Nabonga

A goofy, studio-bound melange of fisticuffs, stock footage and men in gorilla suits, atmospherically lit by Robert Cline.

Enjoyable for a late appearance by Fifi D'Orsay as Barton McLaine's saucy henchbabe (it's McLaine who sprains his ankle rather than D'Orsay) and the film debut in the title role of a provocative 18 year-old Julie London as the White Witch, who's grown up all alone in the jungle save for her tame gorilla, her makeup team, wardrobe designer and hairdresser, and - like the young Helen Mirren in 'Age of Consent' - projects a precocity way beyond her actual years.

This low-grade production is nevertheless a slight upgrade, if you can believe that, compared to "Jungle Siren" which I saw yesterday and which was also directed by Sam Newfield and starred Buster Crabbe. Don't expect too much excitement, though; the "perils of the jungle" alternate between obvious stock footage of random animals and a man in an obvious gorilla suit. At the end there is a long fistfight between Crabbe and bad guy Barton MacLane, but because they are dressed almost exactly the same, you can't tell who's punching whom! Julie London is quite stunning in her film debut. *1/2 out of 4.

An embezzler on the run crash lands in the middle of the African jungle. His young daughter grows up under the protection of a large gorilla and becomes known to locals as the legendary white witch. An explorer sets out on an expedition to find her.

This jungle adventure is directed by Sam Newfield who is famous for having directed more films than anyone else. Nabonga is very similar in plot line to another of Newfield's films, White Pongo. Both films feature large apes who covet young white women. And both also have striking titles that are never actually used in the film at any point! This picture is a pretty campy affair with a white jungle queen who acts more like a petulant city girl. It's overall entertaining enough to an extent but at the same time it has a lot of overly familiar adventure flick elements that aren't too interesting, such as a villainous, greedy explorer on the good guy's trail. The scenes with the girl and the ape were quite good fun though and, despite being nothing too great, this one is reasonably diverting as these types of movies go.

"Nabonga" marks the debut film of Julie London. It's also the first and only movie of Jackie Newfield, daughter of director Sam Newfield (and niece, of course, of Newfield's brother, Sigmund Neufeld).

By the humble standards of the Neufeld Brothers, this entry is reasonably entertaining. The story is a familiar one (it was later re-used with great effect in "Mr Joseph Young of Africa"), but here it moves with sufficient pace and encompasses enough action to satisfy second-feature fans. True, Buster Crabbe breezes through his part with plenty of charm, but little conviction. As a good guy, his motives towards and treatment of the heroine often seem a little dubious, but such subtleties don't worry Buster at all. Julie London, however, makes quite an impression, while Ray "Crash" Corrigan has a grand time as the gorilla (though he is outclassed in the acting department by young Jackie Newfield). Fifi D'Orsay seems an unnecessary addition to the story, an opinion oddly shared by scriptwriter Myton who gives her little to do and then removes her from the plot with little ceremony. We would have liked to see more of Prince Modupe, however, whose dignified and knowledgeable native guide is far removed from the usual Hollywood stereotypes.

Production values seem adequate enough for Poverty Row and are helped out enormously by Robert Cline's always attractively glossy and often noirishly lit photography.

Available on DVD through Alpha. Quality rating: nine out of ten.

Well, I bought this gem for a fiver out of the blue. I thought: "Buster Crabbe is in it, so it can't be all bad!" Then I watched it in the German dubbing, and had to laugh quite a few times, but at spots neither the original movie makers nor the dubbing crew would have intended to be for laughter. The German dubbing sounds like from a bad porn movie. Really. The lines of the native people are just ridiculous, and the voice of the girls sounds like the voice of a 60 year old woman. Its crap! They even attached new music to it. Somekind of psychedelic syntho-pop, but a really bad one. So I switched over to the original soundtrack, and so I could finally enjoy this movie. Buster Crabbe is like usual awesome in action scenes, but his character play too is definitely better than in any Flash Gordon. I recommend this movie (in English!!!!) for anyone who is interested in fantastic movies from before the fifties. But its not King Kong tho! Therefore: 5 out of 10