The Jungle Captive (1945)

Once again, Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman, is brought back to life, this time by a mad scientist and his disfigured assistant, who also kidnaps his female lab assistant in order to have a ... See full summary »

Director:

Harold Young

Writers:

Dwight V. Babcock (screenplay), Dwight V. Babcock (story)

Stars:

Otto Kruger, Vicky Lane, Amelita Ward

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Otto Kruger	...	Mr. Stendahl
Vicky Lane	...	Paula Dupree - the Ape Woman
Amelita Ward	...	Ann Forrester
Phil Brown	...	Don Young
Jerome Cowan	...	Detective W.L. Harrigan
Rondo Hatton	...	Moloch the Brute
Eddie Acuff	...	Bill
Ernie Adams	...	Jim
Charles Wagenheim	...	Fred
Eddy Chandler	...	Motorcycle Cop
Jack Overman	...	Detective - George

Storyline

Once again, Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman, is brought back to life, this time by a mad scientist and his disfigured assistant, who also kidnaps his female lab assistant in order to have a female blood donor. By this time, Paula has brain damage from her experiences in the last film, so there's not much for her to do except wander around.

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Plot Keywords:

brought back to life | blood transfusion | murder suspect | transformation | held captive | 

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wild Jungle Captive

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

63 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Australian actress Betty Bryant was originally cast as Ann. She fell ill as filming started and a doctor was called in by the studio. Unfortunately for Bryant, the doctor developed an unhealthy obsession with her and began stalking her at the studio and making things difficult for the production. Bryant was replaced by Amelita Ward nine days into filming (source: "Universal Horrors" by Tom Weaver, Michael Brunas, and John Brunas).

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Goofs

Even though the character is listed in the credits as "Dr. Stendahl", he was always referred to as "Mr. Stendahl" by all the other characters.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Johnny, errand boy: Ah, my dear Ann! So glad to see you again after all these minutes. Twenty of them, at least.
Ann Forrester: *Fifty* minutes, Johnny.
Johnny, errand boy: Fifty minutes! Fifty years away from you, Ann.
Ann Forrester: You're not flattering me Johnny. Now what have you been doing?
Johnny, errand boy: Waiting for the specimen at Dr. Lees'.
Ann Forrester: I could check with Dr. Lees' office nurse, you know... but I'll let it go at that.
Johnny, errand boy: Ah, gee, thanks Ann. Dr. Lee would like to have reports quickly as possible.
Ann Forrester: I don't think we can run another test this afternoon, ...
[...]

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Connections

Follows Captive Wild Woman (1943)

User Reviews

A Step Up From the Second Film

The Jungle Captive (1946)

** (out of 4)

A mad doctor (Otto Kruger) has his assistant (Rondo Hatton) steal the body of Paula the Ape Woman (Vicky Lane) so that he can do experiments on her. This includes stealing another woman (Amelita Ward) for a blood transfusion to see if the ape woman can be cured.

THE JUNGLE CAPTIVE is the third and final film of Universal's trilogy dealing with Paula the Ape Woman. You have to think that the studio had rather low expectations going into the series and I'm going to guess that CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN didn't do a well at the box office, which caused the studio to really cut back on the second film, JUNGLE WOMAN, which was perhaps the studio's laziest movie. THE JUNGLE CAPTIVE is certainly a step up from that picture but it's still not all that good.

The best thing going for this film is the fact that they've actually got the ape woman running around quite a bit of the running time. It was great getting to see her since the make-up on her is actually excellent and having her appear in the film is reason enough alone to enjoy this more than the second film. Another plus is the fact that Hatton is so watchable here. I can't help but feel sorry for him and the fact that Universal was pretty much exploiting his disease but at the same time he has become a cult favorite over the years.

As far as the film's issues go, well, there are quite a few but the biggest is the simple fact that the story itself really isn't all that original and it's certainly something we've seen countless times before. Still, if you're a fan of the studio then there's enough good things here to make this worth watching.