Jungle Bride

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.

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.

This delicious, 63 minute pre-Code movie stars Anita Page as the "jungle bride." Doris (played by Page) believes that Gordon Wayne (Charles Starrett) committed a murder that her brother is in jail for. In an attempt to clear her brother's name, Doris and her reporter fiance track Gordon to a ship traveling from South America. A shipwreck leaves Doris, her fiance, Gordon and his best buddy all alone on a deserted island. These four agree to coexist in the hopes of survival, but it's tough! It gets even harder when Doris begins to have feelings for Gordon!

One of the movie's highlights is the island set. It reminds me of a 1930's Gilligan's Island, complete with the attractively furnished huts. Anita's wardrobe is a hoot! She was, naturally, shipwrecked in an evening gown that rips to shreds, exposing her legs. She also gets to wear a circa 1930 Navy outfit that she looked pretty good in too! In one scene, she goes to wash her clothes in a river, and some naughty monkeys steal her clothing! Heeheehee! So much for wardrobe! I always think the "special effects" in a B-movie are lots of fun. Watch the shipwreck scene--was that a toy boat in a bathtub?

I think fans of either Anita Page or Charles Starrett would enjoy this film. It's very short, but fairly well packed with action so you don't get too bored with it. Anita was one of the brightest stars of the early 1930's, and she photographs beautifully in this one! It makes you sad that her career didn't last longer. As of this writing, she is still living, and appears every so often in a documentary or video clip on TCM. Look for this hard-to-find movie, and don't be too critical when you watch it.

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

Doris (Anita Page) thinks that Gordon (Charles Starrett) is responsible for a crime for which her brother is serving time in prison. With the help of a newspaper reporter, they are bringing Gordon back to the States for a trial but their plans are interrupted when they are shipwrecked on an island off the African coast. Now that is an odd island...and seems to have all manor of African wildlife...hippos, lions, chimps and many more animals you really would not expect to see together there. What also is unexpected is Gordon...over time, he seems like a very decent sort and Doris' resolve to bring him back to stand trial seems to wane. What's next? And, do the couple stand a chance at happiness together??

Like too many movies of the era, this one is liberally peppered with stock footage of animals that is obviously stock footage and doesn't fit well into the movie. Surprisingly, there's a scene where Gordon have a knife fight with a lion and it really appears as if they filmed it with a real, live lion. I did find it hilarious, however, that Gordon rather easily killed the adult male lion...and only came away with some very minor scratches! Even the most macho man alive could never hope to fair so well against a lion!!

As for the acting, much of it is pretty bad BUT somehow tiny Chadwick Productions was able to secure the services of Anita Page (a top actress of the late 20s and early 30s) and Starrett...who wasn't yet a big star but who was a star nonetheless. It made for an odd blend of good and bad seeing them acting with B-movie quality (at best) actors.

Overall, the story is pretty good but the use of stock footage is clumsy (particularly the ship near the end of the film) and the story, at times, cheap and ordinary...at best.