weezeralfalfa
British made Technicolor flick that really shows off Jeanne Crain's carrot top to advantage. She plays Marian Taylor: personal secretary to London-based diamond merchant Perry Henderson(David Farrar), who has recently taken out a life insurance policy of $2 million on himself, with his elderly mother as beneficiary. American insurance investigator Scott Walters is sent to London to check out why Perry would want such a large policy. There, Scott meets Perry's brother, with an office next door, and Perry's luscious private secretary: Marian. Scott takes an immediate personal interest in Marian, but she tries to dissuade his attempts to engage her. He even comes knocking on her apartment door after disturbing most of the other M. Taylors in the London phone book. Eventually, she informs him that she's engaged to Perry. Scott is also interested in her as a likely source of further information on the whereabouts of Perry, somewhere in Southern Africa. Separately, each takes a flight to Johannesburg. Scott discovers Marian has taken the same ship that Perry disappeared from, so Scott intercepts this ship at a small town, and discovers Marian on it. They both arrive at a small town, where Scott discovers Perry's mother. Meanwhile, Marian has hired some natives to take her on an expedition to a native village in the interior, where she thinks(why?) Perry's mother has gone. After discovering Marian's trip, Scott hires a jeep and driver to follow her. Eventually, he finds her, not pleased at first, but they board a canoe and go up the Zambezi River, portaging around impressive Victoria Falls, until they come to the village. They are shocked to find Perry, instead of his mother, there. Seems he slipped off the ship, made it to shore, and took backroads to this village. His plan was for his mother to collect the insurance money, and 'loan' it to him to finance the search for diamonds off the shore of East Africa(He should have chosen Namibia, on the west coast.) After some time, he would come out of hiding, and head this search. This fraud shocked Marian, who began to favor Scott. She and Scott took a canoe down the Zambezi river after a sneaky attempt to kill Scott failed. Near the head of Victoria Falls, they abandoned the canoe and roamed through the 'jungle', knowing that Perry was close behind in another canoe. Perry found them and began shooting at Scott, until another European showed up, with native support. Perry then ran to his canoe and paddled downstream, toward Victoria Falls, but capsized in the rapids, and was in danger drowning or being swept over the falls. Scott dove in and pulled his limp body to shore, where he recuperated. Presumably, the insurance policy was cancelled, Perry was apprehended for insurance fraud, and Scott and Marian strengthened their romance.The first part of the film is rather slow, emphasizing Scott chasing Marian. Once we get into the African bush, things pick up. We see glimpses of various savanna animals, close by the greenery near the river. We also get a decent look at part of Victoria Falls, although an aerial view would be needed to appreciate its vast horizontal scope. Nice to see real Africans, instead of African Americans dressed up like natives, to experience their chanting and drums in the village and on the trail.Jeanne was the token helpless female of the 'jungle' trek. She adequately served as eye candy, and as a bone of contention between the 2 male stars. It's not the most exciting jungle flick out there, but reasonably interesting. For a more exciting viewing experience, I suggest "Duel in the Sun".
pp312
Wow, people on this board are really generous. I couldn't stop laughing at the unending silliness of this movie, from the bad stock /studio footage matching to Jeanne Crain's silent movie reactions to lions and rubber snakes to the under-cranking (fast motion) of the fight scenes. And when Dana Andrews flicks the branch of a bush into David Farrar's face a la The 3 Stooges that was just the comedic icing on the cake. I could have done better than that with my family out in the backyard.Obviously the producers were taken with the (then recent) success of Mogambo, King Solomon's Mines and other exotic fare and thought they could cash in, but those movies had a decent script and flair--plus much more on-location shooting (essential for this kind of movie). Here absolutely nothing seems right, even the music, which breaks out in a Bach-like chaconne for the final chase through the jungle that effectively stifles whatever drama the scene might have had (not much really). No, there are some really decent B-Grade jungle/exotic location action movies, but none to my knowledge has ever been produced by a British studio. It just wasn't their thing.
Chase_Witherspoon
Dana Andrews stars in this B-grade jungle adventure as an insurance investigator who teams up with the widow (Crain) of a diamond merchant (Farrar) who has apparently drowned after falling from a boat. Cautioned by native guide Vincent (Mataka) that his presence won't be welcome when they reach the village, Andrews persists in his doggedness to uncover the truth about Farrar's disappearance, and in his attempts to seduce the now nubile widow.Assistant director Tony Kelly died making this picture, so it's of some comfort to know that it isn't a bad little pot-boiler, building some reasonable tension and punctuated with occasional light humour (the scene in which the chimp empties their luggage from the jeep is worth a chuckle). George Montgomery's look-a-like brother Dana Andrews is sturdy without being marvellous, and Farrar plays the obnoxious British git with aplomb.Superimposing the actors over the white-water rapids backdrop, or in a confrontation with a menacing lion often looks clumsy, but this B-picture isn't staking any grand claims, just mild entertainment for afternoon channel-surfing.
donwc1996
Interesting adventure in which Dana Andrews plays an insurance investigator who goes to Africa to check out the death by drowning of a man ( David Farrar ) who had a million dollar insurance policy. Also looking for info regarding the allegedly dead man is his wife, Jeanne Crain. Pretty fast paced drama, the last portion of the film set in the African jungle. Dana Andrews & Jeanne Crain were one of the great film pairings. Besides this film, they were also in State Fair, Madison Avenue, and Hot Rods to Hell. I had seen this film as a kid & it had kept me on the edge of my seat. It doesn't get much play these days--but I did find a DVD thru a collector. Seeing the film again was a thrill.