Bring 'Em Back Alive (1932)

American animal trapper Frank Buck travels with Ali, his "number one boy," on an expedition into the Malayan jungle. From their jungle headquarters just north of Singapore, Frank, Ali and a... See full summary »

Director:

Clyde E. Elliott

Writers:

Frank Buck (book), Edward Anthony (book)

Stars:

Frank Buck

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Frank Buck	...	Himself and narrator

Storyline

American animal trapper Frank Buck travels with Ali, his "number one boy," on an expedition into the Malayan jungle. From their jungle headquarters just north of Singapore, Frank, Ali and a team of native helpers roam the area from Northern Johore to Perak in search of interesting wild animals, reptiles and birds. Hoping to find a tiger, Buck captures a monitor lizard and a black leopard, while another black leopard narrowly escapes an encounter with a giant python and then battles a bigger and stronger tiger. After trapping a spotted leopard, Frank adopts a baby honey bear and a baby elephant. The team catches an orangutan, but the tiger eludes their camouflaged pit. Meanwhile, Frank visits the "bathing festival" of a local tribe and watches as tribesmen kill an intruding spotted leopard with blow darts. The tiger then meets an enormous regal python, who has just crushed a crocodile, and fights to a draw with it.

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Plot Keywords:

leopard | tiger | jungle | python | native | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Documentary

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 August 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frank Buck's Bring 'Em Back Alive

Filming Locations:

Malaya

Company Credits

Production Co:

Van Beuren Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film appears to have been shot "silent", with a soundtrack added in post-production. During the New York run, Frank Buck appeared before the screenings and told "jungle" tales to the enormous sellout crowds, according to Variety.

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Crazy Credits

There is no cast list, but Frank Buck is credited as narrator and actor in the foreword.

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Connections

Spoofed in Bring 'Em Back a Lie (1935)

User Reviews

Dated But Fun...

As one might expect, this is a series of Ramar-walking-around-the-bushes shots of Buck, intercut with Malayan jungle photography and staged animal fights, plus some sequences of catching animals in old-fashioned drop-door cages and camouflaged-pit traps. The brevity (65 minutes), the music, and Buck's amateur, clipped, breathless narration ("All at once! A new menace! Appeared on the scene!") make the film watchable. Buck is usually seen with faithful best boy Ali: "His body was brown! But he was all white inside!" The staged fights, in which both contestants generally walk (or slither) away unhurt, include: black leopard vs. python, black leopard vs. tiger, python vs. crocodile, tiger vs. water buffalo, and python vs. tiger. The last is the finale, and it's fascinating to see how the python, its head being held by the tiger, swings the lower part of its body completely around and envelops the tiger. In this pre-Code film, are there shots of beautiful young bare-breasted native girls? What do YOU think?