Nabonga (1944)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Sam Newfield

Writers:

Fred Myton (story) and
Fred Myton (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 January 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

A WHITE GIRL RULES THE JUNGLE...HER STRENGTH OF POWER WAS "NABONGA!" (original poster - all caps)

Plot:

In an effort to clear the name of his deceased father, young Ray Gorman travels to darkest Africa to...

Plot Keywords:

Gorilla | Africa | Jungle | Hunter | Airplane

Cast

Buster Crabbe	...	Ray Gorman
Julie London	...	Doreen Stockwell
Barton MacLane	...	Carl Hurst
Fifi D'Orsay	...	Marie
Bryant Washburn	...	White Hunter
Herbert Rawlinson	...	T.F. Stockwell
Prince Modupe	...	Tobo
Jackie Newfield	...	Doreen Stockwell, as a child
Ray Corrigan	...	Nbongo the Gorilla (as Gorilla)

Also Known As:

Gorilla (USA) (working title)
Nabonga [Gorilla] (USA) (poster title)
The Girl and the Gorilla (USA) (working title)
The Jungle Woman (UK)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #9749) | Finland:K-12 | USA:Approved | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Producers Releasing Corporation

Trivia:

To play the role of Doreen as a child, director Sam Newfield used his own daughter, Jackie Newfield.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Policeman: Mr. Stockwell, open up, it's the police. Open up the door or we'll break it in!
[the policeman batter down the door and search the apartment]
Policeman: Well, he's gone. Some little girl's going to have a broken heart when she discovers her doll was left behind.

Nabonga vs. Peter Jackson

NABONGA is just a low-budget gorilla adventure from PRC Pictures, but it offers a good story, more African wildlife shots than most Tarzan movies, and a reasonable level of sex appeal. At 75 minutes, the movie is never dull; and it matters not that Nabonga is an actor in a gorilla suit -- because audiences allowed some slack if the story was good. This rates a solid 7/10, if not better.

Contrast this with Peter Jackson's overblown, miserable, and downright stupid 2006 gorilla movie --- that cost in excess of $100 million --- and was dying fast at the box office (per word-of-mouth) two weeks after its release. Jackson's movie had no entertainment value at all.

Some say that Nabonga was the inspiration to the 1950 "Mighty Joe Young" --- a truly excellent classic made by the same skilled people that made the 1933 "King Kong". I'd say, not quite. "Nabonga" is a much slimmer story.

You can rent Nabonga + Swamp Fire from Netflix, or buy a DVD for about $2.00 on eBay or elsewhere. Worth your time and money.