Blonde Savage

"Blonde Savage" is not a great film. It's cheap, features lots of crappy stock footage and features a silly heroine....but despite all this, it's still pretty watchable.

The story begins with Steve (Leif Erickson) talking to a police official--telling him he must kill Mark Harper (Douglass Dumbrille) and why. The story then goes back in time and you see Steve and his friend, Hoppy (Frank Jenks), on a mission flying a plane over the African jungle. They end up crashing and are found by a tribe of nice natives. But, inexplicably among them is a white lady....a lady raised by these people. What makes this MORE amazing is that she has gorgeous permed hair, perfect makeup and no bone through her nose like the rest of them! Soon, Steve and Hoppy make friends with them....and Steve becomes VERY friendly with the shapely 'Blonde Savage'. Then, they realize that the lady was there because their boss is evil and he murdered her parents and stranded her here as a baby. How can they prove this and bring justice to the evil boss?

The two dumbest things about the film were the footage (very common at the time, unfortunately) and the stupidly coiffed lady. Apart from that, the story was interesting and Erickson and Jenks were awfully good....and the story, though dumb, is enjoyable in a low-brow sort of way.

Funny opening sequence: Steve Blake (Leif Erickson) enters the office of a lawyer and says: "You may have to defend me in a murder case." - "Have you killed someone?" asks the lawyer. - "Not yet!" replies Blake, and begins to explain what made him consider that final option. "Blonde Savage" is a B movie about yet another girl lost in the wilderness, but in true "Sheena" style became a goddess to the natives. One little difference between other movies and this one is that Blake tells almost the whole story as a flashback, thus providing the opportunity to give ironic comment on everything. Gale Sherwood plays Meelah, the jungle girl Blake refers to as "that blonde package of TNT". Maybe even better is the role of Veda Ann Borg as Connie Harper, the villain's wife who has a difficult decision to make: shall she keep her mouth shut and stick with her husband, or would it be better to leave him and tell the truth? Well, "Blonde Savage" is good old action adventure cinema of the kind they don't make anymore, maybe not very original but definitely enjoyable.

I've often wondered when in old Hollywood jungle pictures were made what they used for language. The major studios might have actually tried to use real African languages. For an outfit like PRC I'm sure no such care was taken.

Gale Sherwood's lovely soprano was used in Blonde Savage for some kind of tribal ceremony. She's the white girl princess taken in by a native pride who witnessed her parents being murdered.

Now that same murderer Douglass Dumbrille has hired Leif Erickson and Frank Jenks to the location of a native village that has been giving his diamond mine workers problems. Of course we know his ulterior motives.

Some stock jungle footage is used. But it's a backlot product and everybody knows it. The white princess among the natives is also getting old as plot gimmick. Maybe she should have met Mr.&Mrs. Tarzan and started making a play for Boy.

I'll bet Gale Sherwood was promised a musical if she did this one. As always Veda Ann Borg as Dumbrille's wife always is good.

She got this film an extra star from me.

Leif Erickson is a pilot in Africa and Frank Jens is his comic sidekick, unless you actually insist on something funny. They crash-land in the jungle, right by a village of savages, ruled by very blonde. Gale Sherwood.

Director Steve Sekely directed this under an assumed name. There are some talented performers, including Veda Ann Borg, Douglas Dumbrille and John Dehner. There is also footage of a water buffalo in life-and-death struggle with a rubber snake.

But Bob, you say. You always find some good point about the worst movie, even the dreckiest PRC release. Well, those are the good points.

This film was made for entertainment purposes only and what's wrong with that? Its OK to be entertained and that is what "Blonde Savage" does.

It starts out as a good macho jungle adventure as two soldier-of-fortune pilots get embroiled with a millionaire, his sexy wife (and I mean Veda Ann Borg is all woman and is terrific in her role) and a good adventure plot. The well-made macho adventure revs up and I was really into it.

Then, all of a sudden a blonde teenage chick is thrust into the film and it totally changes. I knew to expect her (the blonde savage) but it was such a sudden jolt that I had to laugh as I was taken aback- its a different movie now! I immediately wondered "where did she get that perfect Max Factor makeup out there in the jungle?" This girl is literally a teenager (about 18 yr old), and towering 35-ish tough guy Leif Erickson is going around the jungle with her. Gale Sherwood is really beautiful, lively and in no way slows down the film, and her singing voice is terrific too. Yes, the savage sings!

So view this fun film if you get a chance and just go with it, including the sudden jolt when the incongruous Savage appears.

Veda Ann Borg will impress you and she is memorable as she plots, connives and flirts. And then the blonde goddess shows up, invigorating this film up into goofy fun status for me.