Beyond Bengal (1934)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Harry Schenck

Writer:

Harry Schenck (story)

Release Date:

18 May 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

AS FLEET AS AN ANTELOPE, CAN CONQUER TWO TIGERS...AND ACTUALLY THINKS! (original poster - all caps)

Plot:

The record of an expedition deep into the Malayan jungle. |

Plot Keywords:

Jungle | Docudrama

Cast

Harry Schenck	...	Harry Scheneck
Joan Baldwin	...	Joan
John Martin	...	John Martin, Narrator
Capt. Nain Sei	...	Captain Nain Sei
Ali	...	Ali
Bee	...	Bee
Askader Shah	...	The Sultan of Perak (as Sir Askander Shah F.M.S.)

Also Known As:

Bengal, Harry Schenck's Beyond (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Malaysia

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hidden Values: The Movies of the Fifties (2001) (TV)

Now THAT'S Jungle Exploitation!

This bizarre, creaky hour-long shocker is surely one of the most successful, as well as unruly, of the wonderful, sorely missed exploitation film subgenre, the "forbidden jungle expose".

Promising to reveal and chronicle unholy rituals by primitive barbarians in the (third) world, this gleefully disreputable exploi-category historically tended to offer instead extended, terribly padded quasi-documentaries, gritty and unfocused anti-travelogues in many cases, essentially little more than the photographic record of a wildlife expedition undertaken (and underwritten) by a rich, white entrepreneur.

BEYOND BENGAL does indeed hue to this archetype, but like all film classics which cater to, yet rise above their intended genre, takes this formula to surreal limits, and throws in some shocking curveballs in narrative and structure which births a wild, and wholly new creature.

Writer/Producer/Director/Superstar Harry Schenck films this extended birthday card to himself with a gleeful panache which says "Hey look, folks, I'm a rich white guy and I don't know what to do with my cash!" It was apparently an extremely common practice for the wealthy to "slum" in an untrammeled part of the world, film the excursion, and offer the re-fabricated result to the public, almost as a tax-shelter afterthought.

In his lovechild BB, Schenk preens shamelessly for his undercranked camera, in pith helmet and baggies looking for all the world like an oblivious, well-fed comedian: perhaps "Curly on Vacation". You expect Bud Abbott or Moe Howard to step out of the bushes and slap him any second.

After a pretentious, and surely spurious, "square-up" segment, in which we learn of our expedition's destination, suffer a truncated geography lesson, and are told the curious fact that this dubious thrill-ride was approved by a corrupt local monarch (seen smiling shyly at the camera), suggests that something fun, funky and totally full of crap is coming up! Hooray!

What first makes BEYOND BENGAL so uniquely bizarre is the way it seamlessly (well, not TOO seamlessly...) segways from tame, familiar wildlife footage into some amazing atrocity footage which would never be broadcast today, and must have shocked the pants off of the Prohibition audience: natives callously draw-and-quarter a cute little white chimp; a boa constrictor eats a weasel, at length; more natives unceremoniously stab and shoot crocodiles.

Most shocking, however, is a scene of a (white) man, swimming away from an approaching croc, and being captured in the leg by same croc! We watch in horror and disbelief and horror as the hapless victim is slowly devoured by the leather-hided juggernaut! You immediately wonder, is this real? Is this fake? Either answer is creepy, to be sure, and the footage, as cruel and gruesome as it comes, remains in memory as virtually avant-garde.

Contradicting these moments of pure, unfiltered exploitation, Schenk pompously states that "it is an inviolable law of the jungle that a hunter will never shoot an animal, unless it is to protect himself or others from harm". This logic surely seems dubious, and is ignored rampantly ignore in the photoplay itself!

And of course, no self-respecting exploitation picture would be complete without a respectful hat-tip to the goddess of prurient attraction: SEX!

Unlike some other pictures of the era, which boast some deliciously naughty nude scenes, the sex in BEYOND BENGAL is implied, and somewhat corny. Along the way, Schenck & Co. meet a cute little jungle teen and his teen-girl squeeze. This young couple, living amongst the barbarians, seem no more exotic than a couple of young lovers anywhere, and indeed are dripping with middle-class longing.

Yet in one astoundingly surreal, obviously scripted yet immensely engaging scene, our cute little teenage jungle couple, gussied up in a grotesque parody of the "white wedding" duo (he in a bad suit and tie, she in a flower-covered sack dress), are seen sashaying down a grassy aisle while listening to a scratchy 78rpm rendition of the Bridal march!!! Where the hell did they get these capitalist artifacts? From the "l'expedition de Schenck" provisions, of course. More sinisterly, why did Schenk pack these useless cultural icons himself? With this baffling insert, the line twixt tawdry-yet-sincere melodrama and cynically staged mockumentary is mauled and chewed up, once and for all, and the film truly earns it's "Beyond" moniker.

And then we have sexual tension which emanates from Schenck's partner and personal secretary, the evocative Ms. Baldwin. This sultry white goddess spends most of the picture feverishly swooning and fainting, ostensibly due to a bout of "Jungle Fever", but more likely due to unresolved sexual urges triggered by the throngs of swarthy, half-nude male natives who surround her at all times.

Getting back to the expedition, the trek is oftimes shown to be fraught with so much peril, one is certain much of it is faked. Why would a fat white guy subject himself to all this torture? Yet, scenes showing our group crossing a murky river on elephant-back, while crocodiles snap at the protagonists' heels, doesn't seem at all fake, and in fact seems highly dangerous. You then ponder how much of this trip really was truly hair-raising. What price fame? Regardless, some incredible footage of species clash and bare-bones survival is indeed captured here...

In an amazing finale, our little jungle bride goes into a highly sensual religious ecstasy (illustrated with sultry, gauze-covered close-ups). This entrances (arouses?) all the male natives, as well as bringing her feverish boy-lover back to life after a brush with a croc. This mystical, highly provocative ending makes this film, in the final analysis, truly a narrative, a primitive yet compelling melodrama (albeit with logic and dramatic loopholes the size of the River Ganges).

BEYOND BENGAL is terrific, unreal, about as psychotronic as it gets.

Luckily, Sinister Cinema still has a hefty crop of these forgotten PD gems in their vault, precious cultural artifacts which surely, due to their nitrate stock and obscure reputation, would be lost to the ages otherwise.