Queen of the Amazons (1947)

A woman's husband has disappeared on an expedition into the jungle. She hires a guide to take her into the jungle to find him. However, they discover that he has been captured by a savage female tribe.

Director:

Edward Finney (as Edward F. Finney)

Writer:

Roger Merton (original story and screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Lowery, Patricia Morison, J. Edward Bromberg

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Lowery	...	Gary Lambert
Patricia Morison	...	Jean Preston
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Gabby
John Miljan	...	Narrator / Col. Jones
Amira Moustafa	...	Zita - the Amazon Queen
Keith Richards	...	Wayne Monroe
Bruce Edwards	...	Greg Jones
Wilson Benge	...	Professor
Jack George	...	Commissioner
Cay Forester	...	Sugi
Vida Aldana	...	Tondra
Hassan Khayyam	...	Moya (as Hassam Kayyam)

Storyline

Jean Preston leads a party to India to investigate the disappearance of her fiance, Greg Jones, but someone manages to thwart their efforts through lies and murder. They pursue the trail to Africa where guide Gary Lambert and his comic cook Gabby guide them into unknown territory. Greg is found living with Zita, a jealous and beautiful Amazon queen. The mysterious deaths continue as Lambert tries to discover who has been dealing in contraband ivory. When he solves that mystery, he also uncovers the identity of the mysterious murderer.

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Plot Keywords:

jungle girl | poverty row film | low budget film | double feature film | damsel in distress | 

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Taglines:

TORRID TEMPTRESS -HER BEAUTY RULED THE JUNGLE (original poster-all caps)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amatsoonien kuningatar

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edward F. Finney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

61 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The on-screen credits misspell the name of actor Hassan Khayyam. He is erroneously credited as "Hassam Kayyam."

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Goofs

During the fight scene, one of the main characters is doubled by an obviously much younger, slimmer, and more physically fit stuntman.

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Quotes

Native Chief: Plenty big job to get 40 boy for you. They scared of voodoo.
Wayne Monroe: Voodoo? I thought you were all over that business, Tonga.
Native Chief: Tonga no 'fraid for voodoo. But boy plenty 'fraid.
Wayne Monroe: What's the voodoo this time? Just what are they afraid of?
Native Chief: White woman.
Wayne Monroe: Well, I can't say as I blame 'em.
Native Chief: Pretty white woman, but bad. She is queen of the she-devils. Very pretty, but good native is 'fraid from her. White goddess!
Narrator: Well, bless my soul! A white goddess in the jungle?
Wayne Monroe: White goddess, huh? She-devils. Hmm!

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Connections

Featured in Planet X: Episode #2.1 (2006)

User Reviews

Mutual of Omaha's Wild Amazon Queendom

One of Edward Finney's most well-known films, Queen of the Amazons is the story of a young woman (Patricia Morison), her guide, father-in-law, an absent minded professor, a cook and a man scorned who all go on safari to hunt down her missing fiancé. The film includes a number of subplots ranging from the romance to murder mystery, and somehow, it is all linked up to illegal ivory smuggling. The safari, inexplicably, launches from colonial India, and the search takes up more than half the story.

Most of the story is driven by transitional scenes between stock footage of African wildlife, jungle scenery and well-acted action scenes including animal attacks. The script, which takes on the responsibility for drawing everything together and driving it along, is not really up to the task. Dialog is used to establish virtually everything the stock footage can not. Besides the bland camera-work, the often laughable stock footage, and the over-taxed script, the directing and editing are good. There are a few continuity errors, but not as many as some reviewers have claimed. After all, this is Queen of the Amazons (who were written about by ancient Greeks 1500 years before Europeans arrived in South America) not "Queen of the Amazon" (a river named after the Greek stories). One, however, is worth watching out for. Pat Morison is examining some stock footage of African Savannah animals running away through binoculars. Just as she says "why are they running away so fast?" we see a herd of gazelles in the binoculars - running in very slow motion.

The cast performs very well given the limitations of the script and story. The only acting disasters belong to the nevertheless likable Amira Moustafa (who had a remarkably short career). Many of the other actors were veteran character actors, or on their ways to becoming so.

What the film fails to do, despite a fairly strong effort, is to generate any sense of drama or urgency. Nevertheless, it is not a complete mess, and the stock footage is actually quite nice!