Jungle Man-Eaters

Johnny Weissmuller moved from Tarzan to Jungle Jim movies which itself is based on a comic strip. Weissmuller was getting a bit long in the tooth and a bit pot-bellied to swing on some vine-ropes.

Jungle Man Eaters is less to do with man eating lions and more to do with diamond smuggling. Although Weissmuller gets in with a few scuffles with some wild animals or stuffed animals just to remind the audience that this is a Tarzan wannabee complete with plenty of stock footage from Africa and other safari films.

The stock footage looks like padding, the plot is silly as the leader of the gang somehow manufactures diamonds with some mumbo jumbo science and the fight scene with the lion looks stupid as Weissmuller is unscathed despite getting pushed around by the lion.

I heard about the Jungle Jim films for years but only recently saw them and they certainly lack the charm of the Tarzan films.

It helped a lot, to appreciate it, to watch this item is such a good copy. I don't think that any Jungle Jim episode is really unbearable; they are on the contrary all fun, entertaining and this one makes no exception. Good acting and the directing is OK from the ambitionless Lee Sholem. Diamond smugglers are here the villains instead of atom scientists and spies, ivory seekers or wild animals hunters. I have the feeling that this movie is a bit better than usual, maybe because of the copy quality. Just notice Bernie Hamilton the futur chief of STARSKY AND HUTCH. So, that's a good episode of this movie series to be watched without any serious expectations.

Ex-Olympic swimming champ and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller hung up his loincloth in 1948, the star no longer in the tip-top physical condition necessary for the role of Edgar Rice Burroughs' legendary vine-swinger. But instead of retiring, Weismuller simply slipped on a shirt and pants to hide his gut and returned to the jungle to play African guide and adventurer Jungle Jim.

Jungle Man-Eaters, the last of Weissmuller's Jungle Jim films, featured the tag-line 'JOHNNY AGAINST THE CANNIBALS!', but is far less exciting than the capital letters and exclamation mark would have us believe. In fact, there are no cannibals; instead, we get a diamond smuggler and a warring tribe who will do anything to get their hands on a fortune in gems, all of which is frustratingly dull. Jungle Jim comes to the rescue, only taking time out from unconvincing fist-fights with the baddies to wrestle a man in a moth-eaten lion costume and a roll around in the water with a rubber croc. More padding comes in the form of comedic chimp Tamba, who eats lots of bananas (hilarious—not!), and stock footage of a variety of wild animals, some of which are obviously not indigenous to Africa.

As a big fan of Weissmuller's Tarzan series, I've long been keen to check out one of his Jungle Jim films, but if this is any indication of their quality, it might be some time before I see any more. I sure hope that the series started a lot stronger than it finished

Jungle Jim is recruited to track down a group of French diamond smugglers who seek to alter the price of diamonds through taking over a secret diamond field. The smugglers not only murder the original owners of the diamond field but set up inter-tribal warfare to prevent any intruders from learning of the diamond field.

There's a jungle but no man-eaters in this Jungle Jim entry, obviously the filmmakers thought a rather dramatic name would pull in the punters- no need really as this is a good entry, less fantasy and men in gorilla suits. The threat is more earthy- diamonds smuggling. The villain is quite scheming. The plot is quite hectic, the peril ramped up, but what I liked most was how the heroes -jungle Jim, Richard Stapley, Karin Booth and the future Starsky and Hutch police boss Bernie Hamilton - work together to bring down the bad guys. There's the usual stock footages, but it's a b-film after all; Tamba the chimp is also at hand helping ( and consequently making things worse; he knocks Jim out when throwing a rock aimed at the bad guys!!) as well as winding up the beautiful Karin Booth by wearing her medical equipment.

If you are familiar with the Johnny Weismuller Tarzan films then you'll know what to expect from a Jungle Jim film. It's essentially the same as Tarzan but with Weismuller this time donning clothes.

There is plenty of stock footage used, much like the earlier Tarzan adventures, which do add a certain charm to the film. Jungle Jim does pretty much what Tarzan did, fight some wild animals and help stop the greedy bad guys.

This is a pretty standard adventure film which doesn't look like it was made on much of a budget. However there is enough going on to keep your interest until the predictable finale.

If you are already not a fan of these films then this is unlikely to interest you but for Weismuller fans this is a pleasant enough way to pass the time.