''Jungle Menace'' (1937) is the first serial released by Columbia Pictures. Based on the success of Republic Pictures's 1936 serial ''

Darkest Africa ''Darkest Africa'' (1936) is a Republic movie serial. This was the first serial produced by Republic Pictures and was a loose sequel to a Mascot Pictures serial called ''The Lost Jungle'', also starring Clyde Beatty. Mascot, and other companies, ...

'', starring real-life animal trainer

Clyde Beatty Clyde Beatty (June 10, 1903 – July 19, 1965) was a famed animal trainer, zoo owner, and circus mogul. He joined Howe's Great London Circus in 1921 as a cage boy and spent the next four decades rising to fame as one of the most famous circ ...

, Columbia made this exotic jungle serial starring real-life animal collector Frank "Bring 'Em Back Alive" Buck. Set in the fictional land of ''Seemang'' in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, Buck plays the role of Frank Hardy, a soldier of fortune who intervenes in and investigates attempts to run a rubber plantation owner and his daughter off their land. It was directed by Harry L. Fraser and

George Melford George H. Melford (born George Henry Knauff, February 19, 1877 – April 25, 1961) was an American stage and film actor and director. Often taken for granted as a director today, the stalwart Melford's name by the 1920s was, like Cecil B. DeMil ...

, and filmed in black and white in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, USA. In 1946, material from this serial was re-edited into the 70-minute feature film adaptation called ''Jungle Terror''.

Plot

In the Asian province of Seemang, where the Bay of Bengal meets the jungle, Chandler Elliott (

John St. Polis John M. St. Polis (born John Marie Sainpolis; November 24, 1873 – October 8, 1946) was an American actor. Biography St. Polis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Before starting his film career, he made a name for himself on the Broadway ...

) owns a large and prosperous rubber plantation. His attractive daughter, Dorothy (

Charlotte Henry Charlotte Virginia Henry (March 3, 1914 – April 11, 1980) was an American actress who is best remembered for her roles in '' Alice in Wonderland'' (1933) and '' Babes in Toyland'' (1934). She also starred in the Frank Buck serial ''Jun ...

), is engaged to neighboring planter Tom Banning (

William Bakewell William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was an American actor who achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Early years Bakewell was a native of Los Angeles, where he at ...

), but troubles are brewing for both plantations. They ship a cargo of rubber on a riverboat to be taken to an ocean port, but the boat is hi-jacked by river pirates. They kill the crew and steal the shipment. This is part of a plot by Jim Murphy (

LeRoy Mason LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fir ...

), Elliott's plantation manager, and others to force Elliott to sell his plantation. Local explorer Frank Hardy ( Frank Buck) determines to find out who is behind the plot.

Filming

In his autobiography, director Harry L. Fraser described filming the scene in ''Jungle Menace'' during which a boa constrictor attacks the heroine Dorothy (

). The villain has tied Dorothy hand and foot and she thrashes wildly, terrified when she suddenly sees the huge snake: "The snake was in no hurry. Slowly he slithered across the girl's body, while she screamed and struggled. He turned, looking for a spot to slip under her to make his first wrap. I motioned to the reptile crew to get ready, and a split-second later gave them the signal to move in. But now, the maddened snake fought them and did its best to coil around one of the men. Before that happened, however, I had cut, and we had a good cliff-hanger with our terror-stricken heroine to close the episode."Harry L. Fraser. ''I Went That-a-Way''. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. (November 1, 1990). P 117 Buck drank heavily on set and was not always sober during filming. Fraser recounts Buck justified it saying “I’d die in the jungle just drinking coffee. I drink martinis, Harry. Keep me going. Now, my problem is where can I get a thermos filled with martinis at six o’clock in the morning?”

Critical reception

Film critics enjoyed the show: "Kids will love Jungle Menace for its harem-scarum adventure and for the presence of Frank Buck, with his Wild Animals Associates, Inc. Frank Buck plays the hero, Frank Hardy, when gangdom invades the rubber business and river pirates grab off plantation cargo. Plenty of old-time names are in the cast: Reginald Denny is a plantation foreman, Esther Ralston an owner, Charlotte Henry and William Bakewell play young lovers; also featured are Clarence Muse, Willie Fung, Leroy Mason, Richard Tucker, and Duncan Renaldo." Later critics would question the treatment of animals in the film: "Shifts in public perception of the increasingly threatened wild and the growing controversy over the practice of keeping wild animals in captivity have recast many of these former heroes into villains." Joanne Carol Joys said that a kind of

Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...

was implicit in the film's display of "masculine superiority and dominance over the wilderness with the capability of rendering it submissive and orderly".

Cast

* Frank Buck as Frank Hardy * Reginald Denny as Ralph Marshall *

as Murphy *

Richard Tucker Richard Tucker (August 28, 1913January 8, 1975) was an American operatic tenor and cantor. Long associated with the Metropolitan Opera, Tucker's career was primarily centered in the United States. Early life Tucker was born Rivn (Rubin) Ticke ...

as Robert Banning *

Duncan Renaldo Renault Renaldo Duncan (April 23, 1904 – September 3, 1980), better known as Duncan Renaldo, was a Romanian-born American actor best remembered for his portrayal of The Cisco Kid in films and on the 1950–1956 American TV series ''The Cisco Ki ...

as Roget *

as Tom Banning *

as Dorothy Elliott *

Matthew Betz Matthew Betz (September 13, 1881 – January 26, 1938) was an American film actor. Betz was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1881. Following an extended career in the U.S. Cavalry, Betz spent eight years in Vaudeville. His first stage play w ...

as Det. Lt. Starrett *

Sasha Siemel Alexander "Sasha" Siemel ( lv, Aleksandrs Žiemelis; 1890–1970) was an American/Argentinian adventurer, professional hunter, guide, actor, writer, photographer, and lecturer of Latvian origin. He spoke seven languages and boasted of having ex ...

as 'Tiger' Van Dorn *

George Rosener George Michael Rosener (May 26, 1884 – March 29, 1945) was an American film actor and writer. He also wrote and acted in the Frank Buck (animal collector), Frank Buck serial ''Jungle Menace''. Career Rosener began his acting career at ag ...

as The Professor * John Davidson as Dr. Coleman * Robert Warwick as DCI Angus MacLeod

Chapters

Each of the fifteen chapters was 20 minutes long and contained plenty of action: "One man defying a thousand deaths in a green hell of creeping horror! The fearless Frank Buck in his most hair-raising role! Merciless killers...a beautiful hostage...a cargo of wild animals run loose when the typhoon strikes! Terrifying adventures torn out of the heart of cruelest Asia!" The chapter titles are: # River Pirates # Deadly Enemies # Flames of Hate # One-way Ride # Man of Mystery # Shanghaied # Tiger Eyes # The Frame-up # The Cave of Mystery # Flirting with Death # Ship of Doom # Mystery Island # The Typhoon # Murder at Sea # Give 'em Rope _Source:

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links

* * * * *
Cinefania.com

{{Columbia serials 1937 films 1937 adventure films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Columbia Pictures film serials Films directed by George Melford Films directed by Harry L. Fraser American adventure films 1930s American films