Captive Wild Woman

Dr. Walters (John Carradine) has made great strides in his field of glandular transplants. But as his work progresses, the more unhinged his approach to his science becomes. Stealing a tame gorilla from the local circus, Walters transforms the gorilla into a beautiful woman whom he names Paula Dupree (Acquanetta). Upon taking Paula to the circus it's found that she has hypnotic powers over the lions and tigers and is promptly made part of the taming of the beasts act. But can Paula contain her true animal instincts?.

Sounds bonkers doesn't it? Well it is, but it's not the plot that makes the film so distinctly average. This is after all a low level Universal Pictures movie, we want, in fact demand, bizarre plots and berserker horror episodes. The problems exist with the complete lack of tension in the script, for a film that has a running time of just over an hour, you would think the big "transplant" and creation of "wild woman" would come sooner rather than later. But it doesn't, what we get is 45 minutes of musing about science and continual takes of circus animal training. With the latter containing some truly awful editing. Paula puts in an appearance late in the piece, then bang! it's pretty much the end and one can't help be disappointed after having stayed with it thus far.

Carradine hams it up and enjoys himself one feels, while Evelyn Ankers gives the other performance of note as Beth Colman. The film also serves as an interesting point of reference in the career of director Edward Dmytryk, who in the following few years would deliver some classics in a number of genres. He deserved better material here, hell they all did. But as ever with most of Universal's horror pictures, you end up taking the rough with the smooth and still enjoy yourself. A watchable yet frustrating experience it be. 5/10

Silly, forgotten Universal horror film, now found on DVD in a Best Buy exclusive set. This one concerns a mad scientist with Nazi undertones (John Carradine) who kidnaps a circus gorilla and turns her into a human being (played by Acquanetta). As a human, Acquanetta has an uncanny ability to control lions and tigers, and is thus employed at a local circus (the one whence she, as the gorilla, was kidnapped) to help big cat tamer Milburn Stone. If Milburn Stone looks familiar, it's because he became famous as "Doc" Adams on Gunsmoke. The movie is silly but fun, with Carradine hamming it up like he usually does. And, while Acquanetta does little acting, she has a hypnotic look with those giant eyes. Unfortunately, the film, like many of the Universal Horror movies, ends abruptly, with a weird narration about the Carradine character. The animal work is pretty stunning for the time, and the editing is mostly convincing that Stone and the big cats are in the cage simultaneously. I would credit director Dmytryk, who was far too competent to be directing this kind of crap (the next year he would do the wonderful Murder My Sweet). If you love animals, you might be sickened at what is done to them. Lions and tigers are thrown into a cage and forced to fight each other. The one big fight ends with a fire hose, and the tiger, at least, looked like it was badly injured. The film is completely forgotten nowadays, but it did spawn two sequels.

I watched the films in the wrong order, though it hardly seemed to matter as the second film, "Jungle Woman" isn't exactly a sequel as so much of the story has been changed. Instead of being the product of a truly evil scientist (John Carradine), the ape is transformed into a hot woman by a nice scientist and there's also no mention of the story in "Captive Wild Woman". Odd...but this sort of thing was not unusual in Universal's horror films of the 1940s...they often contradicted each other.

A lady has a sister with some odd glandular disorder...so she takes him to Dr. Walters (Carradine). Little do they know that the nice scientist is actually completely evil and plans on experimenting on the sick sister. He plans on using her body to help turn an ape he stole become human-looking...all thanks to the miracle of glands. Along the way, his stupid assistant* gets in the way, so he sacrifices her...all in the name of scientist.

The new creation Walter dubs 'Paula Dupree' and she soon becomes the assistant to Fred the lion and tiger tamer. This is because Paula can hypnotize animals to do her bidding just by staring at them...and staring is what Acquanetta was REALLY good at doing throughout this film. Apart from a little tantrum and sequence where she looks a bit like a cheap wolfman, she really isn't given much to do other than stare. And, this staring she-freak is in love with Fred...but without a conscience, there's no telling WHAT she'll do!

This is not a terrible film but is about what you'd expect from a second-tier Universal horror movie. It entertains (particularly because of Carradine's cool performance as the goofy doc!) and is pretty much what fans of the genre will enjoy. It's also just a bit better than its sequel.

By the way, the exotic looking Acquanetta was actually originally Mildred Davenport...from Wyoming! So, despite the press releases from Universal, she was NOT the Venezuelan Volcano!

John Carradine's first lead in a horror picture. He's a doctor and authority on glandular diseases who becomes interested in an extra-intelligent gorilla named Cheela. His plan is to use the blood of one of his human female patients to transfuse into the ape and turn her into a beautiful young woman (played by Acquanetta). The typical problem is that the ape tendencies keep on creeping back. This performer Acquanetta made several other films after this one, but she was always a terrible actress whenever she opened her mouth to speak a line. However, she pulls off the role as a human with primitive origins fairly well enough here by keeping mute and using her eyes and limited facial expressions. Sometimes things get a bit bogged down by an over-reliance on animal stock footage from THE BIG CAGE, but the presence of Carradine's mad doctor and a different breed of "girl monster" keep this a serviceable entry in Universal's horror series. **1/2 out of ****

Scientist and surgeon John Carradine, having worked miracles in the area of glandular research, now wants to change a stolen gorilla into a woman - why? We really never understand his motivation, but what we do get in Captive Wild Woman is a pretty entertaining ride that one can learn to expect from Universal Studios. Ferocious lions and tigers, a fairly good imitation of a gorilla, John Carradine hamming it up, Milburn Stone reminding me of Gunsmoke every minute he is on film, Evelyn Ankers wearing outfits that only Auntie Mame would wear, and the beautiful, silent Acquanetta all make this a very unique and welcomed addition to the Universal pantheon of horror goodies. Though not a great film, this one packs a punch for a 61 minute film. Never a dull lull in the action. Carradine plays a very suave, polished doctor that is utterly crazy, mad, and heartless. It is a pretty good performance from Mr. Carradine. The rest of the cast is very able. Ankers and the silent girl transformed from ape - Acquanetta - are appealing eye candy as well. A couple quick notations. Ms. Ankers is a secretary, yet has a wardrobe of a wealthy socialite. She apparently lives in a boarding house, as in one scene she is in a bed witnessing the ape woman coming into her room by the window - a landlady type comes to the door way across the other side of the room. The landlady yells and runs and the ape woman, rather than killing her intended victim inches away from her - runs way across the other side of the room and down the hallway to kill a woman for no reason. Hmmm. Despite these little observations, a highly recommended film. Hope this one comes out on DVD soon.