Jungle Bride

A woman with a reporter in tow, chases an entertainer around the globe in order to clear her innocent brother's name. When the ship they are on sinks the entertainer, his friend, the girl and the reporter end up on a deserted island off the African coast.

This is a decidedly pre-code film with implications of unmarried sex, unwanted pregnancy, a woman's bare back and a bare boob (but no nipple) flashing across the screen in ways that would soon disappear for 20 odd years. The film is certainly much better for it all.

To say this film is off beat is an understatement. There are some interesting twists and turns, only some of which are predictable. It all mixes together to make a very enjoyable film. If you run across it I certainly would hope you'd tune in since its a good little film that deserves to be rediscovered. (It may not be the best film ever made but its certainly one of the better ways to spend an hour)

Seven out of Ten

Enjoyable precode movie whose only intention is to entertain its audience. Nicely filmed on the actual seacoast and in a jungle setting with good atmospherics. The music is mostly just Charles Starrett's laid back guitar strumming while singing or humming catchy tunes. Starrett is a tall good looking hunk and his laid back leading man style is perfect for this romantic little shipwreck movie.

The star Anita Page exudes screen presence and appeal as a strong, determined woman who knows what she wants. She is gorgeous in the precode style of the early 1930's. The well-endowed Ms. Page is a Harlow-esque bombshell and, as far as shipwrecked babes rank, I would say that not even Ginger or Mary Ann could be ranked any higher than her.

"Jungle Bride" is made simply and inexpensively but is nonetheless well-made, a romantic shipwreck film with two stars who have a lot of chemistry. It will hold your attention in a charming way and it even ends charmingly with the simple, breezy notation of "Fin". This is not an old fashioned movie in spirit, and it manages to retain a quality of timelessness.

After her brother is charged with murder, a young woman and her fiancé follow the man she suspects of being the killer on a ship bound for South America. However, it sinks and they are stranded on an island where the complications begin.

Very average pre-code drama with a real stagey feel to it but short at just over an hour long. Stars one time silent golden girl Anita Page along with Charles Starrett as the man pursued.

A year later a proper studio with proper actors used a very similar plot to make an excellent film called FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE. This is most definitely not an excellent film - it does however feature Anita Page getting her clothes stolen by a chimp.

As soon as you see a chimp in a pre-code movie you know exactly why he's there. A chimpanzee has one purpose and one purpose alone in a pre-code movie: an actress will discretely strip off to go for a swim and the chimp will subsequently run off with her clothes.

Along with Jean Harlow, Anita Page certainly had one of the bounciest bodies of the 1930s! This was an asset even Mussolini admired. Whereas Il Duce was apparently besotted with Anita, L B Mayer wasn't - he only needed one Jean Harlow in his studio so coupled with the fact that she allegedly wouldn't sleep with Irving Thalberg, by the time this was made her career was virtually over. Thus she was farmed out to this third rate outfit to make this third rate film which feels like it was made in someone's shed.

Her acting ability wasn't really any worse than Jean Harlow but to be honest, that's not saying much. This film should not be one she should put on her c.v. Her co-stars in this are hardly any better though but I suspect this is a result of poor direction because Anita Page for example was pretty good in a few other films such as WAR NURSE or SKYSCRAPER SOULS.

Chadwick Productions didn't really go in for believable characterisation, just fun action adventure. Not sure you could tick the boxes for fun or adventure but there's at least a lot of action going on. The amateurish feel of this however makes you think you should finish watching it just out of politeness because those guys must have put a lot of effort into making this on that budget so the least you can do it watch it.... even though you know it's rubbish.

Whereas in FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE which stared the divine Claudette Colbert, thanks to C B DeMille's direction we got to see how the survivors' personalities and mindsets were affected by their situation, in this we just get actors reading words. Anita Page's prettiness is not enough justification to sit through this.

Jungle Bride (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Doris Evans (Anita Page) and her reporter/boyfriend John (Kenneth Thomson) are on board a ship hoping to clear her brother who has been found guilty of murder. Doris believes that the real killer was a man named Gordon Wayne (Charles Starrett) who just happens to be on the same boat. When the boat crashes, as luck would have it, the three end up on an island with a deep jungle where they must try and survive together. I love watching "B" movies and I love watching pre-codes so this here was the perfect mixture of the two and I was really surprised at how entertained I was. Sure, the thought of an entire ship going down and these three connected people (plus a fourth guy) all end up surviving and then floating to the same island is very far-fetched but once on the island we're treated to all sorts of goodies that would be outlawed in a few years by the Hayes Office. The story itself might be far-fetched but I thought the island/adventure stuff was pretty good. I'm really not sure what island they're on but they've got the beach in front of them and a few steps away there's this uncharted jungle full of lions, monkeys, rhinos and countless other animals that the humans must eventually deal with. In one of the highlights of the film Gordon must go up against a lion and while it's easy to tell when the trainer is fighting with the lion it's still a pretty exciting scene. The pre-code elements deal with some sexual talk but the real highlight comes with the outfit worn by Page. It's a black dress that hangs quite loose on her and it's especially loose around her cleavage, which is constantly swinging for the viewer's delight. In one scene she has her back towards the camera as she takes her shirt off and doesn't this little swing, which causes her boob to pretty much swing to her side and in full view. You don't see anything too graphic but the scene is certainly something that should be in Pre-code Heaven. As far as the performances go I thought the three leads and Eddie Borden as the fourth survivor were pretty good. Page comes off incredibly sexual in her part and I thought the chemistry between her and Starrett was very real. Thomson makes for the perfect jerk and Borden adds some nice comic touches. JUNGLE BRIDE isn't that well-known, which is a shame considering how good the cast is and how nice certain sexual tones are flowing here. The movie is far from a masterpiece but if you enjoy cheap but enjoyable films then this here is just for you.