The Human Jungle is a fairly mediocre crime thriller that combines police procedural with noir to limited effect. Clearly made on the cheap (by Allied Artists, the 'high-budget' arm of the by-then defunct Poverty Row studio, Monogram) the film is populated with a number of actors who were either never more than second-string or were still in the early stages of their careers. Gary Merrill was as famous for being the toy-boy squeeze of Bette Davis as he was for his acting skills, and in this one he wears a permanent scowl and is nearly always angry presumably to show the righteousness of his crusade; Lamont Johnson as the police department's hot-head never really cut it as an actor and would find more success as a director. He's OK here, and certainly had the looks to go further, but his character seems to have been inserted for no reason other than to flesh out a short running time. Claude Akins and Chuck Connors, both in the early years of their careers, also appear as a pair of tough guys. Highlight of the film, though, is Jan Sterling as a brassy bottle-blonde, callously used by the cops as bait to catch the villains. In fact, the cast is by far the most interesting thing about this ordinary b-movie.
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JoeytheBrit4 October 2007
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hollywoodshack27 November 2016The Human Jungle sends a crusading lawyer out on a vigilante effort to change a corrupt police department but fails to develop enough suspense toward the end. It seems to be more interested in some type of real to life documentary depiction, but Gary Merrill only stays cut out tough guy throughout with only sympathy from his wife when he takes his work home with him too often. An excellent moment of suspense at the end was completely missed when the hit man, Suaros (Chuck Connors) could have taken Jan Sterling hostage during a big chase through a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer brewery. The strip show scenes were a bit too racy for audiences of this time period and maybe also some harsh violent scenes, which is probably why it was not released to TV or to home video some years later.
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JohnWelles12 October 2010"The Human Jungle" (1954), directed by Joseph M. Newman, who would go on to make the classic science fiction film "This Island Earth" (1955) is film noir starring Gary Merrill, Jan Sterling and Regis Toomey.
The screenplay is nothing out of the ordinary: a cop turned lawyer (Gary Merrill) is offered to become chief of police in a hard inner city neighbourhood and he attempts to crack down on a large mobster (Florenz Ames).
After achieving stardom in films like "All About Eve" (1950), Gary Merrill's film career seemed to slowly die during the middle of the fifties in movies like this. Having seen him quality productions, one blames the script rather than he for the arrogant, bull-headed and plain unlikable persona he has here. In fact, by the end of it, you want him to die. The limp direction does the motion picture no favours and only Jan Sterling, Florenz Ames and Paula Raymond come out of the acting department with much dignity. It's a shame really that Ellis W. Carter, the cinematographer, and Hans J. Salter's music are found too far below what their talents deserve and manage to make this banal and film noir just about watchable. -
bob the moo19 April 2005When he is invited down to visit friend Police Chief Abe Rowan, Captain John Danforth finds a precinct full of lazy and unmotivated cops surrounded by a district overrun by juvenile delinquency and crime most notably a high profile murder that has just occurred. Danforth challenges Rowan and as a result Rowan throws the job back at him and Danfoth finds himself in temporary charge and determined to turn the precinct around. Breaking the news to his wife is only the first of many challenges to confront Danforth as he tackles his own men, small crime, organised hoods and internal red tape.
As the sagely Theo has already commented, this is a film that surprisingly still has a lot of relevance in the UK at the moment, what with police over stretched, "justice" being seen as something that doesn't exist in the real world anymore and police seemingly hampered by red tape while their standing within the community drops away to nothing. So with that background this film is instantly interesting after the ten-minute set up sees Danforth facing similar challenges and taking them on. However despite this unintentional realism, the film is fairly straightforward without any great imagination but it does still do enough to be gritty and interesting on its own terms. Although not morally complex enough to really be classed as a noir, it is still gritty as a story and produce the usual hardnosed, tough-talking delivery. The story is reasonable enough although the simplistic view of one officer turning around an entire area is perhaps hard to swallow whenever the daily news here suggests that the system can defeat any enthusiastic officer. In that regard, Danforth will be seen as a rallying cry to the Right (he even dismisses the accidental shooting of a pedestrian by one of his officers as being just part of a war), but his policies will produce very little empathy from the more liberal sections of the audience.
The cast can't really do much with the material and deliver fairly average performances across the board. Merrill barks around the screen with a constant righteous indignation and hardline approach that didn't totally convince me the film would have been more interesting if it had really delved into his character in the way that it kept suggesting it would but never really did. Sterling is unconvincing and quite unnecessary like her emotional observations on Danforth are designed to replace the development of him as a character, and that the director just wanted us to know the man in as simple a way as possible. Waltz is OK but Meyer is fairly stiff in his scenes and is too clearly an apologetic soft touch.
Overall this is an OK film with gritty material but far too straightforward a plot and foundation to really make for an interesting, complex story with no easy answers. Instead it gradually falls into a standard crime thriller plot and the manipulative and hardline character of Danforth is just accepted without much thought or development. Considering how relevant it still is today it is a real shame it didn't do better but as it is it's a standard crime affair with nothing to really make it stand out from a crowded genre. -
Theo Robertson21 March 2005The premise and the subtext for this screenplay strikes a chord with me in 2005 . The story centres around a tough cop wanting to clean up a violent , crime ridden inner city area of America , so right right away the potential for zero tolerance policing and weeding out apathetic cops and dubious moral justice is there . As I said this strikes a chord with most people in Britain today since the police over here have never been held in such low regard - If you get burgled , mugged etc and phone the police they'll tell you their short of resources and will come to take a statement a week on Thursday but physically defend yourself against criminals because they run riot in streets devoid of police and you'll find the cops have more than enough resources to come and arrest the poor victim who was only trying to defend their life and property . Sorry if I'm digressing a little bit
The problem with THE HUMAN JUNGLE is that the director has made a very stagy film and in many ways it's like watching a theatrical play filmed on celluloid . Not very good actors have been cast and Emile Meyer as police chief Rowan is even more wooden here than in his similar role in RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 and the rest of the cast varies from fairly inexpressive to over emphatic . In fact it's difficult to believe this is a movie produced in 1954 because all the time I thought I was watching something produced 20 years earlier -
chris_gaskin12311 April 2005The Human Jungle recently came on BBC2 during the early hours (when most movies of this kind are screened) and was glad I taped it.
A police chief decides to get his men to make as many arrests as possible to try and reduce crime on the streets. People get arrested for all sorts of crimes, including theft, vandalism and burglary. There is also a murder to be solved. Things don't help with this zero tolerance policy when a copper accidentally shoots and kills an innocent man.
The Human Jungle gives you an idea on what life was like in a police station at this time and was made documentary style.
The cast includes Gary Merrill (Mysteroius Island), Jan Sterling (Split Second), Chuck Conners (Old Yeller) and Paula Raymond (The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms).
I rather enjoyed watching The Human Jungle and watch it if you get the chance as it is rather obscure.
Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5. -
searchanddestroy-110 April 2022The grade B but very efficient crime film explores the daily life in a police station, daily procedural work for cops. You can think about FUZZ or CHOIRBOYS made in the seventies, or more simple you can think about the Ed McBain's or Joseph Wambaugh's novels. It is even more interesting than focusing on only one particular case. Wambaugh was more beat cops oriented and McBain investigating cops, detectives...Jan Sterling shines in this movie and the other supporting characters besides she and Gary Merrill also contribute to this effective B crime film.
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planktonrules12 June 2023Gary Merrill plays Captain Danforth, the new head of the police department in a corrupt little town where law and order have disintegrated. He just earned his law degree but agrees to take the job IF he's allowed to run the department the way he likes. This means that crimes, even petty ones, will be prosecuted and his plan is to put the fear of the police in the criminal element. Much of this element, it seems, frequent a sleezy roadhouse and the Captain is sure that if he puts the pressure on the crooks there, someone will spill their guts.
This film stars a lot of character actors and no real big names. Now you might think this would be a detriment, but the actors really did well and the material they were given is excellent noir...tough, uncompromising and exciting. Overall, a nice little hidden gem. If you like film noir, you really have to see this one. -
clanciai14 December 2023Gary Merrill is the leader in charge of the operation, coming to a station that has let everything down in apathetic hopelessness, in which Merrill stirs everyone up and gets everything done at once. The result is naturally some awful mistakes, which they just bypass and carry on head on with full speed, ready to drive over anyone in the way, risking human lives when necessary. The pace is hot, the action is constantly bolting and getting worse in the end, the final chase is the highlight of the film, and the two ladies don't get much chance of getting heard or noticed in the fury of the manhunts. Gary Merrill is always a guarantee for a film worth watching, but this noir is particularly dark in every way, maybe especially cinematographically. It is a wild rush all the way, you have to hold on to your hat, and when it is all over you don't remember much of what really happened and still try to get some hang of the mess of intrigues. It is a film for noir fans of a more exclusive category, preferring fast action to dialog and characters, and you never get an idea of where all this happened - unless it was just any city.
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jtmac5011 February 2023Enjoyable Noir. The lead character, Danforth, has passed the Bar and is ready to leave the force to begin his career as a lawyer. The problem is that while visiting his police chief friend in a troubled precinct he observes weak leadership and lazy cops. Danforth decides to defer the law career and become a part of the solution when asked to lead the precinct. A crackdown and manhunt ensue as Danforth cleans up the city and the precinct. Great action culminating with a chase in a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer factory. Excellent backdrop and not one drop of beer spilled. Danforth makes a surprise career/life decision at the conclusion of the film.