The "Jungle Jim" series is apparently where Johnny Weissmuller's career went to die after he got too fat to play "Tarzan" anymore. He's actually in fairly trim form for this in his two shirtless scenes, but it's also pretty obvious that he's sucking in his gut. (I don't blame him; if I were over 30 and had to be shirtless on film, I'd suck in my gut too). But most of the time he still cuts a pretty dashing figure in his "Jungle Jim" outfit, so he has that going for him.
One thing is clear from this: Weissmuller was no actor. When he can't hide behind the monosyllabic grunts of the Tarzan role, he can barely deliver his lines in a professional manner. But that's OK, because hardly any else here is an actor either. If you doubt this, just consider the part of the villain played by Lyle Talbot. Talbot, never more than a "C" list actor (he had some parts in Ed Wood movies if memory serves me) effortlessly makes absolutely everyone else in the move look and sound wooden and stilted by comparison, and Talbot has some of the most ridiculous dialog in the movie.
The plot, such as it is, isn't bad. It offers action, intrigue, a little suspense, some disguised social commentary, and a typical "Quest". It even has an element of the fantastic. There's a totally gratuitous dinosaur fight, with stock footage lifted directly from "One Million B.C." and an even more superfluous octopus/shark fight which makes no sense at all, except as an excuse for Jim to show how tough he is. (I wasn't even aware that shark and octopus were enemies in the wild, and what are they doing in Africa??). And there's a jungle laboratory where enslaved natives dig in the mines for a villain who creates diamonds out of igneous rock. So no, it's not H. Rider Haggard or Edgar Rice Burroughs, but it is meaty Saturday afternoon matinée fodder. Jim defeats the villain by being manly and dashing (and judo throwing bad guys over his hip or shoulder over and over) , but he doesn't get the girl, because Jim don't play that - the other manly and dashing white guy in the film (a real life football player playing a missing football player; he's even more wooden than Johnny ) gets her while Jim beams approval.
For what it was, it was a pleasant trip back to the matinées of my youth. If I had a chance to see another "Jungle Jim" movie on a slow weekend night, I just might.
One thing is clear from this: Weissmuller was no actor. When he can't hide behind the monosyllabic grunts of the Tarzan role, he can barely deliver his lines in a professional manner. But that's OK, because hardly any else here is an actor either. If you doubt this, just consider the part of the villain played by Lyle Talbot. Talbot, never more than a "C" list actor (he had some parts in Ed Wood movies if memory serves me) effortlessly makes absolutely everyone else in the move look and sound wooden and stilted by comparison, and Talbot has some of the most ridiculous dialog in the movie.
The plot, such as it is, isn't bad. It offers action, intrigue, a little suspense, some disguised social commentary, and a typical "Quest". It even has an element of the fantastic. There's a totally gratuitous dinosaur fight, with stock footage lifted directly from "One Million B.C." and an even more superfluous octopus/shark fight which makes no sense at all, except as an excuse for Jim to show how tough he is. (I wasn't even aware that shark and octopus were enemies in the wild, and what are they doing in Africa??). And there's a jungle laboratory where enslaved natives dig in the mines for a villain who creates diamonds out of igneous rock. So no, it's not H. Rider Haggard or Edgar Rice Burroughs, but it is meaty Saturday afternoon matinée fodder. Jim defeats the villain by being manly and dashing (and judo throwing bad guys over his hip or shoulder over and over) , but he doesn't get the girl, because Jim don't play that - the other manly and dashing white guy in the film (a real life football player playing a missing football player; he's even more wooden than Johnny ) gets her while Jim beams approval.
For what it was, it was a pleasant trip back to the matinées of my youth. If I had a chance to see another "Jungle Jim" movie on a slow weekend night, I just might.