The Naked Jungle

Deep in the jungles of South America, there are many ferocious animals which are feared by the mention of their very name. The jaguar, the anaconda and of course, piranha fish. However, none causes a room full of talking people into silence as does the word, . . 'Marabunta.' Anyone who has ever seen, heard or encountered them, know what a vast marauding monster they are. In point of fact, the term marabunta, means "Soldier Ants." Therein lies the basis for the story enclosed in the book, 'Leiningen's Woman.' The tale involves a solitary man, living deep in the South American jungle who decides to marry a woman by proxy. He sends a letter to his brother, living in New Orleans, for a mail order bride. What he receives is a beautiful, sophisticated, accomplished female who is everything, the man wants, but so fears. No sooner does she arrive, when they and the surrounding area are threatened by a vast hoard of Army Ants. No one has ever been able to stop them, but the stubborn man, admonishes the natives by telling them, ". . . . run is you wish, or stay and be brave, like Leiningen's Woman." Had it not been for Charlton Heston as Christopher Leiningen, Eleanor Parker as his wife, Abraham Sofaer as Incacha and William Conrad as the Commissioner, the film might have melted into obscurity. As they did however, the movie has become a Classic. Well done. ****

An old style Hollywood adventure taking place in the Amazon jungles circa year 1901, this is a favorite of mine from TV showings dating back 30 years ago. A portion of the jungles have been tamed by Heston's character as the story begins; he's carved out his own little kingdom with sweat and blood, with the help of local natives, and now his new wife (Parker), married by proxy, arrives. This is one of Heston's better characters: he's well-suited to play this proud, often arrogant male, driven to build a personal empire to perhaps compensate for the inherent failings of such men. His main weakness is he knows nothing about women, and Parker, almost regal in her bearing, represents a kind of strength and sophistication he is obviously not accustomed to. Their meeting and slowly building towards a mutual respect after a very rough beginning is in itself an interesting story, but this exotic adventure throws in a spectacular menace to add suspense to the whole thing. The jungle, as it turns out, allows Heston only 15 years of conquest before fighting back in 'nature-gone-amok' style similar to all the future eco-terror pictures of the later seventies.

By now, everyone knows that this menace is the soldier ant, or 'marabunta' as it's mysteriously referred to in the middle of the story. I think even audiences who saw this back in '54 were probably aware of what the threat was beforehand, as well. But it's not revealed during the film until after several ominous yet uninformative references by the main characters. It comes across as some huge monstrous threat - which indeed it is - billions upon billions of these ants merge together to form a monster 20 miles long and 2 miles wide. As the local commissioner (Conrad) states, with quavering voice, these ants actually think, in military fashion. Nothing stands in its way and we mean nothing. But, of course, if anyone is going to give it the all-American try, it's Heston (yes, he's a character who grew up in South America, but he's strictly the U.S.of A breed - the rugged individual). This builds towards a literal war between Heston's resources and the invading army of ants, and it's a grand finale. It's interesting that this came out about the same time as "Them," a sci-fi tale about giant ants. But the ants here are real - this may make them all the more terrifying. See also "Phase IV," twenty years later, for a different take on even more intelligent ants.

"The Naked Jungle" is the story of a wealthy owner of a big coffee plantation in Brazil's jungle, menaced by an army of warrior ants on the move covering several square miles of ground and eating everything on their way (the Marabunta). The man's unknown mail-ordered wife has just arrived too but something in her past annoys him and a conflict between them is taking place when the ants arrive.

The picture was really original back in 1954 and is very entertaining too. This was probably Byron Haskin's best work as a director with an uneven carrier that included also "I Walk Alone", 1948, and "The War of the Worlds", 1953. The Special effects of Naked Jungle are really good for its time and the fine performances of Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker as the main couple surely helped to raise the final product. Heston went on to full stardom and Parker continued to keep up her interesting carrier (she had been in some good movies before as "Scaramouche", 1952, and "Detective Story", 1951, and went to good ones too like "The Man with the Golden Arm", 1955). You will also find a good color photography and well designed settings.

A very amusing and enjoyable film with sort of a "B" structure but a real "A" outcome.

THE NAKED JUNGLE is based on Carl Stephenson's story "Leiningen Vs The Ants." There was at least one excellent radio adaptation in which William Conrad (who has a supporting role in this film) played Leiningen. The first half of this screen adaptation is pretty ordinary, centering around the romantic problems of Heston and his mail order bride Ms. Parker. When the ants arrive, this film really takes off. One scene where the ants devour a drunk down to his bones must of looked pretty shocking in 1954.

This film was reviewed in a 1954 issue of The American Museum of Natural History magazine, where the reviewer, an entomologist, stated that while single ant colonies do migrate, and can wreck havoc, migrations of multiple colonies, as in this film, do not occur in real life. Phew! Thats good to know!

Before Charlton Heston faced the Red Sea, the Apes, and the anti-gun folks, he was in this picture, where he takes second billing to the Marabunta (sic), army ants that want to eat his plantation. His other problem is his knockout mail order bride with whom he is having trouble communicating. With Heston at his most passionate, running the emotional ladder from A to B, it's hard to tell. Nevertheless, I saw this movie with my sister when we were about 9 or 10 and movies cost 15 cents. We would hide behind the seat in front of us each time the skeletal remains of the alcoholic guy showed up (we sat through the movie four times). The rest of the theatre shrieked. The movie is really a lot of fun. Those ants are a menace which, like the shark in Jaws, don't really have anything personal against us--they are just hungry and eating everything in their path. Heston must find a way to combat them or lose everything he has. As a teenager, one of my top ten short stories was "Leinengen Versus the Ants." This does justice to the story although I don't remember anything about the "experienced" young woman he finds himself with. I chanced upon this film on AMC one day and I was totally caught up in it. Give it a chance. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you're looking for a fully developed dramatic piece, forget it.