The Savage Girl (1932)

Too much of everything

How sad is this?

Excellent adaptation.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

THE SAVAGE GIRL is an early jungle adventure outing put out in 1932 just after the advent of the talkies. It doesn't really feel as old as it is, looking and feeling more like a 1940s programmer than a film made this early. The simplistic story is little more than a gender twist variant on the old Tarzan story, with plot elements that creak from overuse.A bunch of characters decide to head into the African wilds in order to get some game for a millionaire's zoo. One of them tries to show his progressive attitudes by saying he's never killed an animal that didn't attack him first (big deal). The comic relief drunk character is a good addition to the mix.On arrival in Africa, they're confronted by endless stock wildlife scenes of leopards, chimpanzees, and elephants, and also the titular character, who randomly has a full face of make up despite never having encountered man before. Not much happens other than characters wandering around to waste time, although the titular character's appearance is quite racy for the era.

"An eccentric millionaire with a fondness for the drink hires a famous African explorer to organize an expedition to the jungles of the Dark Continent. This strange expedition in search of animals to stock the millionaire's private zoo includes a German big game hunter and a London cabbie with his cab to transport the millionaire in the jungle. Once the expedition arrives and they begin their hunt, they find their efforts to capture any animals are being thwarted by a mysterious white jungle girl," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Cheap "jungle girl" fantasy, with beautiful and exotic Rochelle Hudson (as "The White Goddess") far too over-dressed (in a one-piece leopard suit) for today's tastes. The camera finds her legs lovingly, though these shots must have been sexier before the film hit the cutting room. Veteran "Biograph" player Harry Myers (as Amos P. Stitch) has a terrific role as the perpetually intoxicated sidekick for hero Walter Byron (as Jim Franklin). Out to see if elephants are afraid of mice, Mr. Myers' decently played drunk steals the show.**** The Savage Girl (12/5/32) Harry Fraser ~ Walter Byron, Rochelle Hudson, Harry Myers

Eccentric millionaire Stitch (Harry C. Myers) decides to go to Africa one day in order to catch a few animals for his new zoo. Since the cab driver mentions he'd love to go to Africa himself, Stitch invites him along and they go across the jungle in that taxi. Rather unique, I'd say. Along with the experienced hunter Franklyn (Walter Byron), they find the adventure they are looking for and meet the white jungle goddess (Rochelle Hudson), only to be faced with treachery and dangerous natives etc. in a life-or-death struggle."The Savage Girl" may not be on the same production level as "Tarzan the Ape Man" which was shot in the same year and featured Maureen O'Sullivan in her first appearance as Jane. However, it is still good fun and an important early predecessor for many films about jungle women that followed. Rochelle Hudson doesn't only have killer looks, but also the acting abilities to express a lot of things without words, from curiosity to anger. Unfortunately, she has to scream for help a bit too often. In later movies of the genre, jungle goddesses obtained more power over animals and men so if you said they rule the jungle, it sounded more true than in this case.

African explorer Jim Franklin is hired by perpetual drunkard and eccentric millionaire Amos P. Stitch on a whim, to capture animals to stock a private zoo on his Westchester estate. On the way to Africa they pick up a London cabbie and his cab to drive Stitch on the safari, and in Africa they hire Alex Bernouth, a German jungle guide, and Oscar, a Harlemite who wants to get back to New York.Their expedition is observed by The White Goddess, a white jungle girl who warns the animals against being captured and releases the animals they do capture. They catch her by luring her with a shiny object -- a hand mirror -- and the expected complications ensue. Meanwhile, Stitch conducts an experiment with an imported white mouse to see whether elephants in the wild are really afraid of mice.Low-budget writer, director, and producer Harry L. Fraser worked on a number of similar jungle, gorilla, and white-orphans-raised-by-animals pictures from the 1920's through the 1940's, but none of the others had Rochelle Hudson swinging from vines. This may have been a cut-rate, opposite-sex version of Tarzan the Ape Man, which was made the same year, but it's fun on its own terms.