''Jacaré'' (also called ''Jacaré, Killer of the Amazon'') was a film made in 1942 of James Dannaldson’s expedition to the Amazon.

Clyde E. Elliott Clyde Ernest Elliott (July 23, 1885 – June 12, 1959) was an American motion picture director, producer, and writer. He is best known for animal films, especially Frank Buck (animal collector), Frank Buck’s first movie, ''Bring 'Em Back A ...

, Charles E. Ford and James Dannaldson led the film crew, which shot some 260,000 feet of film on the lower reaches of the Amazon River in Spring 1942. To Elliott's great relief, the film was not "doctored" with scenes made at the studio of white girls lost in the jungle, a process, he claimed, by which Paramount ruined his previous film, ''Booloo'', made in 1938. Dannaldson, a biologist formerly associated with the University of Southern California, became an actor for ''Jacaré'', who goes up the Amazon to catch specimens. The other leading members of the cast were a 22-foot anaconda, many caymans (Amazonian alligators), jaguars, water buffalo, anteaters,

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inhabit ...

s and

capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

s. Elliott and his colleagues, with two American cameramen, spent three and a half months at Para, at the mouth of the Amazon, usually within a

day's journey A day's journey in pre-modern literature, including the Bible, ancient geographers and ethnographers such as Herodotus, is a measurement of distance. In the Bible, it is not as precisely defined as other Biblical measurements of distance; the dis ...

of the city, so that they could return to civilization for the night. Their chief expense, aside from film and equipment, was insurance, the premiums protecting negative, cameras and personnel. A crew of thirty-five natives, who acted as bearers and animal catchers, cost 50 cents a day apiece. When the filmmakers needed a gaggle of caymans, Ford offered a prize of 60

Milréis The mil-réis (literally one thousand réis) was effectively a unit of currency in both Portugal (until 1911) and Brazil (until 1942). As the value of the Portuguese real has historically been low (minted in copper since the 16th century), accoun ...

to the native who captured the largest alligator. Ford got about seventy-five of the reptiles at a cost of approximately $3. Dannaldson worked with jaguars and caymans, whose jaws had been wired shut. He said his only close call came when an anaconda he wrestled got a loop around his neck and almost strangled him before the natives could unwrap it. The company's most primitive adventure occurred on

Marajó Marajó () is a large coastal island in the state of Pará, Brazil. It is the main and largest of the islands in the Marajó Archipelago. Marajó Island is separated from the mainland by Marajó Bay, Pará River, smaller rivers (especially ...

Island, at the mouth of the Amazon, where they spent four weeks. They ran out of imported food and had to subsist for five days on moldy doughnuts filled with small worms and on chickens which, Dannaldson said, seemed to be 90 per cent vulture. Jacaré’s wild-animal footage thrilled audiences, especially the terrifying attack of the anaconda. Producer

Jules Levey Jules Levey (May 2, 1896 – January 2, 1975) was an American film producer. Early career Born in Rochester, New York, Levey joined Universal Pictures as Eastern sales manager in 1919 and worked for several major producers. He was in charge ...

incorporated a narration by Frank Buck and music by Miklos Rozsa. Director Charles E. Ford died of

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part or ...

after surgery in

Cedars of Lebanon Hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

shortly after returning from the Amazon.

References

External links

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Reviews of Jacaré

http://jacare.fun
1942 films American black-and-white films 1942 adventure films Films scored by Miklós Rózsa American adventure films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{adventure-film-stub