The Wild Women of Wongo (1958)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Well you sure can't say that this camp classic does not have a memorable synopsis. Mother Nature has decided to experiment a little. Two primitive tribes live on opposite sides of an island but with a difference. The Wongo have beautiful women but ugly men, while the Goona have dreamy guys but unattractive gals. An attack by a tribe of savage ape-men from overseas brings both groups together. And the natural order of things falls into place. The message of the movie, cheerfully delivered, is that good looking people and ugly people should really stick together, it's better for everyone in the end. It's not a very right-on sentiment nowadays of course but it is a hilarious one for an old movie to base itself around. Consequently, The Wild Women of Wongo is a very memorable bit of nonsense.It can probably be regarded as an early sexploitation flick. Although admittedly with no nudity. But by late 50's standards I guess those girls in leopard skin bikinis was pretty racy stuff. They even, predictably, have a cat fight too. The main focus is also unsurprisingly on the hot Wonga women. They are banished by their slack-jawed male tribesmen for intervening and saving one of the dishy Goona guys from an execution. They travel through the jungle to visit a priestess and engage in an elaborate 'dance of the dragon god'. The 'dragon god' itself was simply an alligator, which seemed somewhat ridiculous. But why question anything in this madness? We also have another prominent animal character - a wise cracking, talking parrot, who doesn't really seem to serve any overall purpose to be perfectly honest. I think the film-makers just threw in everything they had at their disposal and wrote it vaguely into the plot. Also of note is the fact that the ape-men, who are the catalyst for the entire story, are only seen in one scene and by the end of the film are completely forgotten about; in fact, they seemed to have simply gone away.This is a good laugh. I liked its sheer trashiness. And wait until you get to that ending scene where the hunks wink back at us all one by one…dreamy

About 10,000 years ago "Mother Nature" and "Father Time" conducted an experiment. They put all of Earth's beautiful women and brutish men together in "Wongo" (a village). Their opposites, the ugly women and handsome men reside in "Goona" (a tribe). This must have led to some arguments with agents during casting calls - "What? You had me audition with the ugly group!" Anyway, the twain meets when some "Ape Men" invade the handsome male-inhabited "Goona" (it's not what you think, and it isn't even shown).This leads to handsome young Johnny Walsh (as Engor) discovering the tribe of beautiful women. Since Mr. Walsh turns the pretty females on, their ugly mates try to kill him. But, pretty Jean Hawkshaw (as Omoo) and her lovely young friends save his handsomeness. Eventually, the beautiful young women find more handsome young men. The men are tied up to be sacrificed to the "Dragon God" - however, with everyone being so good-looking, plans could change… A parrot pontificates on what is happening.** The Wild Women of Wongo (1958) James L. Wolcott ~ Jean Hawkshaw, Johnny Walsh, Ed Fury, Mary Ann Webb

Jungle women exploitation, if you can call it that, with a sandy beach full of lovely girls in tailored animal skin dresses (over bikini bottoms, no less) struggling to avoid the dreadful fate of marrying the brutish men of their own tribe. The acting is awful, with primitive dialog and awkward pauses that don't help. They're pretty much all equally stiff, men and women alike, with 1950s hairstyles and a comical mix of accents. The director doesn't do them any favors, cutting in awkward reaction shots and inserts that don't match.The women--tho pretty--don't get wild for the first half hour, and even then it's only 1958 wild, which is to say tame enough for afternoon TV. Once their own men disappear, the ladies do a little dancing, a little swimming, fight off a couple of ape men, have a quick catfight, and go off to rustle the beefcake of the Goona tribe. Despite the refreshing protofeminism motif, the Scooby Doo plotting is painful. But the film is shot in color--partly on beautiful beaches and partly at the strange Coral Castle--so it looks pretty good, depending on the print you happen to see.As film-making, it's strictly hack work. As exploitation, it's less titillating than a stroll on the beach--even back in '58.

This is a . . .great movie! Yes, that's right. If you're looking for better acting, check out the Spring Shakespeare production at your local high school.However, if you want to see some sexy women as they were portrayed in the 1950s, start RIGHT HERE. Not only do you get to see voluptuous shapely figures and attractive faces, but hey, at one point a gang of spear-wielding women drive two would-be rapists to their deaths. Then they tie up men and make them march. 1950s Betty Friedan! Right on! There's even a girl fight in the sand; a precursor to our sexually provocative modern-day mud wrestling and wet T-shirt nights.I'll take this over that Spielberg crap any day.To enhance your experience, get a copy of the Tube's Wild Women of Wongo, a great song on their gold seller Outside Inside album. Play this music on your stereo in continuous loop mode simultaneously with the movie soundtrack.By the way, you can watch the movie for free at http://video.google.com/videoplay? docid=1694106186353825572& q=type%3Asv_classicmovies (remove the spaces in this URL)