ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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A very appealing poster for a movie no one even remembers today!

It's Jungle Jim to the rescue in this low-budget but active yarn in which the villains are producing mind-control drugs. Our hero (Johnny Weissmuller) has to battle a giant caveman (played by Max Palmer, a very tall fellow).

Co-starring Ray Corrigan (who played the monster in "It! The Terror from Beyond Space") and Nestor Paiva (the boat captain in "The Creature from the Black Lagoon"). Directed by Spencer Bennett.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Here ya go, Jungle Jim fans — a very fine print of this movie, compliments of Youtube!

I'm downloading it right now!
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______________ Jungle Jim - Killer Ape (1953)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Custer]

Interesting that hero Jungle Jim doesn't get much promotion on the posters and lobby cards...



"Columbia Pictures produced a series of 16 Jungle Jim B-movies from 1948 to 1956, set in Africa and starring Johnny Weissmuller, who had gained fame playing Tarzan," Wikipedia informs us. "In the last three of these movies, the name "Jungle Jim" was not used, and Weissmuller used his own name, essentially playing an idealised version of himself, as did cowboy stars Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. This was because these three features were produced concurrently with a "Jungle Jim" TV series starring Weissmuller produced by Columbia's Screen Gems and the series had the rights to "Jungle Jim." The "Weissmuller" jungle character was otherwise indistinguishable from Jungle Jim, and the final three films are commonly referred to as "Jungle Jim movies" though that is not technically accurate." Killer Ape was the twelfth in the series, between Valley of the Head Hunters and Jungle Man-Eaters.

[Bud Brewster]

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Guys, check out the amazing crocodile round up just one minute into this movie!

A ring of natives surround a cluster of medium-to-large crocodiles in knee-deep water near the bank of a river, using long sticks to beat at the ones who approach the ring, herding them back to the writhing mass in the middle of the ring!





A native throws a lassos at the cluster until he ropes one and drags it into shore for the waiting group Great White Hunters, including Jungle Jim. He and several animal experts examine the crocodile and discuss why they've all been acting less energetic than usual — which certainly isn't illustrated by the actual African footage which shows the natives frequently being pursued by the crocodiles which attack the ring of men!

This movie is worth watching, folks.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

"The stupidity of the premise is surprising, even for a Jungle Jim movie. The cynicism of this kind of stupidity was rapidly fading in Hollywood, however, to be joined by a more naive kind. Something like Teenage Monster (1958) is cheap and dumb, but it's not exploitatively stupid in the way that all Sam Katzman's series films were. It wasn't made on the 'they'll buy anything' premise Killer Ape was."

"Why is there only one Man-Ape? If he is well known to Jim as the last of his kind, how come the local tribes in the heavily-populated area haven't heard of Man-Ape (or Man-Apes) years before? Only Jim seems to know the creature exists."

"The budget was too low to allow any apish costuming for the primitive creature. He's simply huge, gangling Max Palmer in a fur weskit and phony teeth."

"Variety said, the pace is slow, the script obvious and talky, and the direction and playing stereotype." Hollywood Reporter said, it was made on a childish level with wooden acting and indifferent direction . . . Performances are inept, the actors reading their lines as though they were written on a blackboard."

"Despite the strange missing-link Man-Ape, Killer Ape is only another Jungle Jim movie."

~ Keep Watching the Skies! Bill Warren
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Sidebar: So avoid this turkey at all costs according to Bill's book.