Jungle Jim

The first JUNGLE JIM entry is a fun vehicle and good introduction to the character.Johnny Weissmuller at 44,was still fit and rugged,but a little too hefty to play Tarzan anymore.The part of JUNGLE JIM was as close as he could get to playing Tarzan and being able to age a bit.The JIM films were made at Columbia studios,so they have that low-budget look that 3 Stooges fans are used to seeing.A lot of stock footage,scenes from earlier films repeated and even some of the Stooges' sound effects make these films very campy and silly.JIM was always more interested in battling the crooks and making the Jungle safe,but he always had some pretty starlets along for the adventure.In this entry Virginia Grey plays a lady scientist and Lita Baron plays a sexy native girl.(Acquanetta,Tarzan's nemesis in LEOPARD WOMAN was originally offered the part.)Also along for the ride are Rick Vallin as Kolu,the native guide(He would repeat this part in future entrys)and JIM has a pet dog and crow for comedy relief(later Tamba the chimp would appear).JIM takes time out for a swim and shows off his still impressive physique. The villain is played by George Reeves(soon to play Superman on TV).All in all,a fun introduction to the adventures of JUNGLE JIM.

Other reviews here say pretty much all that need be said about the merits of this silly film, so I'll merely add a few observations on peculiar details in the film.

--Like many of the early Tarzan films, this film contains stock footage of Asian elephants wearing ill-fitting rubber ears in a failed attempt to make them resemble African elephants. Why bother? The movie was obviously shot in Chatsworth, Calif., and there are scarcely any actors in the film who resemble Africans. Incidentally, it would be interesting to know why so many Tarzan, Bomba, and Jungle Jim films didn't employ African Americans to play Africans instead of using nonblack actors wearing makeup to give them a dusky appearance. (By the way, that Chatsworth lake in which the characters swim in the film became known as "Jungle Jim Lake." It must have been used in more than one JJ film.)

--Speaking of that lake, the scene in which the characters are swimming is confusing. Virginia Grey is attacked by some kind of aquatic beast. It looks vaguely like an alligator with a head similar to that of the lizard man whom Capt. Kirk fights in STAR TREK, but the pictures of it are so fuzzy it sometimes resembles a nearby floating log. And is that a tentacle or a tail that grabs Grey by the leg? Whatever it is, it doesn't look like it belongs on the swimming lizardgator.

--Considering that Virginia Grey's character is an all-business medical researcher intent on finding a paralyzing poison" that may cure cancer, it was a bit surprising to see that she thought of bringing a swimming suit and even a swimming cap on the expedition. Equally surprising is the championship diving form she displays.

--One of the comic highlights of this film is a scene in which an ostensible crocodile is chasing Virginia Grey. The animal is obviously an American alligator, but it's dressed up in a way I don't recall ever seeing in a film before. A key distinction between crocodiles and alligators is that the lower teeth of alligators can't be seen when the animals' mouths are closed--like those of the animal in this scene

--Almost every action scene is sped up. I've never understood why movie makers did this sort of thing, as it succeeds only in making the action look unnatural. Johnny Weismuller looks awkward when he's running at normal speed, but he looks ridiculous when his running scenes are accelerated. The sped-up stampeding elephants look equally silly.

--George Reeves's character, we discover, has ingratiated himself with the evil "native" tribe by taking photographs of the tribesmen and giving them prints. He carries a camera with him, but how he produces prints is a mystery. The film came out in 1948, the same time when the Polaroid Land company was starting to produce instant-print cameras; however, Reeve's camera is obviously not a Polaroid. In one scene, toward the end of the film, he snaps a group picture of the evil tribesmen (who mug for the camera like a bunch of drunken fraternity boys), then goes off, saying he needs a moment to "develop the film." Moments later, he returns with nice, dry prints of the pictures he has just taken. I don't know what he was doing in the interim, but I when I used to print photographs, I had to unload my camera in a darkroom, chemically develop the film, allow it dry, and then use an enlarger to project the negatives on printing paper. The exposed paper, in turn had to be submersed in a chemical solution, rinsed, and then soaked in a fixing solution and dried. Oh, Reeves's prints are very glossy, so he must have dried them on a ferrotype plate. So, how did Reeves do all that so quickly? He wasn't even carrying all the necessary equipment with him.

--Women may enjoy this film's heavy-handed feminist message. Grey's character, Dr. Hilary Parker, is constantly miffed because people are surprised she is a woman. Even Jungle Jim is unliberated. When he meets her, he shakes his head and says something along the lines of "You're not exactly my idea of a doctor."

--After watching the whole film inattentively, I sped through it a second time to review some details. I see that the "native" bearers are supposed to be Masai. Yeah, right. Most of them are European Americans or perhaps South Asians, and some are wearing turbans. Not exactly traditional Masai accoutrements.

--Did I mention low production values? Much of JJ's fight with a leopard is hidden behind a big log, and the climax of his fight with a lion is hidden in a recess of a pit. Well, actually the latter scene has some justification, as it leaves us wondering (for about 30 seconds) whether JJ has survived his fight.

--One final observation: JJ is often seen with a big raven on his shoulder. What I'd like to know is why his shirt is always clean and well pressed. In fact, it looks freshly pressed immediately after his struggle with a lion and his free-for-all brawl with the evil tribesmen in the temple of Zimbalu. Perhaps the raven did something requiring Weismuller to change his shirt before the final scene.

Don't worry about the orangutans Don't worry about the Indian elephants with artificial African elephant ears glued to them. Don't worry about the fact that the Maasai look more like Polynesians. Just enjoy the nostalgia. Great to see George Reeves in something other than the superman suit. Lots of fun for this baby boomer.

I Don't know about you, but I am tired of all the flak given to Johnny Weissmuller for gaining a few pounds in the latter Tarzan and Jungle Jim films. like all of us...he got older...so get over it and just be glad he graced our lives doing these entertaining movies. Nuff said!

Jungle Jim was Johnny Weismuller's vehicle after he became too old to play Tarzan, and passed the mantle to younger actors. As Jungle Jim, he stays in his African milieu, dons safari clothes and has a series of numbskull adventures mostly saving ladies in distress. This is the first of the series, in which Jungle Jim helps a lady scientist discover a cure for polio (remember that Jungle Jim is made in 1948 before the discovery of the Salk vaccine). In this, it may be ahead of its time; first having a smart female character, and second, finding cures to disease in tropical plants. The villain is played by the pre-Superman George Reeves.

Where Jungle Jim is behind the times is its portrayal of Africans, in this case Masai, who look like white people, and the idiotic portrayal of wildlife. Nonetheless, it's a laugh. But if you're looking for something serious pass it by.