Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Lew Landers

Writer:

Samuel Newman (original story and screenplay)

Release Date:

17 March 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Adventure

Tagline:

JUNGLE WINDS WHISPERED, "BEWARE"! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

Jungle Jim is forced to lead anthropologist Dr. Edwards into a land inhabited by giant people.

Plot Keywords:

Jungle | Poacher | Jungle Jim | Ivory | Anthropologist

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller	...	Jungle Jim
Angela Greene	...	Dr. Linda Roberts
Jean Willes	...	Denise
Lester Matthews	...	Commissioner Kingston
William Tannen	...	'Doc' Edwards
George Eldredge	...	Fred Lewis
Frederic Berest	...	Zulu
Tamba	...	Tamba

Also Known As:

The Forbidden Land (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | USA:Approved (PCA #15384) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

Katzman Corporation, The

Movie Connections:

Followed by Cannibal Attack (1954)

Jungle Jim Meets the Wolf Man

Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952)

** (out of 4)

Insane entry in the series has Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) given "truth serum", which makes him give away the location of the "giant people", a wolf man like tribe, which lives deep in the jungle. A group of mean people want to use them to locate some elephants so that they can be killed for their ivory. This eighth film in the series is only the third one that I've viewed but I'd be really scared if any of the others were as crazy and goofy as this one. I'm really not sure why they didn't call this JUNGLE JIM MEETS THE WOLF MAN because that's pretty much what it is. The "giant people" are more like missing link creatures but you can't help but look at them as werewolves in the sun. The creature make up is actually pretty good and a lot more believable than what we saw in Columbia's THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE, which was also directed by Landers. We also get several other outrageous scenes including one where Jim fights a hippo at the bottom of a river. The hippo is incredibly fake looking but this adds to some of the goofy charm. The funniest sequence is the one where Jim must fight a black panther, which features the worst stuffed animal I've ever seen. Stock footage is added in of course but this just makes the stuffed creature look even worse and seeing Weissmuller fight it was just hilarious. In the end this is a pretty bad movie but it's just so crazy that you can't help but find yourself entertained.