Jane and the Lost City

This film begins during World War 2 with both Great Britain and Germany locked in a death struggle and each one desperately needing money to finance their conflict. So, when a large deposit of diamonds is rumored to be located in a mysterious "lost city" in Africa, both countries send out a small party to retrieve them. Heading the British party is a bumbling Army "Colonel" (played by Robin Bailey) his servant "Tombs" (Graham Stark) and an attractive female employee named "Jane" (Kirsten Hughes). Not to be outdone, however, the Germans also send a party commanded by an SS officer named "Lola Pagola" (Maud Adams) who is extremely determined and ruthless. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to bring these diamonds back to Berlin. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a peculiar comedy which lacked the necessary humor to be very effective. Campy but not very funny. Likewise, there were repeated attempts at titillation involving Kirsten Hughes which weren't that impressive either. Even so, I suppose it wasn't a terrible film by any means, and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Anybody unfamiliar with British comic strips of the 40s and 50s might find this movie trite and contrived, but that was the way the strips played. Lost cities, buried treasure, wicked Eurotrash countesses, etc. etc., all of the usual comic strip clichés are here. The movie's creators worked hard and generally succeeded in capturing the original strip's silly tone and obvious contrivances - Jane loses her dress about every other scene and has to cavort about in embarrassment in her lingerie, and her hunky Jungle Jack boyfriend gets hit on the head or chained to a wall and needs rescuing by his distaff partner almost as often. The cast play the silly lines and sight gags with appropriately straight faces, and the result is a fairly obvious but entertaining comedy of an older fashion, rather like a vintage Carry On movie but in color.

The idea of the pin-up poster was never a bad thing. It was very helpful for the morale of homesick soldiers, stuck on the front lines, fighting for their lives, during WWII. Jane grew out of that era and was the creation of a British author. She too was created to help morale during the terrors of WWII and even the wars that followed that. We flash to 1987 and British filmmakers, along with New World Pictures, decide to reboot Jane, with this really bad effort. In Jane and the Lost City (1987), Jane (Kirsten Hughes), is basically working for the British government, helping her friend, the Colonel (Robin Bailey), protect diamonds from the bad-guys. Jane's super-power is her clothes fall off, just in time, which distracts enemies (and sometimes friends, if need be), until she is able to escape or attempt to apprehend them. It's not dirty. It's not in poor taste. Jane and the Lost City (1987), has a PG rating, so that tells you that there is nothing to fear about the pin-up nature of this IP. It's everything else in Jane and the Lost City (1987), that makes it bad. I wanted to rate this film, even lower than, a "4", but in my book, any film rated less than four is unwatchable and I want people to see Jane and the Lost City (1987), in order to believe it, so I stayed at "4". You won't.

PMTM Grade: 4.0 (F+) = 4 IMDB.

Based on the UK comic strip 'Jane.' Jane (Kirsten Hughes) and the Colonel (Robin Bailey) journey to find the lost city. That is the city that is lost and is said to have diamonds. It is WWII and the NSDAP's top cutie spy (Maud Adams) and her entourage are also in the trail.

Move over Indiana Jones; Jane is on her way. As cute as Jane is with her outer garments dispatched periodically in unpredictable ways, The Leopard Queen (Elsa O'Toole) can give Kirsten Hughes a run for her money when it comes to ogling.

So, are there diamonds?

And is there a possible sequel?

This film has just the right amount of campiness.

Lots of good references to knowable films and books.

Excellent evacuated character types.

Good disposable wardrobes.

A good plot and follow through.

Keeps your attention all the way through.

If you use fast forward you will miss it.

A dazzling performance from director, Terry Marcel.

What could be called, "A demonstration of GENIUS", this will thrill all viewers regardless.

Excellent.

10/10 from Paco.