Jungle Bride

A year later a proper studio with proper actors used a very similar plot to make an excellent film called FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE. This is most definitely not an excellent film - it does however feature Anita Page getting her clothes stolen by a chimp.

As soon as you see a chimp in a pre-code movie you know exactly why he's there. A chimpanzee has one purpose and one purpose alone in a pre-code movie: an actress will discretely strip off to go for a swim and the chimp will subsequently run off with her clothes.

Along with Jean Harlow, Anita Page certainly had one of the bounciest bodies of the 1930s! This was an asset even Mussolini admired. Whereas Il Duce was apparently besotted with Anita, L B Mayer wasn't - he only needed one Jean Harlow in his studio so coupled with the fact that she allegedly wouldn't sleep with Irving Thalberg, by the time this was made her career was virtually over. Thus she was farmed out to this third rate outfit to make this third rate film which feels like it was made in someone's shed.

Her acting ability wasn't really any worse than Jean Harlow but to be honest, that's not saying much. This film should not be one she should put on her c.v. Her co-stars in this are hardly any better though but I suspect this is a result of poor direction because Anita Page for example was pretty good in a few other films such as WAR NURSE or SKYSCRAPER SOULS.

Chadwick Productions didn't really go in for believable characterisation, just fun action adventure. Not sure you could tick the boxes for fun or adventure but there's at least a lot of action going on. The amateurish feel of this however makes you think you should finish watching it just out of politeness because those guys must have put a lot of effort into making this on that budget so the least you can do it watch it.... even though you know it's rubbish.

Whereas in FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE which stared the divine Claudette Colbert, thanks to C B DeMille's direction we got to see how the survivors' personalities and mindsets were affected by their situation, in this we just get actors reading words. Anita Page's prettiness is not enough justification to sit through this.

A woman with a reporter in tow, chases an entertainer around the globe in order to clear her innocent brother's name. When the ship they are on sinks the entertainer, his friend, the girl and the reporter end up on a deserted island off the African coast.

This is a decidedly pre-code film with implications of unmarried sex, unwanted pregnancy, a woman's bare back and a bare boob (but no nipple) flashing across the screen in ways that would soon disappear for 20 odd years. The film is certainly much better for it all.

To say this film is off beat is an understatement. There are some interesting twists and turns, only some of which are predictable. It all mixes together to make a very enjoyable film. If you run across it I certainly would hope you'd tune in since its a good little film that deserves to be rediscovered. (It may not be the best film ever made but its certainly one of the better ways to spend an hour)

Seven out of Ten

After her brother is charged with murder, a young woman and her fiancé follow the man she suspects of being the killer on a ship bound for South America. However, it sinks and they are stranded on an island where the complications begin.

Very average pre-code drama with a real stagey feel to it but short at just over an hour long. Stars one time silent golden girl Anita Page along with Charles Starrett as the man pursued.

A ship sinks off the coast of Africa, and only four survivors make it to shore: Gordon Wayne (Charles Starrett), a guitar-playing nice-guy who has been accused of killing a cop back in the U. S.; Doris Evans (Anita Page), the sister of the man "wrongly" convicted of the crime, and who made it her goal to see Gordon arrested in Europe and brought back to the U. S.; John Franklin (Kenneth Thomson), a law enforcement officer who actually did the arresting of Gordon, and who is set on taking him back for trial; and Eddie Stevens (Eddie Borden), Gordon's comic-relief buddy. These four try to make the best of their situation, constructing primitive huts when not battling fierce lions and laughing at the chimpanzees.

Why a single male lion is wandering around a dense jungle is never explained (that happened a lot in 30's jungle pictures, when the general population was unaware that lions live on the savanna). However, that's about as exciting as this gets, with the remaining animal action meager, to put it mildly. The acting is barely adequate, although the small cast is notable for a variety of reasons: Starrett was on the cusp of becoming one of the longest running B western stars (in the Durango Kid series); Page was reaching the premature end of her stardom, with her abruptly "retiring" this same year at age 23 (she later said that she had been blacklisted for refusing sex with Irving Thalberg); and bad guy Thomson was one of the founders of the Screen Actors Guild. Still, none of that makes this any more watchable.

This delicious, 63 minute pre-Code movie stars Anita Page as the "jungle bride." Doris (played by Page) believes that Gordon Wayne (Charles Starrett) committed a murder that her brother is in jail for. In an attempt to clear her brother's name, Doris and her reporter fiance track Gordon to a ship traveling from South America. A shipwreck leaves Doris, her fiance, Gordon and his best buddy all alone on a deserted island. These four agree to coexist in the hopes of survival, but it's tough! It gets even harder when Doris begins to have feelings for Gordon!

One of the movie's highlights is the island set. It reminds me of a 1930's Gilligan's Island, complete with the attractively furnished huts. Anita's wardrobe is a hoot! She was, naturally, shipwrecked in an evening gown that rips to shreds, exposing her legs. She also gets to wear a circa 1930 Navy outfit that she looked pretty good in too! In one scene, she goes to wash her clothes in a river, and some naughty monkeys steal her clothing! Heeheehee! So much for wardrobe! I always think the "special effects" in a B-movie are lots of fun. Watch the shipwreck scene--was that a toy boat in a bathtub?

I think fans of either Anita Page or Charles Starrett would enjoy this film. It's very short, but fairly well packed with action so you don't get too bored with it. Anita was one of the brightest stars of the early 1930's, and she photographs beautifully in this one! It makes you sad that her career didn't last longer. As of this writing, she is still living, and appears every so often in a documentary or video clip on TCM. Look for this hard-to-find movie, and don't be too critical when you watch it.