CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN*JUNGLE WOMAN*JUNGLE CAPTIVE

Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943). Director: Edward Dmytryck.

JUNGLE WOMAN (1944). Director: Reginald Le Borg.

THE JUNGLE CAPTIVE (1945). Director: Harold Young. 

In Captive Wild Woman, the first in the Paula the Ape Woman trilogy, Beth Colman (Evelyn Ankers) puts her neurotic sister Dorothy (Martha Vickers) in the care of glandular expert Dr. Sigmund Walters (John Carradine). Walkers turns out to be a deranged murderer who hits upon the utterly insane idea of using Dorothy's glandular extracts to inject into the big female gorilla Cheela (Ray Corrigan) in order to change her species! Before long, Cheela is looking like a rather attractive if exotic human female. But she retains her animal instincts. She is able to assist Beth's boyfriend, Fred (Milburn Stone), a lion tamer, when one of his feline charges gets out of line, and also develops an intense jealousy over his relationship with Beth. 

Acquanetta as Paula

Captive Wild Woman is a completely absurd horror film with enough holes in it to sink an ocean liner. Nobody ever wonders why Paula never utters a word, for instance. (The film is only an hour long, but even so!) Director Dmytryck keeps things moving, the film is well edited -- with Clyde Beatty (from The Big Cage) standing in for Stone in the long shots -- and there's plenty of animal action, if not quite enough of the murderous ape woman. This was Acquanetta's third film (out of only eleven), and she was not Hispanic as suggested but probably African-American, born Mildred Davenport of Philadelphia. 

Richard Davis and Acquanetta

Paula returned in the first sequel, Jungle Woman, which also featured Acquanetta in the title role. Dr. Fletcher (J. Carrol Naish), intrigued by the ape Cheela, who apparently died saving Fred at the end of the last film, claims her body and discovers a spark of life in her. Before too long Cheela disappears, and Paula returns, fuzzy-headed and initially incommunicative, although she begins to speak when she catches sight of Bob (Richard Davis), the attractive fiance of Fletcher's daughter, Joan (Lois Collier). Joan ignites Paula's jealousy and the gorilla girl begins to stalk her, attacking her when she's out on the lake in a canoe and trying to break into her cabin. Paula claims the good doctor is abusing her and wants Bob to take her away, and she isn't pleased when he refuses. Jungle Woman is the rare sequel that is better than the original, with a more interesting storyline, much more action, and much more of our delightfully dangerous title character. Evelyn Ankers and Milburn Stone reprise their roles but don't have much to do with the main plot this time. Douglass Dumbrille and Pierre Watkin have small supporting roles. Richard Davis was a handsome, adept actor but he only appeared in two films, this and Hat Check Honey. An intriguing aspect of the movie is when it is suggested that Paula was originally a human being who was turned into an ape (then back again), along the lines of "The Island of Dr. Moreau," but although this is mentioned by Fred it isn't followed up on. 

Vicky Lane as the unfortunate Paula

The Jungle Captive is the last film in the trilogy. This time the scientist who brings Paula the Ape Woman back to life is Mr. Stendahl (Otto Kruger), an evil son-of-a-gun who even uses his pretty assistant Ann's (Amelita Ward) blood to help revive the hairy Paula Dupree. Rondo Hatton, with his sad, sensitive face, plays a brutal assistant of Stendahl's, Moloch, who develops a soft spot for Ann. Vicky Lane replaces Acquanetta as Paula Dupree (Lane appeared in one TV episode after this and then left show biz). In her Ape Woman make up Lane looks more like a wolf woman. The script gives her very little to do. Jerome Cowan plays Inspector Harrigan, who is investigating the theft of the Ape Woman's body from the morgue and the murder of one of the attendants, while Phil Brown is Ann's co-worker and fiance. This is the last and least of the Ape Woman films, only proving that Universal had no clue as to how to handle the character, completely failing to exploit any of the Ape Woman's distinct possibilities. The actors do their best with fifth-rate material.

Verdict: Captive Wild Woman: Farfetched but fun enough. **1/2.

              Jungle Woman: Some real suspense in this. ***. 

              The Jungle Captive: Disappointing to say the least. *1/2.  

SMOOTH AS SILK

Milburn Stone, Kent Taylor, Virginia Grey

SMOOTH AS SILK (1946). Director: Charles Barton. Colorized.

Defense attorney Mark Fenton (Kent Taylor) and prosecutor John Kimble (Milburn Stone) have been friendly enemies for years, but there are complications when Fenton becomes engaged to actress Paula Marlowe (Virginia Grey). She desperately hopes that producer Stephen Elliott (John Litel) will star her in his next production, which seems a given after Fenton successfully defends Elliott's nephew, Don (Danny Morton), in a vehicular manslaughter case; Don is guilty as sin. However, Elliott has other plans for the role until Paula begins to work her wiles on him, igniting intense jealousy in Fenton. He concocts a scheme to take out his rival, but will he get away with it ...?

John Litel and Danny Morton

Smooth as Silk is a short, fast-paced crime melodrama that boasts some fine performances, with Taylor [The Crimson Key] on top of things as the reptilian lawyer; Litel [Runaway Daughters] effective as the lustful producer; Milburn Stone [Swing It Professor] lending solid support; and Grey [Black Zoo] practically stealing the show as the bitch Paula who uses men right and left in one career move after another. Danny Morton was also in The Mysterious Mr. M. 

Verdict: Absorbing if minor meller. **1/2. 

STRANGE CONQUEST

Peter Cookson

STRANGE CONQUEST (1946). Director: John Rawlins.

Dr. Mary Palmer (Jane Wyatt) is quite put out when told that she can't join  Dr. Harris (Lowell Gilmore) at a research post in Sumatra because she's a woman. She's even more annoyed when she learns that her replacement is Dr. Bill Sommers (Peter Cookson of Fear), whose family is backing the foundation. When Bill arrives in Sumatra he is not warmly welcomed by Dr. Harris or his associate Bert (Milburn Stone of Swing It Professor), because they were expecting a more experienced doctor. Harris and Sommers both try to concoct a vaccine (or "serum") for something called "Black Grass Fever," which has already killed the man Sommers is replacing. Half an hour later in the running time Mary does get to meet Dr. Harris, although by this time he's impersonating Dr. Sommers. And then  Sommer's wife (Julie Bishop of Lady Gangster) shows up ...

Peter Cookson with Lowell Gilmore

I have withheld some of the plot details because the movie is unpredictable unless you've seen the previous version, which is called The Crime of Dr. Hallet. I think this film is meant to be ennobling and touching but it simply isn't convincing enough to do so. For that the actors cannot be faulted because everyone is perfectly on target, especially Cookson in one of his best portrayals. Cookson played Morris Townsend on Broadway in "The Heiress," but when the film was made the better-known Montgomery Clift got the part. Cookson would also have been marvelous and might have had an entirely different career had he been in the film version. Instead he mostly did cheap pictures for Monogram, and on occasion, bigger studios like Universal, which released Strange Conquest. 

Gilmore with Jane Wyatt

Lowell Gilmore was also an attractive and talented leading man type, but after a few movies, including The Picture of Dorian Gray, most of his credits were for television series. Jane Wyatt became more famous for Father Knows Best than anything else, but she did quite a few films earlier in her career. The synopsis on IMDB.com makes this sound like a film about a romantic triangle, but that is not the case. Wyatt is the only actor in this who is billed above the title. 

Verdict: Half-baked melodrama has a very adept cast. **1/2. 

SWING IT PROFESSOR

Pinky Tomlin

SWING IT PROFESSOR (1937). Director: Marshall Neilan. 

Professor Artemis J. Roberts (Pinky Tomlin) doesn't much care for swing music, but the members of the board of the music college where he is employed -- all of whom are significantly older than him -- think he's not very hip and fire him. Through circumstances not that interesting to tell, Artemis winds up being front man for a nightclub owned by Lou Morgan (Milburn Stone of Inside Job). There he catches the eye of singer Teddy Ross (Paula Stone), while Artemis' former pupil, Joan (Mary Kornman), finds herself the object of Lou's personal interest. 

Milburn Stone and Paula Stone

None of this leads into anything terribly exciting, even when a gangster named Randall (Bill Elliott) shows up with his thugs in tow. There are, however, some pleasant song numbers, including "Old-Fashioned Melody;" and "Richer Than a Millionaire." An admittedly charming bit occurs when some hobos start singing opera -- rather well, in fact -- and then join in for the latter tune. There is a trio of Three Stooges imitators who are called "The Gentle Maniacs;" they are terrible, and, mercifully, only appeared in one other movie. A climactic bit of business with a dozen cabs taking off in pursuit of Artemis does not engender any laughs. Milburn Stone and Paula Stone were cousins in real life. Paula was not especially pretty and she only had a few credits.

Musician/actor Pinky Tomlin has an unassuming, pleasant if highly un-dynamic personality and a singing voice that can best be described as okay and nothing more. Despite her terrible moniker, the undistinguished Mary Kornman amassed quite a few credits while Bill Elliott appeared in over 260 vehicles. 

Verdict: Gotta love that Pinky! **. 

INSIDE JOB (1946)

Alan Curtis and Ann Rutherford

INSIDE JOB (1946). Director: Jean Yarbrough. 

Eddie Norton (Alan Curtis) works as a kind of mechanical man in a department store window, and hides the fact that he is an ex-con because of a youthful indiscretion. His old "friend" Bart Madden (Preston Foster) threatens to tell his employers about his past if he doesn't help him rob the department store. You'd think Eddie would want no part of this scheme no matter what -- especially since Eddie took the fall for Bart --  but the dope not only eventually decides to go along with it but enlists his wife, Claire (Ann Rutherford), in his plans, which include ultimately cutting Madden out of the profit. But loose lips and a cute little boy with a cop father may prevent Eddie from realizing his larcenous ambitions.

Alan Curtis hatches plan

Inside Job features perhaps two of the dumbest protagonists in any movie. They seem to have no real skill at robbery or much of anything else. The three leads give solid performances, although Rutherford is not really the "gorgeous model" type that she is supposed to be (although she was cute enough to excite the interest of Andy Hardy when she played Polly Benedict). The movie glosses over details about the heist so that a lot of the plot doesn't make much sense. Midway through the movie it decides to drag in some sentiment with a cute neighbor kid (Jimmy Moss) next door as Eddie and Claire hide out after the heist. There's also a borderline cloying simple-minded nanny named "Ivory" (Ruby Dandridge, mother of Dorothy) and the kid's father, a cop named Thomas (Joe Sawyer). Marc Lawrence and Milburn Stone are also in the cast. The script for Inside Job is just too weak to make this a contender, but the uncompromising ending makes it clear that crime, in this case, really doesn't pay despite the fact that the couple are pretty much redeemed by their actions at the end. 

Verdict: Minor film noir with sentimental interludes. **.