Fang and Claw (1935)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Frank Buck

Writer:

Frank Buck (book)

Release Date:

20 December 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Documentary

Plot:

Frank Buck and his native crew hunt the jungles of the Far East to capture wild animals for American zoos...

Plot Keywords:

Python | Tiger | Native | Jungle | Capture

Cast

Frank Buck

...

Himself / Narrator

Also Known As:

Frank Buck's Fang and Claw (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

USA:73 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #0736) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:S

Company:

Van Beuren Studios

Trivia:

According to Buck's autobiography, the expedition included footage shot in northern Assam, in the northeast section of India.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Jungle Cavalcade (1941)

You Are There!

It's odd how certain images get so into the public mind that they become ridiculous in themselves. Here is the chubby-looking, pencil-mustachioed Frank Buck, strolling around the jungle in pith helmet and shorts, to order the natives in how to capture pythons, monkeys and tigers for zoos in the United States.

It sounds ridiculous, and if you watch carefully you will see some careful camera cheating to make things look more dangerous than they actually are -- it looks, for example, as if he captures a 20-foot python by throwing his jacket over it But Buck did capture these wild animals and if there was a certain amount of cheating for the camera, well, it works. Which is all the justification one needs.