For such a short movie, you get plenty of wild animals to look at. In Hollywood's version of deepest, darkest Africa, you get the usual lions, zebras, hyenas, chimpanzees, hippos and leopards - but why limit the animals to only one continent? For the perfect jungle cocktail, stir in South American monkeys, Indian elephants, American alligators, Australian cockatoos...and cap it off with a guy in a gorilla suit. Serve with Buster Crabe and Julie London for a really fun time.
The story is about stolen jewels that are lost in a plane crash somewhere in the jungle. The daughter of the thief, Doreen (Julie London) lives a life of seclusion and innocence in the jungle with the jewels, protected by her gorilla friend, Sampson. The natives whisper of a white witch. Ray Gorman (Buster Crabbe) has journeyed to Africa to find the jewels and clear his father's name from the charges that he allowed the jewels to be stolen. A couple of seedy trading post scoundrels get wind of Gorman's goal and they follow along behind him, determined to get the jewels for themselves.
Gorman befriends one of the local natives, Tobo, who offers to lead Gorman to the remains of the 'house with wings' that he keeps trying to tell people about. At first, Tobo seems to know his way around the jungle. But after Gorman does the obligatory fight the fake crocodile in the river with his shirt off scene, Tobo has no future and is promptly killed by the guy in the gorilla suit.
The rest of the movie involves the resolution of the Beauty and the Beast story. The gorilla, Sampson, jealously protects Doreen's innocence and has kept her out of contact with other humans. Doreen calls off Sampson just as he is about to kill Gorman, thus opening the door to human interaction. Buster Crabbe and Julie London together on screen are very entertaining. Buster plays it all goofy and good natured, while Julie is naive, direct and flirtatious.
Gorman's decision to trap Sampson and take the jewels against Doreen's will is a bit unsettling. It seems unfair, like stealing from a infant. The movie does not linger on any moral issue regarding the act, which is interesting. The action is treated like a given - the concerns of western civilization apparently trump everything else. What is chilling is that this attitude is exactly how western civilizations treated Africa for over two hundred years.
Doreen decides she really likes Gorman. That pretty much dooms Sampson. The Beauty and the Beast relationship ends with his heroic death, defending her to the last. That means Gorman can now take Doreen out of the jungle and back to civilization. A happy ending...?
This is an entertaining little low budget movie. It is thought provoking too, but I doubt if that was the original intent.
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