Tam-tam sur l'Amazone

I saw this movie as a young person and was transfixed by the whole idea at this ageless woman and why she was that way. Then I spent years trying to find a copy of it, managed to finally track one down then I lost that and everything I owned in a warehouse fire. Since relocating cross country, I managed to find a rather poor DVD transfer from a private seller. Recently I found another private seller who had a remastered print in which the film looks almost brand new. It is so worth the effort!

A man sees a beautiful young woman and is told not to pursue her. It seems on her honeymoon in the jungle, she was so frightened by a wild beast that SHE NEVER AGED!

I saw this movie as "Drums Along the Amazon" when I was a boy of about 15 to 17 in England. I am 66 now and I have never had the opportunity to see it since and neither have I ever forgotten it. Why? Because it is a haunting film that captured the imagination....maybe looking for that certain something in the jungle of life that always seems to just elude us.

As I remember, Vera Ralston played an excellent part as Christine Ridgeway. She definitely commanded the film more so than George Brent.

Vera Ralston (Christine) is hunting in the Amazon jungle and comes across pilot George Brent's crashed plane and crew. Brent falls in love with Ralston but she doesn't want to get involved and disappears to Rio. A meeting with an old friend of Vera's parents gives Brent an insight into her past but there is some serious craziness to follow.

Woah! I wasn't expecting that. The film starts with drama in the Amazon as we are amongst a group of individuals avoiding capture from local head-hunters. We get a plane crash and a drumming soundtrack that is very tense. And then the drumming stops. Uh-oh, they're in trouble. It's a good beginning. However, the film then turns into love story nonsense as Brent pursues Ralston. He is very corny and somewhat creepy in his persistence and you feel the film is really going downhill. Then ...wham....the film goes somewhere completely different.

So, book that visit to the Amazon jungle - things might get weird for you. It's got me thinking about that TV programme "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here" where celebrities go into the jungle and bore everyone senseless. They are allowed to take a luxury item with them, so what would it be? If I ever get asked and agree to take part, I know my choice....it's got to be a pair of comedy breasts.

I guess this is one of the most impressive and interesting John Auer's movie, besides CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS, another topic because a crime movie. This one is an adventure flick, far better than war films from this Republic pictures director who never made westerns nor films in color. It is amazing, tremendous, so unforgettable. Don't confound it with CURUCCU BEAST OF THE AMAZON, from director Curt Siodmak. It is actually hard to put this feature in a category and that's precisely why it is so riveting. I don't remember suc a scheme before. George Brent is a waste, although, I would have more imagines John Carrol, another actor used to appear in John Auer movies.