''The Jungle Woman'' is a 1926 Australian film directed by
Frank Hurley
James Francis "Frank" Hurley (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces durin ...
. It was shot partly on location in
Thursday Island
Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...
back to back with another Hurley feature, ''
The Hound of the Deep'' (1926).
Plot
Englishman Martin South (
) is leading an expedition into the
Dutch New Guinea
Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingd ...
hinterland to search for gold, being joined by George Mardyke (
Jameson Thomas
Jameson Thomas (born Thomas Roland Jameson; 24 March 1888 – 10 January 1939) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1939.
He was born in St George Hanover Square, London. On the stage from his earl ...
), who he thinks is his friend. The expedition is attacked by
headhunters and Mardyke leaves Martin for dead so he can pursue the latter's fiancée, Eleanor (Lillian Douglas), the daughter of a plantation manager.
Meanwhile, Martin is nursed back to health by native girl, Hurana (Grace Savieri), who falls in love with him and helps him escape from some angry natives. Hurana is bitten by a snake and dies, and Martin arrives back to civilisation in time to rescue Eleanor from Mardyke.
Cast
*
as Martin South
*Grace Savieri as Hurana
*
Jameson Thomas
Jameson Thomas (born Thomas Roland Jameson; 24 March 1888 – 10 January 1939) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1939.
He was born in St George Hanover Square, London. On the stage from his earl ...
as George Mardyke
*Lillian Douglas as Eleanor
*W.G. Saunders as Peter Mack
Production
After the disappointing reception to his documentaries in America, Hurley decided to go into dramatic feature films. He succeed in persuading the Australian-born British theatre magnate Sir
Oswald Stoll
Sir Oswald Stoll (20 January 1866 – 9 January 1942) was an Australian-born British theatre manager and the co-founder of the Stoll Moss Group theatre company. He also owned Cricklewood Studios and film production company Stoll Pictures, whi ...
to provide £10,000 and several actors and technicians to make two films in Papua and Thursday Island.
Hurley made ''
The Hound of the Deep'' on
Thursday Island
Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...
then intended to shoot ''Jungle Woman'' in
Papua. However the Australian government refused him permission to film there. This forced Hurley to instead make the movie at
Merauke
Merauke is a large town and the capital of the South Papua province, Indonesia. It is also the administrative centre of Merauke Regency in South Papua. It is considered the easternmost city in Indonesia. The town was originally called Ermasoe. It ...
in
Dutch New Guinea
Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingd ...
.
[Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 132]
Release
The film was not released before ''
The Hound of the Deep'' although it was made beforehand. It was a popular success at the box office in Australia and Britain and proved profitable.
References
External links
*
''Jungle Woman''at
National Film and Sound ArchiveDocumentary shot during the making of the filmat
Australian Screen Online
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...
1926 films
Australian silent feature films
Australian black-and-white films
{{Australia-silent-film-stub