MartinHafer
The film begins with an actress being strangled outside a bar. Inside at the time is a drunk cop who is off duty (Tierney). Also inside are a variety of odd characters including a sketch artist, a weirdo (John Carradine) and a blonde dame (Jayne Mansfield)."Female Jungle" is a poor murder mystery. Despite starring Lawrence Tierney, who was fantastic in 1950s film noir, this film suffers from a bad script, some poor acting and lousy direction. What makes it worse, after the murderer is discovered and stopped, the film goes on for another ten minutes or so in order to explain what has happened and why!! To make things worse, it's not particularly interesting or engaging and is a bit of a disappointment....even for a cheapo crime film.
kevin olzak
1955's "Female Jungle" was an early release from American International Pictures, when it was still called American Releasing Corporation, possibly a vanity project for actor Bert Kaiser, who not only plays a major role, but also co-wrote and produced (his only feature film, period). First time director Bruno Ve Sota, later responsible for 1955's "Dementia," 1958's "The Brain Eaters," and 1962's "Invasion of the Star Creatures," was a busy character actor in low budget films (particularly Roger Corman or Jerry Warren), and frequent villain in TV Westerns. Immeasurably aided by the cinematography of Universal ace Elwood 'Woody' Bredell, his best known titles including "Black Friday," "The Mummy's Hand," "Dark Streets of Cairo," "The Invisible Woman," "Man Made Monster," "Horror Island," "Hold That Ghost," "The Strange Case of Doctor Rx," "Mystery of Marie Roget," "The Ghost of Frankenstein," "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror," and "Phantom Lady." The film looks very good, the setup taking place almost in real time, just over an hour, starting off with the strangling murder of a pretty young blonde (not Jayne Mansfield, but Eve Brent, also making her film debut). She turns out to be a famous starlet, whose rise to the top was aided by news columnist Claude Almstead (John Carradine), who, like Clifton Webb's Waldo Lydecker in "Laura," remained confident that she'd always return to him whenever she strayed. There's a starving artist, Alex Voe (producer Bert Kaiser), who discovers Almstead at his apartment door at 2AM, curiously demanding a sketch performed; his not so faithful wife Peggy (Kathleen Crowley) has no problem accompanying the older man back to his place for a nightcap and moonlight swim. Ultimately, the film stubbornly focuses on its least interesting character, boozing cop Jack Stevens (Lawrence Tierney), barely recovered from his alcoholic blackout, conducting an investigation on the fly that never really picks up steam. Jayne Mansfield is absolutely stunning in her film debut, capably handling her supporting role as Candy Price, alternately carrying on with Voe and Stevens, all kisses with each man she comes across; too bad she too gets bumped off. Small parts are well played by director Ve Sota, James Kodl as the saloon owner, and especially Davis Roberts, so good in TV comedies like SANFORD AND SON, a very sober and believable performance as the janitor, usually a role played strictly for comic relief. It's not surprising to find John Carradine in such impoverished circumstances, and it's happily one of his meatiest roles of the 50s; bespectacled, dapper, and clean shaven, either a red herring or a killer, seemingly with understandable designs on another man's beautiful wife. The denouement is a lengthy one, and in his capable hands, ultimately satisfying (the picture would have been nothing without his presence). The pacing slowed by the dialogue-heavy script, it's downbeat but surprisingly good given the little known actors involved.
Michael_Elliott
Female Jungle (1955)** (out of 4) Det. Jack Stevens (Lawrence Tierney) gets chewed out by his boss after he's in a bar dead drunk while a famous actress is outside being murdered. Stevens is so drunk and after a witness sees him leaving the bar with a blonde, he begins to feel that perhaps he's the murderer. He starts an investigation to try and see what really happened and soon we get more suspects including the woman's press agent (John Carradine), a man (Burt Kaiser) who did her portrait and his wife (Kathleen Crowley). This "B" noir has a terrific cast that do what they can with a lousy screenplay but in the end there's not enough anyone could have done to recover from the very weak story. I think any mystery or noir film is going to be in deep trouble whenever it can't even make the viewer interested in any of the events going on and that's exactly what FEMALE JUNGLE does. There wasn't a single frame where I was interested in who the killer was. I didn't care if it turned out to be Tierney, Carradine or anyone else who happens across the screen. The screenplay makes very little sense and often times it appears none of the pieces really add up until the end when we get the majority of the characters in a single room where we're told what happened. You know a film is in trouble when actors are given long scripts to read at one time just to make sense of everything. Another problem is that director VeSota doesn't really know how to build up any drama or make anything energetic. The movie's pacing is an issue because everything seems to happen at a very slow pace and even worse is the fact that there's just not any life to anything you're seeing. VeSota will always be remembered for his various appearances in Roger Corman films but his director's output didn't really add up to much as he followed this film with THE BRAIN EATERS and INVASION OF THE STAR CREATURES. Tierney does what he can with the lead role but that's not too much as his character is pretty much the worst written. Some might be surprised to see him playing a level-headed guy but he does what he can. I thought both Kaiser and Crowley were decent in their parts but Carradine has fun playing one character who seems to have at least three different personalities. The majority of the film points the finger at Carradine and depending on what the script is trying to do at the time will depend on what type of performance the actor gives. Jayne Mansfield made her film debut here playing a sexy blonde with a few secrets. The performance isn't that good but she was certainly striking to look at.
gnb
I imagine the sole reason for most people to want to see this movie is for the screen debut of 50s cinema sex goddess Jayne Mansfield. However, the film itself stands up reasonably well after fifty years.The plot, as you are probably already aware, concerns the hunt for the killer of a Hollywood actress, murdered after she leaves a bar. An off-duty cop is in the frame as the killer and sets out to track down the real culprit.This movie was obviously done on the cheap but has a gritty edge to it and more than enough action and suspense to fill its meagre running time. Shot entirely at night the film has an oppressive feel and has good performances from all concerned. Jayne Mansfield, in her film debut, is very impressive as a slutty broad and performs well without her trademark squeal. Although obviously very attractive she isn't at all glamorous here and acts very well. For anyone in doubt of her abilities then Female Jungle proves that she definitely had something.Cheap, short and in the long term, forgettable, this is still an entertaining way to spend an hour. Don't break your neck to see it but if the opportunity arises, don't pass it by.
