Nyoka The Jungle Girl Comic Books

Podcast research!

 

Trailers From Hell - CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943)

Joe Dante relates some details about this fun Universal thriller that we covered a while back on The Bloody Pit. Sadly, one detail is wrong. 

The Bloody Pit #199 - JUNGLE WOMAN (1944)

Troy Guinn and I return to Universal Land for the sequel to CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN – JUNGLE WOMAN (1944)! Is this the worst film the studio produced in the 1940’s? We’ll let you decided as we give our opinions and posit ways the film could have been better. Much better!

 

Attempting to imitate the successful Val Lewton productions at RKO, the producers of this non-jungle epic seemed to feel that simply aping the structure of CAT PEOPLE and copying the memorable set-pieces from that classic would be a winning formula. Sadly, that is far from the case as JUNGLE WOMAN comes up short in every category. Troy and I try to puzzle out the reasons for certain choices and debate the qualities of the acting in the titular role. Of course, any film with J. Carrol Naish has points of interest just because of his talent, but he seems to have been given a number of obstacles to creating a memorable ‘mad’ scientist. A rushed production and a sub-par script are rarely a combination for a classic. On that point, we discuss the film’s dialog with a certain line becoming a reoccurring audio drop in the show. Sorry about that!

  

If you have any comments about this film or any of the movies we’ve covered thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you very much for listening. We’ll be back soon. 

Wild, Wild Podcast Season 6: episode 4 - TARZANA, THE WILD GIRL (1969)

For the final time, pack your mosquito spray and come with us into the fake jungles of Rome's film studios in search of a mythical white goddess who has the kind of sex appeal that even the animals can dig. Yes, it's Tarzana, the beautiful heiress whose parents died in the plane crash that left her alone in Kenya to survive and thrive, learning such essential jungle skills as how to swing on vines, how to direct elephants, and how to weave tiny thongs.

In the episode we discuss the lack of available interviews with star Ken Clark. I thought I had found some videos, but on post-episode examination it turns out these are interviews with British politician Ken Clarke. However, the fanzine European Trash Cinema did interview our Ken back in 1995. You can find part of that interview reproduced HERE. If you want to read the whole thing, the issue is currently for sale on eBay.

The only decent online coverage of Tarzana can be found on the blog Spinning Image.

We hope you have enjoyed this jungle-themed mini-season. We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite Jungle Girl films, or if you ever got lost in the jungle yourself and ended up befriending the animals or becoming a god to a local tribe. There seem to have been so many..... You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. Please also remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice!

Wild, Wild Podcast Season 6 Ep. 3 - Samoa, the Jungle Girl (1968)

Come with us up river with Edwige Fenech and Roger Browne as we look for diamonds amongst the stock footage and become on a little more than speaking terms with Samoa, the only jungle girl in history to not actually live in a jungle. Yes, it's our penultimate episode in this jungle-flavored mini-season, and this one is a little different from what we've become accustomed to. But it's still great fun! Just don't pin all your affection on Clint. He'll let you down.

In the episode we discussed a great podcast interview with Roger Browne that was published a few years ago by Dorado Films. It is currently offline, but if we manage to locate a copy we will let you know.

There's not a lot out there written about the film, but we did locate two blog posts which are quite good, HERE and HERE.

We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite Jungle Girl films, or if you ever got lost in the jungle yourself and ended up befriending the animals or becoming a god to a local tribe. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. Please also remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice!

Video - SAMOA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE (1968)

For those following Adrian and I on our Wild, Wild Podcast journey through jungle girl films here is a YouTube LINK to the next one we will covering. It stars Edwidge Fenech which is more than enough to excite some potential viewers! 

Wild, Wild Podcast Season 6: Episode 2 - Luana, the Girl Tarzan (Luana la figlia delle foresta vergine, 1968)

Stop us if you've heard this one before: a plane crashes in the jungle killing the adults onboard and leaving a solitary three-year-old girl to fend for herself. Communing with the animals, she grows into a beautiful young woman who the local tribes worship and fear as a goddess. Yes, if you asked AI to write you a jungle girl movie, it wouldn't be all that different from the plot of Luana, but here on the Wild, Wild Podcast we love it, and her, anyway!

You can learn more about the star of the film, Mei-Chen, and see plenty of pictures, over on Pulp International. You can also check out the amazing Luana comic strips and Frank Frazetta artwork HERE. And of course, if you want to watch Luana, it's available on YouTube.

We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite Jungle Girl films, or if you ever got lost in the jungle yourself and ended up befriending the animals or becoming a god to a local tribe. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. Please also remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice!

Wild, Wild Podcast Season 6 Episode 1 - Gungala, the Black Panther Girl (1968)

Grab your pith helmet, machete, mosquito netting and come with us into the deepest, darkest, fakest-looking jungle in search of the lost heiress Gungala. Yes, we're back with a brand new mini-season, taking a look at the brief burst of Jungle Girl films to come out of Italy in 1968-1969. Gungala la pantera nuda is significant for a number of reasons; the first is of course the presence of Kitty Swan in the lead role, and the second is that it was Ruggero Deodato's first jungle movie. Give him another few years and he would become infamous for what he caught on camera in the jungles of South America. Here however it's Africa, although it's mostly the De Paolis sound stages in Rome. You will struggle to tell the difference - or not.

You can read all about Kitty Swan's terrible accident and miraculous recovery in THIS ARTICLE. Or if you just want to look at lots of photos of Kitty Swan THIS LINK has you covered.

We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite Jungle Girl films, or if you ever got lost in the jungle yourself and ended up befriending the animals or becoming a god to a local tribe we'd love to learn the story. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. Please also remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice!

Jungle Girl Movie Poster Art

Lorna, The Jungle Girl Cover Gallery

 I've never read any of the Lorna comic books but I think it might be time to try them out. In a way, its research for the eventual Wild Wild Podcast mini-season on Jungle Girl films. Yeah! That's the ticket!

The Bloody Pit #176 - KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968)

Bob Sargent joins Troy and I to discuss KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968). Or is it just KONG ISLAND? And what connection to King Kong does this movie actually have? Spoiler alert – none!

Because Mr. Sargent has a soft spot in his heart (and head) for this bizarre Italian production we examine it for signs of sanity. None were found, but along the way we learned a little about ourselves. Sort of. And for some reason we also talked about 70’s rock group StoneGround. I can’t understand why.

For the curious, KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968) is a movie of many parts. It is roughly 20% jungle mercenary movie; 20% mad scientist tale; 20% revenge story; 20% jungle girl adventure and 20% family melodrama. It is also 100% nuts! While much of the advertising for the film centers around the jungle girl sections of the story we come to the conclusion that Eva (or the Sacred Monkey as she is referred to most often) could be removed from the film with little detriment to the story. Of course, this would have eliminated the film’s nudity so I don’t think anyone involved would have agreed to do this. But the film has so much going on that it is difficult to stop watching as the madness unfolds. We see stuntman turned actor Brad Harris beefcake up the place with his exciting dance moves and flinty abs. We see veteran Hollywood tough guy Marc Lawrence play a mad scientist/Bond villain using surgically altered gorillas to control a jungle cave. We witness plenty of animal stock footage. It all adds up to a featue length movie. Really.

Even if you haven’t seen this cinematic epic there are things in the episode to entertain you. Troy’s alternate title suggestions are inventive and arguably better than any of the ones actually used. Bob’s attempts to explain his lifelong fascination with this whacky film lead us from a sweaty apartment in the 1980’s to modern 21^st century life – pity his poor wife! And bonus points to the listeners that can pinpoint the moment when I gave up on presenting a plot synopsis. Eventually you have to accept that things have gotten away from you.

If you have seen KING OF KONG ISLAND and have something to add to our discussion thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send your thoughts. Thank you for listening!

Video - KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968)

Podcast on the way!

The Bloody Pit #148 - CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943)

We enter into one of the odder areas of the 1940’s Universal Horrors with CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943)! The few jungle girl movies made by the studio in the 40's can be seen as a slightly faltering bridge between the occasional jungle themed serials of the 1930’s, the Weissmuller Tarzan series and the rapid growth of such film and television tales in the 1950’s. By the time the Jungle Jim and Bomba films were Saturday matinee staples while Sheena and Ramar were also enticing young viewers at home it seemed that you couldn't swing a dead panther without hitting a jungle hero. These tales of wild animals, poachers and evil treasure hunters were perfect adventure fodder for young minds and if the star was a leopard skin clad Jungle Girl then you might even find a few adults tuning in for the action.

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN is an interesting attempt to build a mad scientist horror film out of a lot of exciting circus footage. It is more effective than you might expect but the ratio of horror stuff to circus stuff is probably weighted in the wrong direction. Troy and I chew our popcorn while watching the spectacle! Deciding which parts work and which ones are very strange occupy most of our time but we discuss the cast and director with some detail too.  The film only gives us a short period of time with Acquanetta’s silent wild woman/gorilla character but the 1932 animal act footage is skillfully integrated into the film almost making you forget this is supposed to be a horror tale. Luckily, John Carradine is one of the smoothest mad scientists of all time so it’s a joy to watch him slither across the screen.

The show can be reached at thebloodypit@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments. We would love to hear from you and we do wonder who you would name as best Jungle Girl or most impressive Mad Scientist. Thank you for listening! 

Apple Podcast LINK

MP3 Download LINK

LUANA (1968) and its novelization

A couple of years ago I bought a bootleg copy of the then hard to find Italian made jungle girl film LUANA. I had hopes that it would be either a rough gem of hidden skill or, if that was too much, a sleazy soft-core romp of steamy nudity with fur loin cloths. It turned out to be neither, sad to say. Its a poorly made outdoor epic shot on obvious indoor sets with very little in the way of sleazy fun or even interest outside of the basic idea. Not that the idea for the story was original at all but the 'child lost in the wilderness/raised by animals' concept is inherently fascinating on many levels so it takes a real effort to screw it up. That effort was made with LUANA and in a certain light that makes it unique. Not adult enough to be dirty, not well written enough to be fun it still manages to be a mostly painless 85 minutes or so even if it would have been greatly enhanced by the Mystery Science Theater crew.

A while after finally seeing the movie I made a shocking discovery- science fiction author Alan Dean Foster had written a novelization for LUANA. Holy crap! I found a copy for sale and was stunned by what I held in my hands. How had this come to be? Foster was kind of the king of science fiction film novelizations for years but how did he end up handling this small, obscure production? There was nothing for it but to ask! So I looked up Mr. Foster on the old inter-tubes and there was his contact info - right on his website. He turned out to be a very nice fellow and responded to my questions quickly and with great humor. Sadly the later emails I exchanged with him were lost when my old computer crashed but I still have our first communications. Here's how I broached the subject.....

Hello Mr. Foster,
As you might surmise, I am a fan of your work. I first became aware of your name from many science fiction film novelizations in my youth but then quickly branched out into the Pip & Flinx novels and the Spellsinger series with my favorite still being 'The Man Who Used the Universe'.

I recently became interested in tracking down a copy of the very obscure film LUANA. For months all I could locate was the amazing poster art done by Frank Frazetta but I finally was able to get a copy sourced from the only video release of the film in the world that I'm aware of (from Venezuela, of all places). Then one bit of good luck followed another and I stumbled across a copy of your novelization of the film. Until I spotted it on the table of a used book dealer I had no idea this existed. I know from your web-site that this book was published in 1974 coinciding with the small scale US release of the film. The movie was actually shot in 1968 and released in most of the world then with the US getting it a bit too late to really make much of an impression- if it really could have ever done so anyway!

I am curious about what you remember of this film and your involvement with it. I realize the passing of years and the slightness of the film are working against me but I'm hoping you have some information. Did you ever see the film? Were you given a shooting script to work from? Were you aware of the film's pedigree i.e. the comic strip its based on? Any information at all would be welcome.

I must confess that I still haven't read the novelization. I haven't even pulled it from its plastic wrap! Often the anticipation of a thing can be as good or better than its realization but I hope that's not the case here. With your name on the cover I'm sure there are at least some points of interest within.

Thank you very much for reading this email. I look forward to learning what you remember about this long ago project.

Sincerely,

Rod Barnett

His reply came in less than a day.

Hi Rod;
There was no shooting script of the film available. I did the novelization after watching it...in Italian! I didn't know it was based on a comic strip.
The funniest story involves Disney. After reading the book, they wanted to buy the film rights...they didn't realize it was a novelization of an existing film.
Thanks for the kind words regarding my work.
Alan F

As I've said, we wrote back and forth a few more times and I particularly liked his comments on his novel 'The Man Who Used the Universe' but those missives are gone now. I'll leave speculation on the Disney idea to others but it does amuse me. Foster did some serious creating to fill the book's pages with no English language translation to work from. Of course, the film is pretty simply plotted so it wouldn't have been too hard to follow the tale - but still! One of the things we discussed included the fact that film was made in 1968 and released then in most places around the world but didn't get picked up for the US until 1974 which is when his novelization was written and published. He was unaware if its age at the time but wasn't surprised. LUANA was his very first job as a film novelizer and seems to have pointed the way for his later career in the field.

Just for the record - the book was very good. Foster made up his own story to go along with the film he watched and, to put it clearly, his is the better tale by far. But if you're curious the film can now be had pretty cheaply on DVD straight from Amazon and the book isn't too hard to find either.