Jungle Moon Men (1955)

Priestess Oma is forever young in this Jungle Jim knockoff of "She" or the La of Opar stories from "Tarzan". The Jungle Jim type is played by Weissmuller using his own name.

Director:

Charles S. Gould

Writers:

Jo Pagano (story), Jo Pagano (screenplay),

Stars:

Johnny Weissmuller, Jean Byron, Helene Stanton

Cast

Cast overview:
Johnny Weissmuller	...	Johnny Weissmuller
Jean Byron	...	Ellen Marsten
Helene Stanton	...	Oma (as Helen Stanton)
William Henry	...	Bob Prentice (as Bill Henry)
Myron Healey	...	Mark Santo
Billy Curtis	...	Damu
Michael Granger	...	Nolimo
Frank Sully	...	Max
Ben Chapman	...	Marro (as Benjamin F. Chapman Jr.)
K.L. Smith	...	Link (as Kenneth L. Smith)
Ed Hinton	...	Regan

Storyline

Johnny Weissmuller accompanies writer Ellen Martson, archery-expert Bob Prentice and trader Mark Santo to the remote Baku area in Africa, where an ancient civilizations is rumored to have once flourished. The are captured by the pygmy Moon Men who worship the blonde high priestess Oma. Johnny agrees to become her high priest if the others are freed, but they are all condemned to death when Santo is discovered trying to steal the sacred diamonds.

---

Plot Keywords:

jungle | africa | diamond | trader | pygmy | 

---

Taglines:

SAVAGE THRILL-ADVENTURE ON THE DARK CONTINENT! (original ad-all caps)

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Deusa da Lua

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clover Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In an early scene, native Marro is attacked by a band of pygmies in order to drug and capture him. He's struck by a poison dart on an area of his upper chest that was covered directly by his shield.

---

Connections

Follows Fury of the Congo (1951)

User Reviews

Bad Moon Men

Jungle Moon Men (1955)

* (out of 4)

Johnny Weissmuller plays a character named Johnny Weissmuller who must take a female writer (Jean Byron) through the jungles where she's going to do a story about a tribe known as "Moon Men". These people aren't from the moon sadly but instead they worship a princess who just happens to be some sort of relation to an Egyptian Moon goddess. This next-to-last entry in the "Jungle Jim" series dropped that name for some reason and had Weissmuller playing a character with his own name but there's no question what series this film belongs to. I've read very few positive reviews to any of the Jungle Jim movies and many that I have read called this one of the worst. If this is just one of the worst and not the worst then I certainly hate myself for being a completest because I will still search out the other films in the series that I haven't seen even if that means having to torture myself with more madness. It's strange but on a technical level this is perhaps the best of the series that I've seen but this is the major problem. It seems like more money was pumped into this film and it's clear to see that the amount of stock footage has been reduced dramatically. The earlier films in the series at least had a camp value to them because of the amount of stock footage and how poorly it mixed in with everything else going on. With that missing here the camp value is pretty much missing and all we're left with is the bad acting and bad story that all of the films have. I must admit that I was constantly losing my attention span because nothing going on stuck me as the least bit interesting. The entire adventure was a joke because not for a second did I believe anything I was seeing. The so-called drama wasn't there because the entire set-up was just tired and silly. The comic relief was just downright poor and that chimp just gets more and more annoying with each new film. Weissmuller certainly wasn't an actor and his struggles to get lines out are quite apparent here. The supporting cast isn't much better but it's very possible they all realized they were in a Jungle Jim movie and decided to just take it easy. There's very little going on in this picture to make it worth viewing. At 70-minutes it's way too long and there just aren't enough fun moments to make it worth viewing. Certainly only recommended to those who must see each film in the series.