feardeathbywater

I honestly find it difficult to understand why this film has so many one star reviews! I enjoyed the silly and sometimes very uncomfortable humour, and thought there was a real warmth to the film. I'm hoping to see more from the two female leads in future.

Before I watched this film, I had never heard of Clyde Beatty. Upon watching it though, it quickly became obvious that Beatty was a professional lion (and other wild animal) tamer, and probably quite a famous one at that.

The reason for this is that this film really exists as an excuse for Beatty to do his stuff - a large part of the film is devoted to Beatty either taming animals such as lions, panthers, bears and tigers, or performing with them under the big top. The plot is secondary to this action, and is pretty standard for a 'jungle' type movie.

Having said that, I found 'The Lost Jungle' to be quite interesting, especially as a historical artifact: acts like Beatty's are seldom seen these days. All in all, I enjoyed watching it: a light movie which gives a glimpse into the past.

This comment is probably only of limited value, since I watched an unsubtitled Italian-language version of the film, and unfortunately I speak no Italian.

However, some things were clear enough. The film concerns a flirtatious and somewhat petulant young woman called Valeria, who goes on a trip with a man named Nino (possibly her brother) and another male friend. The three of them travel from place to place by motorbike and sidecar, sleeping in a tent at night.

This film seems to be a lighthearted comedy, with Valeria being chased constantly by men, and with the three main characters messing around in places such as the funfair and a camping ground for international tourists. Even without being able to understand much of the dialogue, I found the film to be reasonably entertaining. It was also nicely shot (especially compared to what I usually watch - the b-grade science fiction/horror of this period!).

Overall, I have given the film a rating of five out of ten because although I enjoyed it, my opinion could possibly have been drastically altered depending upon what the dialogue is actually like.