to) fights a dinosaur and a giant bear. The group find a treasure but an earthquake strikes. Hellstrom is eaten by a sea serpent. The island sinks. Poor Kong Jr. drowns saving Denham's life. A ship picks up the survivors and they split the treasure Denham managed to save. 

Released just 9 months after KING KONG this sequel was produced by Ernest Schoedsack (who also directed) and Merian C. Cooper who presented the original. It features more amazing stop motion effects by Willis O'Brien and Harry Redmond Jr (both not credited). The story is more lighthearted than KK but the ending in some ways is much sadder.

Thanks for reading!

Still In Larryland

MISTRESS OF THE APES-1979-Redneck conspiracy theorist Larry Buchanan apparently took a dim view of NYC when he made this cheap laughable film which begins in “a jungle on the Eastern seaboard” where three black druggies (I guess Buchanan must have read all druggies are black) just walk into a hospital to steal drugs. Not content with that they cut the power then interrupt an operation. Two pot smoking cops in the US murder capital (according to this movie it's Central Park) respond and are both shot by one of the thugs. Next day all is forgotten and scientist Susan (Jenny Neuman) is visited by her doctor and a guy named David (Walt Robin) after she loses her baby. They talk about her missing husband Jameson in The Congo. Later she and another egghead Paul (Garth Pillsbury) visit David. They show her some slides from the jungle. He believes the natives there are homo habilis, the missing link. The trio plus David's wife Laura (Barbara Leigh) go off to Nairobi to find Susan's hubby where we learn David is in cahoots with local trader Matthews (Mark Rhudy) who he hired to kill Jameson. 

The foursome with three Nairobi “maidens” as porters walk around aimlessly while being tracked by Matthews and his partner Brady (Stuart Anderson). After an encounter with the “near men”, a near woman is shot and killed by David. That night one of their female porters is killed. After Susan has a nightmare, she and Paul go out alone to explore. David lets the two killers rape Laura. Meanwhile Susan approaches the near men (with terrible makeup) by doing a monkey imitation while some stupid theme song plays. They are basically primitive clowns. It takes 4 or 5 of them to kill one rabbit. Paul and Laura are held captive but they kill one of the killers and escape. They meet up with Susan and Paul gives everyone a useless recap on what's been happening. Susan goes back to the cave peeps and at night encounters a gorilla which one of the cave guys saves her from. This scene is very dark. 

While the boys gather round the fire, Susan bathes topless which arouses at least one of them to go to Susan’s cave and do the nasty. Not a good idea as an angry cave friend beats lover boy to death. Susan leads the near men on a hunt and kill David and the last bad guy. Paul and Laura leave intending on keeping the tribe a secret. Susan stays to be their leader (“They need me”) and presumably their baby making machine. 

This stupid movie is chock full of bad acting, bad dialogue and inept directing. Co-star Leigh was once a girlfriend of Steve McQueen and was the first human version of Vampirella.

Thanks for reading!

 

Clyde Comeback

PERILS OF THE JUNGLE-1953-Clyde Beatty (playing himself) and his friend Grant (Stanley Farrar) go to the Belgian Congo to find wild animals and stumble across a kind of menagerie run by Jo (Phyllis Coates), which she inherited from her father. No sooner are the guys welcomed when there's a fire (started by a foolish native would found a lighter). Clyde handles the 2 escaped lions and saves a worker but the fire wipes out Jo’s business. Enter Gorman (John Doucette), her father's nasty ex-partner who wants to buy her land. She refuses. Clyde decides to help Jo capture a gorilla. They go into the jungle with Gorman in hot pursuit. They do manage to capture a gorilla but a second one manhandles Gorman who's saved when Clyde shoots the hairy attacker. The duo leaves Jo and almost immediately head to Southern Rhodesia where the commissioner (Tudor Owen) grants them permits to hunt black maned lions (they got a tip from Gorman). With their guide Ken (Joe Fluellen) leading the safari they go into the jungle and Clyde kills a lion. Later Grant contracts “sleeping sickness” and they take a chance going through hostile restless natives country.

They meet an old white guy named Grubbs (Leonard Mudie) who says the tribe is holding him against his will but Clyde has his suspicions and he’s right! Grubbs is a thief who’s been stealing the tribe's treasure and he sends the natives after them. When they're captured Beaty gets a knife and holds the king (he’s just a boy) hostage and the group makes its get away, taking Grubbs with them. The scary witch doctor sends out the tribe. Grubbs is speared in the back and the boy-king is set free. It ends with Beaty and Grant going off to hunt black panthers for his circus. 

This slow moving cheapie is put together like two episodes from a TV show and the director George Blair was doing a lot of TV at the time (He'd start directing episodes of THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN the next year).

Thanks for reading!

What Is The Law?

LAW OF THE JUNGLE-1942-Nona Brooks (Arline Judge), an American singer is stranded in African and sings at a sleazy cafe for creepy owner Simmons (Arthur O'Connell). 

She meets American paleontologist Larry Mason (John “Dusty” King) who she hopes will help her but Simmons convinces Mason she's a con artist. When a guy is killed in the cafe, she wanders into the jungle to get away! To appease his native safari Mason agrees to re-bury some bones he dug up but the job falls to his assistant Jeff (Mantan Moreland) who hears Nona but thinks she’s a ghost. Mason takes her in but insists she return to the town. Meanwhile 2 German spies want some secret papers accidentally given to Nona. They kill Simmons and hunt for Nona in the jungle. They get another tribe (with rifles) to go after Mason's group. Mason, Nona & Jeff wind up hiding in a dark cave. After an encounter with a gorilla they are captured but things take a comic turn when a native female takes a liking to Jeff and the tribal chief (Lawrence Criner) is Oxford educated and speaks English. 

Criner was also in THE GANG'S ALL HERE and FRECKLES COMES HOME both made by LAW OF THE JUNGLE'S director Jean Yarbrough for Monogram Pictures.

Thanks for reading!

Clyde Of The Jungle

THE LOST JUNGLE-1934-Lion tamer Clyde Beatty has problems with a new lion and his girlfriend Ruth (Cecilia Parker) who leaves him to go to South America with her father Capt. Robinson (Edward LeSaint) who's taking Professor Livingston to look for a lost civilization called Kenmor. He also has an assistant Sharkey (Warner Richman) who tries to sabotage his efforts. Later Clyde previews his newest act, mixed animals all in one cage for his boss and manager Larry (Syd Saylor)). 

Three months later his new act is a huge hit but he's not happy having never heard from Ruth. And with good reason the ship she was on got wrecked on a jungle island! They send an SOS by carrier pigeon and Clyde joins the dirigible rescue party that's going after them but it crashes leaving only Beatty and Larry alive. Although the no good Sharkey parachuted out before the crash. He stumbles upon the entrance to the lost city. We know this because the title “The lost city of Kenmor” pops up on the screen! 

Sharkey finds the dying professor (Cauford Kent) who mentions finding a treasure which excites his greed. Clyde arrives in time to save Ruth from a lion attack but their tender reunion is short lived as Clyde botches his reasons for coming to Kenmor. Meanwhile the crew lead by first mate Kirby (Wheeler Oakman) want to mutiny against Capt. Robinson who won't leave till he hears from the professor. Despite their predicament, Clyde seems intent on bringing back a man eating tiger. The uppity crew gains new respect for their predicament when thye see Clyde capture the tiger. They all agree to go look for the professor. Sharkey just happens to be outside the fence and hears the plan. He lets the tiger loose. Clyde winds up in a pit with the tiger who he somehow puts to sleep and Larry saves him. Then the lion invades the camp and kills Sharkey. After Clyde hog ties the lion, Livingston's map is found. Finally Clyde picks Ruth over wild beasts. 

This is the movie version of a 12 part Republic serial.

Thanks for reading!

Nabonga!

NABONGA-1944-A crook named Stockton (Herbert Rawlinston) is fleeing the police with his young daughter Doreen (Jackie Newfield). During a storm they crash land in the jungle. Stockwell kills the pilot and Doreen finds a wounded gorilla (it was shot by the search party). Later in a jungle village, a mysterious guy named Ray Gorman (Buster Crabbe) is looking for a “white witch” said to live in some forbidden mountains. He and a local named Tobo (Prince Modupe) go off to find her. 

Meanwhile bad guy Karl (Barton McLane) and his moll Maria (Fifi D'Orsay) lead their own safari to find her. Of course the witch is the now grown up Doreen (Julie London) who has a gorilla (named Samson played by Crash Corrigan) for her protector and Gorman is looking for the money Stockton stole from his father's company causing his old man to commit suicide. Unfortunately when the duo find the plane, the gorilla kills Tobo and later traps Gorman in a cave but Doreen saves him. Despite the presence of the killer 'rilla the dialogue between Doreen and Gorman is intentionally humorous. Maria arrives on the scene making Doreen jealous and helping Gorman build a trap to cage Samson. When it works Gorman combs Doreen’s cave looking for the loot and Maria gets Karl. Later Karl gets his paws on the loot and leaves Gorman for dead (after they have a sped up fist fight). He dumps Maria when he meets Doreen. Dumb cluck Maria releases Samson from the trap and it kills her. It's then shot and killed by Karl but not before Samson kills him. This PRC production is very slow going and not much happens. 

Director Sam Newfield also made THE MONSTER MAKER and I ACCUSE MY PARENTS the same year (along with with 9 other features!). It's his young daughter who plays Doreen as a child. As was usual his brother Sigmund Neufeld was the producer.

Thanks for reading!

More Jungle Bungle

THE BEAST OF BORNEO-1934-On an expedition in Borneo to find the elusive “orang-utan”, explorer Bob Ward (John Preston) finds and adopts a baby ape. Back in London, “celebrated Anglo Russian” scientist Dr. Boris Borodoff (Eugene Sigaloff) needs an orange ape for an experiment. When he learns the expedition can't secure one, he goes himself with assistant Alma Thorne (Mae Stuart). In Borneo Borodoff meets Ward and wants to hire him to catch an “orang” but Ward refuses (he doesn't capture animals for science). Somehow he changes his mind and the three venture into hostile territory with a bunch of natives. Borndoff professes his love for Alma and is jealous when she and Ward become close.

 After 3 weeks they trap a huge orang in a tree. They lure him out with fruit spiked with Gordon's Gin (the label is prominently displayed). But one of the crew is killed and the natives desert the white people. When Ward learns the professor wants to cut open the ape’s brain (although he promised not to) he decides to free it so Borondoff knocks him out. The orang escapes and takes Ward. Borondoff tells Alma Ward is dead but she doesn't believe him. Her efforts to find him fail and she and her boss prepare to leave. But then Borondoff decides to do his operation on Ward's baby monkey Joe which Alma will have none of. She flees into the jungle, finds Ward alive and the evil professor is mauled to death by the adult orang. 

Later jungle drums say a rescue party is coming for the survivors. This thing moves at a snail's pace, could be missing a scene or two and the acting is pretty stiff. Especially annoying is actor Sigloff's heavy accent. Stock footage was left over from EAST OF BORNEO. The orang makes some weird noises. Director Harry Garson made many films in the silent era and continued into sound but developed heart trouble and died in 1938 making only one more film after THE BEAST OF BORNEO.

Thanks for reading!

In The Big Year Of 1931

EAST OF BORNEO-1931-In this early Carl Laemmle produced “talking picture”, a young woman Linda Randolph (Rose Hobart) comes to Borneo looking for her husband Dr. Allen Randolph (Charles Bickford). It turns out Randolph is now using a new name and 300 miles away. Since she's his wife she needs to make the journey despite the warnings that it's no trip for a white woman alone. Nevertheless she sets out with a kind of huge crew led by Hrang (Testu Komai) and sees stock footage of crocodiles, lions, hyena and an orangutan family. At night a giant python visits but does no harm. Then a leopard attacks and mauls one of the white crew. Hubby Dr. Randolph is a drunk chess playing companion to Hashim, the prince of Naruda. Randolph seems to be down on women and doesn't know his better half is searching for him. When Hashim (Georges Rentavent) learns a white woman is soon to arrive he decides to greet her even though Randolph asks him not to. Hashim welcomes Mrs. Randolph and invites her to dinner where she meets hubby who's plastered. 

Later the couple talk. Randolph doesn't want his wife because he believes she left him for another man, although she denies this saying that her relationship with this other man was merely platonic and only happened because of her husband's workaholic ways. Randolph has none of it and sends her away. Things don't go too well for the Mrs. after she sees a man eaten by crocodiles and a baby monkey killed by a tiger and she wants to leave. Then she accidentally ruins Randolph's experiment. He’s looking for an antitoxin for yellow fever. The prince seems desirous of the white woman and won't let her leave but in a fit of sober allegiance to his wife Randolph tries to help her escape. Of course they are recaptured and Randolph is set to become croc food but when the prince puts his moves on Linda she shoots him! He doesn't die and Randolph operates on him but the volcano erupts and Hashim is killed. The Randolphs get away. 

EAST OF BORNEO was made by Universal pictures the same year as the horror classics FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA but is forgotten today. There is a tenuous connection between this jungle romance and Dracula as Randolph's slave is played by Luptia Tovar (who died in 2016 at the age of 106!) who would play Mina in the Spanish language version of Dracula that was shot at night after Tod Browning’s version wrapped up for the day.

Thanks for reading!

Late James Whale

SINNERS IN PARADISE-1938-On a plane to China all the passengers have a story: Anne Wesson (Madge Evans), an unhappy wife trying to escape her jealous husband, Thelma Chase (Charlotte Wynters), an heiress trying to escape union troubles at her factory, a pompous senator (Gene Lockhart), two munitions rivals Brand (Morgan Conway, a future Dick Tracy) and Honeyman (Milburn Stone), an old woman (Nana Bryant), Malone (KING KONG's Bruce Cabot), a gangster known as The Torpedo, wise cracking Iris (Marion Martin) who's escaping a grand jury. Their plane crashes during a storm and only they survive along with the plane's steward Jessup (future western star Don “Red” Barry). 

They find refuge on a tropical island where the only inhabitant is Jim Taylor (John Boles), a loner who lives there with his Asian servant Ping (Willie Fung). He has a boat but won't let them use it because he has a secret of his own for being on the island and isn't exactly thrilled with his unscheduled guests. Later Taylor decides to let them go and get some peace but not all of them will fit in his boat, so some can go and some will have to wait. The munitions rivals can't wait to go and Taylor has to fight them off. Malone saves him. Taylor gets sweet on Thelma and asks her to stay. The munitions rivals hijack the boat (with Ping in it) and the old lady is shot. Taylor tries to remove the bullet but she dies before he can operate. It turns out Taylor was a doctor accused of killing a mobster: the old woman's son! Everyone goes native and some comic parts made me think of “Gilligan's Island”! 

This forgotten adventure/soap opera was directed by the great James Whale who made a few more films after this (THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, GREEN HELL) but was basically on the downside of a once famous career. This was also one of the last film roles for the once popular top billed Madge Evans who retired from films after marrying author Sidney Kingsley (DEAD END). 

John Boles of course had worked previously with Whale on a film of his caled FRANKENSTEIN....

Thanks for reading!   

Bomba

BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY-1949-A photographer Charles Harland (Onslow Stevens) and his daughter Patricia (Peggy Ann Garner) come to “the jungle” to get some photos. After showing some footage to Andy (Charles Erwin), “a glorified game warden” and his servant Eli (Smoki Whitfield) they set off on safari and see lots of animal stock footage. Patricia is saved from a leopard attack by Bomba (Johnny Sheffield), a white curly haired jungle boy. He wants to be nice but she pulls a gun on him so he walks away. Later she asks for his help but he wants none of her (“You try hurt me”). He cools to her and she tries to explain what a family is. He tells her about an old guy who taught him English. He gets shot for his efforts but later shows her around the jungle and his cave home (and animal friends). She dons a cave dress and they even go swimming together. When danger threatens in the form of some hunters Bomba saves everyone by starting a fire. There's also some talk of Bomba being left alone after his father (?), a misanthrope named Cody died.

 It's based on a series of books by Roy Rockwood (probably not a real person)and often sighted for it's racist overtones. The prolific Ford Beebe directed it and a number of others in the series (there were 12 entries in all). DC even published a few comics based on the character in the 1960's.  

Thanks for reading!

JJ Strikes Again

JUNGLE JIM IN THE FORBIDDEN LAND-A scientist Dr. Linda Roberts (Angela Greene; Tess Trueheart in the short lived DICK TRACEY TV show) goes to find Jim (Johnny Weissmuller). Unfortunately her raft is attacked by a hippo and her small crew is killed. She survives and wanders the jungle and is lucky enough to be rescued by Jim when a panther attacks. He kills it with his trusty knife (it's a stuffed animal). Dr. Roberts is looking for "The Land of The Giant People". Jim takes her to see "The Old One", a ancient blind white haired guy who talks like Master Po. On their way a hippo attacks again and Jim kills it (a silly looking model). Later he helps out a man who is legally dealing in ivory. His ward (Jean Willes) causes trouble. Somehow she and a phony doctor convince a commissioner to use two captured "giant people" to find their hidden land. They look like wolf people and aren't very gigantic. Jim is shot with truth serum and reveals where the giants hang out. Then he's framed for murder. Good of course triumphs in the end and Tamba the monkey gets its name in the credits!

Director Lew Landers started directing (under his real name Louis Friedlander) in the early 30's and made THE RAVEN with Karloff & Lugosi in 1935. Among his over 100 credits (!) he made THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU (with Karloff & Lorre), THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (with Lugosi) and THE MASK OF DIJON (with Erich Von Stroheim).  Like many "work-aholic" directors he later went into TV. He died in 1962. I'd like to see his last movie TERRIFIED. 

Thanks for reading!

Little People, Big Hero

PYGMY ISLAND-1950-Some army officers (one of them is Selmer Jackson)  in DC discuss a jungle plant that could replace rope while newspaper headlines report the disappearance of Capt. Kingsley who was looking for the source of the plant. A flashback then tells us that this is another Jungle Jim adventure as Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) finds the captain's missing dog tags. No sooner does the real story start then Jim is in the water fighting an alligator! While investigating the death of a pygmy Jim discovers the plant is fireproof. The flashback ends and the US army (with THE MAD GHOUL's David Bruce) shows up in Bugandi (?) to check out a group of white Pygmy people and find the missing captain who we also learn is a woman (Ann Savage). She's hiding out with them. Meanwhile a tribe of "bush devils" threatens the little people. A local trader named Marco (Steven Geray) is also after the plant. The bush devils start an elephant stampede and of course it turns out "the devils" are actually foreign agents (lead by Tris Coffin). A gorilla (probably the same one from MARK OF THE GORILLA) attacks Jim and destroys a bridge (with Jim on it!). Billy Curtis leads the little natives (who include Billy Barty & Angelo Rossitto) who save the day when Jim is taken captive. William Tannen and Tommy Farrell are also in it. This is one of the few JJ movies that contains non-jungle scenes. 

Director William Berke was a veteran of low budget movies (and later TV) since 1934. His last work was on 1958's THE LOST MISSILE.

Thanks for reading!

Not a Jurassic Park Sequel!

THE LOST WORLD-1960-The great Claude Rains (with red hair) portrays Prof. Challenger, the grumpy, ill tempered explorer in this Technicolor adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel. He's back from the Amazon where he claims to have seen living dinosaurs. He's ridiculed by his colleagues at a meeting but organizes an expedition that includes the pompous Prof. Summerlee (Richard Haydn), big game hunter Lord Roxton (Michael Rennie), his girlfriend Jennifer (Jill St. John), her brother David (Ed Stricklyn, RETURN OF DRACULA) and reporter Ed Malone (David Hedison, in the TV show FIVE FINGERS at the time). They are joined by guitar strumming Gomez (Fernando Lamas), their helicopter operator and his assistant Castro (Jay Novello). After a dinosaur wrecks their helicopter Malone chases and catches a native girl (Vitina Marcus) and kills a giant green spider. While Roxton and Malone have a fist fight they find the diary of Burton White, another explorer who got to the prehistoric land before Challenger (Roxton was suppose to go with them but he was delayed). The dinosaurs that menace the party are actually little lizards made up to look scary. They terrorize the group and 2 "dinos" have a long tussle. Everyone is taken captive by the local cannibal natives. The native girl helps them escape and takes them to see the still alive but blind White (Ian Wolfe) who tells them how to escape (before the whole place blows up) although they have to go through many obstacles plus a revenge seeking Gomez.

THE LOST WORLD is fairly entertaining. It has a good cast and acting (although some seem to think Rains is too bombastic) but really not much happens. The SFX and sets aren't that great. Two standout points: One is that until the last 15 minutes not one of the group gets killed. The other is Jill St. John's Jennifer who is explained by several characters as being a person capable of being in the expedition despite being a woman yet all she does is scream when there's danger (with her pet poodle in tow)!

This was Irwin Allen's first movie as director since THE STORY OF MANKIND in 1957. Most of the dinosaur footage was re-used in his '60's TV shows. Screenwriter Charles Bennett wrote for many of the TV shows Allen later produced. Claude Rains was coming to the end of his long career (he died in 1967) and doing mainly TV (he starred in 5 ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS) at the time.

Thanks for reading!

Jungle Gents

JUNGLE GENTS-1954-In this zany Bowery Boys outing Sach (Huntz Hall) discovers he can smell out diamonds so everyone, including little Louie (Bernard Gorcey) packs up and goes to Africa to hunt for some missing diamonds! Slip (Leo Gorcey) narrates most of the story which also involves Sach getting rescued by a jungle woman (Laurette Luez) and Rudolph Anders (who was in W. Lee Wilder's THE SNOW CREATURE the same year) as the bad guy also after the diamonds. Woody Strode plays the native guide who leads their safari! John Harmon and Eric Snowden have small roles and at the end Clint Walker (un-billed here but later the star of TV's CHEYENNE) shows up in a cameo as Tarzan! David Gorcey and Bennie Bartlett make up the rest of the gang. 

While CLIPPED WINGS reminded me of Abbott & Costello JG is more like the 3 Stooges with Edward Bernds once again directing. Emil Sitka shows up in one scene. Luez was later a regular on the TV show THE ADVENTURES OF FU MAN-CHU.

Thanks for reading!

Exit Bomba!

THE LORD OF THE JUNGLE-1955-Johnny Sheffield plays Bomba the jungle boy for the last time. He'd played the character in 11 prior movies.

In the convoluted storyline a rogue elephant leads his pachyderm pals on a killing spree wrecking villages and squashing natives. A hunter sent by the government (usual B western star Wayne Morris) wants to kill the whole herd and Bomba must come up with a solution despite interference from Commissioner Barnes (series regular Leonard Mudie) and his niece (Nancy Gale). Bomba fights rear projection elephants and swings on vines while getting help from his animal friends. Paul Picerni (HOUSE OF WAX) and William Phipps (FIVE) are other white hunters.

B-movie vet Ford Beebe directed most entries in the series.

Thanks for reading!

Jungle Jim Jumps In

JUNGLE JIM-Columbia-1948-After winning 5 Olympic gold medals as a swimmer Johnny Weissmuller played Tarzan in movies from 1932-1948.

Later in '48 he began the Jungle Jim series. It would mark his only other film appearances (not counting a cameo in 1976's WON TON TON: THE DOG THAT SAVED HOLLYWOOD). This one is the first and I'd say the best but basicly all Jungle Jim adventures were the same: Mystery surrounds some ancient tribe or temple. A woman photographer or reporter comes to investigate. Jim leads an expedition and saves the party two or three times. He also usually manages to expose a party member with an ulterior motive.

This one is also noteworthy as it features future TV "Superman" George Reeves as the party member with the ulterior motive. It also stars Virgina Grey as the female investigator. Grey had a pretty prolific and diverse acting career. She was in THE BIG STORE with The Marx Bros., HOUSE OF HORRORS with Rondo Hatton, MEXICAN HAYRIDE with Abbott and Costello, UNKNOWN ISLAND and TARGET EARTH among others! Later on in the series Jim had a chimp companion named Tama or Kama or something like that. Here however he has a smart but mischievous crow who is only a little less annoying...

Oh yeah, and I don't know where this African jungle is that Jim prowls around in but all the natives are white or Asian!

But then JJ was produced by Sam Katzman who was responsible for hundreds of Columbia cheapies, some good...some not so good...

Director William Berke made lots of B-movies including the first DICK TRACY feature. His last was THE LOST MISSILE in 1958.

For the last 3 movies the Jungle Jim persona was dropped and Weissmuller played himself! There was also a short lived TV series in 1955 but this may have only been a pilot.

Grant Withers starred in a 1936 serial also entitled Jungle Jim but I'm not sure if it was actually the same character.

Thanks for reading!