Duel in the Jungle

"Destiny seems to insist on throwing us together," a persistent and cocky Dana Andrews tells his lovely and reluctant STATE FAIR, MADISON AVENUE and HOT RODS TO HELL three-decade co-star in their second feature, DUEL IN THE JUNGLE...

An adventure where Andrews seems more a reluctant gentlemen the likes of Cary Grant or David Niven than an intrepid action star: a proverbial kite in an ongoing breeze instead of a determined salmon moving upstream...

With a touch of character-actor about him, Andrews often tried very hard to stretch beyond the limited leading man persona, even when he played the leading man, so the part as a New York insurance investigator in London, England, about to catch a plane stateside but being called back at the last minute, fits like brand new expensive and shiny gloves. His voice is a tad higher-pitched, as if sped-up while delivering witty and sophisticated one-liners: imagine if his LAURA co-star Clifton Webb were his dialect coach and there you have it...

A British-produced b-movie programmer, DUEL IN THE JUNGLE has three acts in three different locations: first England; then a ship to Africa during a heavy storm; then settling down (albeit far too long) in Africa itself: Making the best scenes in transit or in-between as Dana sticks to Crain, the wife of a missing eccentric millionaire, to find out if he's really dead; at which point her phantom mother-in-law would collect the insurance...

One of several red-herrings to sift through: But his primary target (to whom Dana's instantly attracted, for good reason) is Jeanne Crain as naïve newlywed, Marian. Despite wearing far too much makeup, Crain's as pretty as the prettiest picture - sophisticated, classy, down-to-earth and, ducking away from Dana's strategic advances, the complete opposite of her smitten STATE FAIR lass was to Dana's cocky newspaperman...

But in this hat-tipping, movable feast as our two attractive Americans converse like polite tea-toddlers, there's a pulpy touch of intrigue with attempts at Hitchcock style suspense with a dash of Hemingway machismo, for the villain...

And if DUEL had stuck longer in England or at sea it would have flowed much better...

Within the titular African JUNGLE are random stock footage of wildlife as the actors seem all too studio-safe in front of superimposed backdrops (also a Hitchcock thing): Here's where our hero and heroine bond, and just enough for the British con artist to show his true, lethal colors...

Plus he's got the higher ground on his ground, making Dana finally have to trade in his charming sophistication for a little of that WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS strength and agility.

Dana Andrews stars in this B-grade jungle adventure as an insurance investigator who teams up with the widow (Crain) of a diamond merchant (Farrar) who has apparently drowned after falling from a boat. Cautioned by native guide Vincent (Mataka) that his presence won't be welcome when they reach the village, Andrews persists in his doggedness to uncover the truth about Farrar's disappearance, and in his attempts to seduce the now nubile widow.

Assistant director Tony Kelly died making this picture, so it's of some comfort to know that it isn't a bad little pot-boiler, building some reasonable tension and punctuated with occasional light humour (the scene in which the chimp empties their luggage from the jeep is worth a chuckle). George Montgomery's look-a-like brother Dana Andrews is sturdy without being marvellous, and Farrar plays the obnoxious British git with aplomb.

Superimposing the actors over the white-water rapids backdrop, or in a confrontation with a menacing lion often looks clumsy, but this B-picture isn't staking any grand claims, just mild entertainment for afternoon channel-surfing.

Erwin Hillier's superb photography in Southern Africa, though not always successfully blended with stock footage, is the main asset of this production, one of several of its kind that were so popular in the Fifties, as well as on their British TV airings a decade later. Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews are reunited a long way from State Fair, the latter an insurance investigator with an apparent freedom to go anywhere in the world at a moment's notice and who turns out to be a crack shot of Olympic standard, as of course one would. Ms Crain shows the ability of leading ladies of the era in this kind of movie to take whatever the jungle can throw at her without a mark on her clothing or a hair out of place, to say nothing of costume changes every five minutes or so. David Farrar plays the type of heel you certainly wouldn't want to go into the jungle with, though it's not easy to see why such an intelligent and resourceful man would go to the risks he does. The hero would now probably be up on a charge of stalking for the way he pursues Ms Crain in the first half, but it was Romance back then. Despite or even because of all the inconsistencies and incongruities I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Interesting adventure in which Dana Andrews plays an insurance investigator who goes to Africa to check out the death by drowning of a man ( David Farrar ) who had a million dollar insurance policy. Also looking for info regarding the allegedly dead man is his wife, Jeanne Crain. Pretty fast paced drama, the last portion of the film set in the African jungle. Dana Andrews & Jeanne Crain were one of the great film pairings. Besides this film, they were also in State Fair, Madison Avenue, and Hot Rods to Hell. I had seen this film as a kid & it had kept me on the edge of my seat. It doesn't get much play these days--but I did find a DVD thru a collector. Seeing the film again was a thrill.

I am wondering if there was product placement,because I would swear that the native boatmen were singing "I'm with the Abbey National".The Abbey being a big building society.David Farrer as the villain easily steals the acting honours.At the end there is a credit for Elstree Studios over a photo of the studio.So I presume it was they who were responsible for the truly awful process photography.