White Pongo

I'd swear that half of these B jungle movies has the people getting from one place to another. If they aren't paddling down a river, they are walking up a hill or across a field. Native tribesmen follow, single file, saying nothing, carrying supplies on their heads. This one is about an effort to find a white gorilla, a clue to the missing link. In the safari are a couple of factions as we find out. There's a rifle man, who is quiet and mysterious (we find out later what he really is), a young woman who is being pursued by a man who loves her, but who has no character. There is upper class snobbery. There is a group of cutthroat mutineers who wish to take power. Then there are scenes of out and out racism. The gorillas are, as usual, men in bad monkey suits. Even back in those days, couldn't they have put together something a little more convincing. One of my childhood memories is watching this movie on our old Admiral TV and seeing this long haired white ape. I may be wrong, but I think the ape suit shows up in other places, including an episode of the old George Reeves "Superman" TV show. This was another jungle movie that was part of a science fiction collection. I suppose the missing link is borderline science fiction. Overall, pretty lame.

As low budget jungle movies go this one isn't that bad. The production values are reasonable and the acting is perfectly ok. The script and storyline just aren't up to much and the whole film drags badly in the middle section. Not that there's much of a climax either - they just don't seem to know how to use the white gorilla effectively. Of course he steals the girl - they always do. As far as the gorilla costumes etc are concerned believe me they are nowhere near the worst you will ever see in films of this vintage. Enjoyable fun and a decent print on the alpha DVD I saw.

One of many Poverty Row jungle films, this has to be one of the truly "so bad it's good" films of its era. A Chief Native Bearer named "Mumbo Jumbo" -- addressed by the other actors with a straight face! Pongo is a white gorilla, and one of the natives points to the ground and cries, "B'wana! B'wana! Pongo tracks!" Normal gorillas leave recognizably different tracks? Pressing through the jungle on their trek, they pass the same tree multiple times.

I have a copy of the film on videotape. One of my favorite scenes was edited out of the print it was made from. The hero and heroine are drifting down the river on a boat. They're sitting in the moonlight, and Pongo is following the boat in the jungle, making quite a racket as he snaps small trees, hurls aside boulders, and rustles through the underbrush, to keep up with the boat. He's framed by the profiles of the hero and heroine, in the background. The hero looks deeply into the heroine's eyes and says, dreamily, "Quiet out here in the river, isn't it?" I hope the DVD has that one left in.

This is not a great film, and all of its humorous scenes are intended to be serious. But because of that, it's a fun film.

This is the kind of film that kids will enjoy and does not contain a lot of violence. The setting looked good with a lot of jungle greenery and men in gorilla suits. There is actually a plot to this thing. I would have rather had the plot revolve around looking for and trying to capture a rare white gorilla than looking for a white ape that they suppose to be the 'missing link',,,but I guess the 'link' bit adds something(??). Check out the filmography of Wrixen and Fraser, the native safari guide named, believe it or not..Mumbo Jumbo, they were accomplished actors and played in many notable films. White Pongo is not bad but not good either. There is decent character development and a slight surprise near the end. Ape gets girl, ape looses girl, guy gets girl. Happy ending. Good clean fun.

White Pongo isn't a bad movie. The problem is, it isn't a good one either. The acting is adequate but the story moves very slowly. The slight twists and turns of the movie are not enough to bring some much needed excitement to the production. I thought that the costume for the white ape was actually pretty good but the ape wasn't used to the full extent that it was capable of playing. I would have to say that White Pongo is a not so exciting adventure movie, partly a romantic story and a very small part mystery movie. My review would have to be that it is not good, not bad but a so so movie. If you do watch the movie, don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed. If you don't watch it, you didn't miss much.