Tumak, fils de la jungle

My brother and I first saw ONE MILLION B.C. in the 1960's. It was always shown in our area as part of a one (1) week Halloween celebration on the local channel. We liked it then and I still think highly of it now. This is a fun and for its subject matter gentle film and find it more enjoyable then the technically superior Ray Harryhausen remake. It is very easy on the eyes in B&W compared to the rather harsh color of ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. It also boasts a very enjoyable and sentimental musical score.

The acting is credibly done to the level of the subject matter. Mr. Chaney, Mature and Ms. Landis are not performing RICHARD III. We believe in their characterizations because they are sincere and not over the top. The Special Visual Effects of course could have used Willis O'Brien (yes, we knew they were lizards even back then in the 60s) but there are several convincing scenes. The drift down the river with various creatures in the background, the march through the jungle pursued by what appears to be a Armadillo, duel of the dinosaurs in the desert and finally the Volcano and the saving of the Shell People. All are well mounted and succeeded in their intent which we don't believe was to scare the audience but to involve them in the story line. You wanted these characters to succeed against nature and each other.

So take a chance on this one (1). In fact watch both versions and I bet you will come back with a better appreciation of what the Hal Roach Studio presented. Hopefully they will reissue (restored) on DVD. It needs it badly since like KING KONG it suffered much in re-releases and sale to television and bits and pieces that have been grafted into so many 1950's horror/sci-fi films. Like THINGS TO COME it would be nice to see it in its original premier release.

A group of mountain travelers find refuge in a cave where professor Conrad Nagel is examining prehistoric wall drawings. Nagel soon goes into a lengthy examination of the meaning of these pictures for his newly arrived guests which turns into the flashback which is the film. The pictures are the story of two prehistoric peoples: the tribal, brute rock people and the pleasant, peaceful shell people. Naturally, the story is a romance between stars Victor Mature(just his second feature film) and the lovely blonde Carole Landis. This film, produced by Hal Roach, has some things going for it. I liked the division between the two tribes and how each sustained life in a prehistoric world. The acting was surprisingly good with Mature and Landis doing credible jobs despite spouting occasional gibberish meant to be taken as caveman lingo. Landis in fact is quite affable and charming(being in a mini-cave dress always helps too). Lon Chaney Jr. gets his start in this type of film so to speak as the head of the rock people and as Mature's father. Chaney is good and is able to emote lots of emotion while using little dialog. The special effects are unfortunately not too special as we are basically given Irwin Allen/Bert I Gordon dinosaurs. You know the type. Iguanas and other common lizards, as well as an alligator, dressed up in fins and the like. For the technology used, these effects are okay and predate my examples of movies using them. There are also some very non-scientific bits of information used throughout the film...like man has already got domesticated dogs for just one example. Overall, this movie is a pleasant fantasy of what life might have been back then. It should not be taken too seriously as it is in truth a fairly simple tale with a simple message of how man might change through the influence of another(Landis on Mature and his people).

This film must have been quite a show for moviegoers in 1940. Reportedly it did not do very well at the box office. But, it is remembered fondly by youngsters who saw this movie on television back in the 50s and 60s. Today we have to forgive the very silly story and over the top acting. Production-wise though, the photography, art direction and musical score are all quite good. Special effects are fairly impressive. Indeed, the dinosaur and volcano eruption sequences show up later in many low-budget films of the 40s and 50s so don't be surprised if they look familiar. Give it a shot - it's worth a look ! Footnote: For years, this circulated around under different titles and variable quality prints. Hal Roach Studios went back to the original 35MM elements and produced a very nice video transfer for television broadcast.

I've seen One Million BC a couple of times and enjoyed it, although its remake, One Million Years BC with Raquel Welch and Ray Harryhausen special effects is much better. This was released on video in Germany, of which I have a copy which a mate ordered for me from Amazon.

A group of explorers go into a cave and look at some cave paintings done by Stone Age Man. The movie then goes back in time and we learn how these people lived. One of these, Tumak meets a girl from a rival tribe and falls in love with her. After getting up to different adventures including battles with dinosaurs and other prehistoric life (more of which later), a volcano erupts and there is also an earthquake towards the end.

Now to those creatures, starting with those "dinosaurs". These are enlarged lizards and alligators with sails stuck on their backs to resemble Dimetrodons. We also see a T-Rex which is just a man in a monster suit and seems to be dancing. At the beginning, the cavemen kill a rubber Tricertops for food. Other creatures we see are Woolly Mammoths which I think are just elephants covered with fur, a giant armadillo, aardvark and snakes. Some of these creatures look OK and some look rather shoddy.

Stock footage from this movie was to appear in many others in years to come, including Teenage Caveman, Tarzan's Desert Mystery and King Dinosaur.

The cast includes Victure Mature in his first movie, Carole Landis, horror star Lon Chaney Jr (The Wolf Man) and John Hubbard.

Though not fantastic, One Million BC is certainly worth a look and is a worthy addition to any collection, especially for fans of dinosaur movies like myself.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

I just watched One Million B.C. I hadn't seen this in sixty years and it certainly brought back memories. I remember seeing it at the Rialto Theater in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But no one called it the Rialto, everyone called it the Rat Hole. Why? Because rats ran across the floor in the dark, bats swooped down from the ceiling, and poor old winos slept and snored in the back row. Decent people didn't go there.

But on Saturday afternoons, kids took over the place to watch four to five hours of movies, cartoons, and 1930's serials -- which even by 1953 standards were corny – all for only 15 cents. I don't remember that any of us ever questioned whether we were decent people or not; the popcorn was great. How the winos could sleep with all the noise I have no idea. Child audiences were highly proactive with what was going on up on the screen.

It was safe then for kids to ride their bikes downtown. And every Saturday afternoon that place was packed. The winos never bothered us, and we'd never heard of child molesters. All we knew was not to accept candy from strangers and since no one ever offered us any, we all felt safe.

This movie stuck in my mind because it was unlike anything I'd ever seen. At ten years old it fulfilled my every dream of adventure ... dinosaurs, volcanoes, ancient peoples, jungles, snakes and morals that we could all understand and appreciate: It's better to be kind and unselfish than to be mean and brutal. I'd highly recommend this film but only if you think back to when you were 8 – 11 years old and watch it as you would have then. Even if you find it a tad corny, the child in you will love it.