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!
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