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Jungle Jim

1948

2/5

So, what have we got here... let's see.. A jungle that's populated by animals from the savannah (including both African and Indian elephants), an incredibly padded runtime filled with random shots of "jungle" animals and Skipper the dog harassing them, boring "action" and "suspense" scenes that literally put me to sleep, white people playing the "natives," a plot that can be easily summarized in a single sentence, and... oh yeah, my favorite part, a rubber crocodile with a prehensile tail (or tentacle? I'm not sure).

Yeah, sounds like a 40's jungle B-movie to me. George Reeves is probably the best part of this, as he delivers the only competent performance. Johnny Weismuller, uh... is there, and he definitely delivers some lines. He also gets to show off his swimming skills, which is what he does best.

The best part, though, is definitely the dollar store props. The "golden vial" has "carvings" on it that are clearly painted on the side, no one could mistake the crocodile for anything other than a rubber prop (but seriously, what was the deal with the tail??), and when Jim was fighting the leopard at the beginning you can clearly see a shot of him with a stuffed animal. Also, when he's fighting the lion, it switches back and forth between shots of two distinctly different looking lions, even though there's supposed to only be one.

It's unfortunate that the movie is so boring, though, because otherwise there might be some fun things to mock. I was too busy trying to stay awake to do that, though.