Le trésor de la forêt vierge

I Don't know about you, but I am tired of all the flak given to Johnny Weissmuller for gaining a few pounds in the latter Tarzan and Jungle Jim films. like all of us...he got older...so get over it and just be glad he graced our lives doing these entertaining movies. Nuff said!

The first JUNGLE JIM entry is a fun vehicle and good introduction to the character.Johnny Weissmuller at 44,was still fit and rugged,but a little too hefty to play Tarzan anymore.The part of JUNGLE JIM was as close as he could get to playing Tarzan and being able to age a bit.The JIM films were made at Columbia studios,so they have that low-budget look that 3 Stooges fans are used to seeing.A lot of stock footage,scenes from earlier films repeated and even some of the Stooges' sound effects make these films very campy and silly.JIM was always more interested in battling the crooks and making the Jungle safe,but he always had some pretty starlets along for the adventure.In this entry Virginia Grey plays a lady scientist and Lita Baron plays a sexy native girl.(Acquanetta,Tarzan's nemesis in LEOPARD WOMAN was originally offered the part.)Also along for the ride are Rick Vallin as Kolu,the native guide(He would repeat this part in future entrys)and JIM has a pet dog and crow for comedy relief(later Tamba the chimp would appear).JIM takes time out for a swim and shows off his still impressive physique. The villain is played by George Reeves(soon to play Superman on TV).All in all,a fun introduction to the adventures of JUNGLE JIM.

After attempting in vain to save a man from being mauled to death by a leopard, Jungle Jim discovers a vial containing an unknown potion. He takes it to district commissioner Marsden, who identifies it as being from the hidden temple of Zimbalu and brings in Dr. Hilary Parker to head up an expedition with Jim as her guide.

An opportunistic photographer, Bruce Edwards, follows as Dr. Parker seeks what she believes could be a miraculous breakthrough in medicine. A cure for polio. En route to their destination, there's a series of mishaps ...

And that's thanks to future Superman George Reeves who plays the devious Edwards- he's not averse to turning to murder in order to get what he wants. Treasure. He adds a bit of fun in this routine, yet adequately diverting Jungle Jim adventure.

Having said that, there's too many animal interludes that hamper the pace and the drive of the story. But there's some good action, especially at the end with Jungle Jim throwing some natives in the fire. Virginia Grey is quite an interesting character, quite spirited and studious. Lita Baron adds some sizzle. As for Johnny Weissmuller, I find it odd that he's wearing clothes, doesn't say "Ungawa" constantly and doesn't swing on vines, but he does a fine job. And has more lines.

Jungle Jim (1948)

** (out of 4)

After growing too old for Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller headed over to Columbia where he started the Jungle Jim series with this one being the first of sixteen movies. This time out Jim is leading a female scientist (Virginia Grey) through the jungles looking for a poison that might just be the cure for polio. I had heard this was an extremely goofy and at times rather poor series but this here was my first venture into it and I will go along with the goofy part. There are so many logical plot holes here that you could drive a semi through them but the biggest problem is th best thing going for the film. The problem is that this thing is 100% camp and that's where the entertainment value comes from. You can tell this was an extremely low-budget movie because there's so much stock footage edited in that after a while you actually get a headache from it. The majority of the animal footage is all stock footage but the film's greatest scene is one where Grey isn't paying attention when a crocodile sneaks up on her. As far as Weissmuller goes, he's pretty bad. As a visual level it's certainly easy to watch him but his line delivery is just so incredibly bad that there were a couple times where I had to laugh at him. It was fun watching him but the performance just adds more camp value. Lita Baron plays a jungle girl who adds a lot of sex appeal to the film. George Reeves plays the bad guy here and does a very good job, nearly stealing the film. The film is clearly modeled after a Tarzan movie from start to finish and this includes a swimming scene clearly trying to impersonate the one from TARZAN AND HIS MATE. Even at only 71-minutes the film seems a tad bit long but if you like goofy fun then you'll certainly want to check it out.

Don't worry about the orangutans Don't worry about the Indian elephants with artificial African elephant ears glued to them. Don't worry about the fact that the Maasai look more like Polynesians. Just enjoy the nostalgia. Great to see George Reeves in something other than the superman suit. Lots of fun for this baby boomer.