The Naked Jungle
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Movie Reviews of The Naked Jungle
Movie Review: A Surprise At The Theater
Summary: 5 Stars
In junior high school, in an English book, I read a true story titled "Leinengen Versus the Ants", a good and interesting story for a school book.Years later, when I saw this movie, I realized that it is the same story. Surprise! Having read it in a school reader gave it authenticity to my mind. Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker gave it color and flavor. Very enjoyable movie.
Movie Review: Another Fine DVD Prospect!
Summary: 5 Stars
I still remember when I saw this movie as a teenager this absolutely otherworldly vision of a luxurious jungle mountain turning crimson red through a spectacular red ants invasion that was truly creepier than "Them". And of the ever-machismo Charlton Heston defying their multitudinous hordes all by himself (I'll let you guess who won)! I wonder why this fine jungle adventure is not on DVD yet! I, for one, look forward to it (in WideScreen please!).Movie Review: Beware of the soldier ants
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Naked Jungle' has always been a favourite of mine since the days when it used to pop up every six months or so on our local television late at night. Surprisingly it is still not a well known film and is largely forgotten as an early Charlton Heston vechicle. It has many similiarities in theme to Paramount's "Elephant Walk" starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch and even has a cross over of cast in the talented Abraham Sofaer who appears as an Indian manservant in both films. While the other film had elephants as its main point of interest the little creatures in this film are far more deadly and make for a much scarier scenerio whereby the dreaded South American soldier ants literally eat anything that moves, thus having a lot more potential for an exciting climax to the story.Indeed exciting and well made are two terms best used to describe this film. It tells the story of an isolated and fairly anti social self made young man Christopher Leiningen who has carved out an empire for himself on a coffee plantation far up the Amazon river in South America. To continue his empire he seeks a wife and advertises for a bride. His brother in New Orleans finds him the perfect woman in the form of Eleanor Parker who is refined, well educated and spunky with a mind of her own. The first part of the film shows their clash of wills and their eventual growing respect for each other prior to the last part of the story where their whole existence is threatened by a moving mountain of deadly soldier ants that threaten to wipe out everything in their path. This makes for the really exciting finale to the film which I wont reveal for those of you who have not seen the film yet.
Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker make a great couple in this film and their screen chemistry is really electric here. Parker, still best known as the Baroness in "The Sound Of Music" brings to her role the rare combination of refinement and gutsiness which contrasts beautifully with Heston's no nonsense man of few words. During the more leisurely first half of the film the two alternately clash, in particular after Christopher learns that Joanna has been previously married and is thus in his mind soiled goods, and then develop feelings for each other while learning more about themselvesin the process.
The tone of the film changes dramatically in the second half and what we witness then are the really superb special effects and production values after the killer ants begin their march on the plantation. This part of the film contains some quite horrifying and disturbing scenes that even today are not for the squeamish. It is all done in a highly believable and vivid manner and the climax that sees the flooding of the plantation has rarely been equalled in terms of special effects.
"The Naked Jungle" benefits greatly from the beautiful on location photography employed and the vivid colour which really brings the South American locale alive. The film can be enjoyed on a number of levels, firstly as a well acted drama that for once shows a strong ,intelligent and self assured female lead bouncing off the lead male and secondly as a rivetting adventure tale filled with exciting and eye popping special effects that create quite a frightening vision. It has it all, action, romance, terror , and excitement which is often hard to find in current films. Enjoy "The Naked Jungle" and I can assure you you will never think of ants in the same way again!
Movie Review: South American "Heel With A Heart" vs. The Ants Plus Eleanor
Summary: 5 Stars
Lydia Heston, Charlton Heston's wife, once identified many of his most successful roles as being "heel with a heart" characterizations. "The Naked Jungle" is an excellent example of this theory . . . and also a damn fine movie, adapted from the classic short story, "Leningen vs. the Ants." Christopher Leningen is a determined and very lonely young man who has carved out a plantation (product: cocoa beans) and now is looking for a wife. Through his brother (who we do not see), he finds a wife and marries her by proxy, then has her brought to the plantation. As played by Eleanor Parker (the fine actress of "Caged," known by "Sound of Music" fans as Elsa the arch-villainess), Joanna is just as strong-willed as Christopher . . . resulting in a considerable psychological war-of-the-sexes. The excellent script, superb direction, and wonderful production values all add to make this a terrific viewing experience . . . and don't look now, but there's William Conrad, the classic radio actor and television star! "Elephant Walk," with an also excellent cast of Peter Finch, Elizabeth Taylor and Dana Andrews, was coincidentally released the same year and has a similar theme, but "The Naked Jungle" remains the better movie, not just for the reasons mentioned, but also because the physical enemy is far more unlikely. (Hint: You'll get the urge to itch before the end of "Naked Jungle"!) Don't be mislead by the title; this is not a cheesy, exploitational film, although some nice metaphoric language in the script, plus the tremendous physicality of Heston and Parker, create some obvious erotic tension. Not exactly the ultimate movie about South America, as one reviewer claimed, and not the imperialist fantasy that another reviewer stated, but a great adventure yarn featuring two strong people going up against the elements . . . and themselves.Movie Review: The Naked Jungle: To Tame Nature is Risky
Summary: 4 Stars
One of Hollywood's favorite themes is the hero's attempt to remake nature in his own image. Sometimes the arena is Wall Street, sometimes a Wild West town, and sometimes a Brazilian jungle. In THE NAKED JUNGLE, director Byron Haskin has created a vastly underappreciated film that combines action/adventure with romance. Usually, for this kind of hybrid movie to resonate with the audience, there must be present a thematic 'hook' with which viewers can connect viscerally either to the hero or the plot. In this case, Charlton Heston, who plays Christopher Leiningen, provides this hook as he presents himself as a man on a self-appointed mission to tame a wilderness that beckons to him. Years before the movie begins, he entered the Amazon with little more than his unswerving determination to twist nature into his own divine plan. He hews out of the jungle an empire in which the natives serve him as a medieval lord. And as a lord, he has a moat and castle filled with the rudiments of civilization that remind him daily that to rule without a queen is hardly to rule at all. He chooses not to avail himself of the company of native women, any one of whom presumably would jump at the chance to be his consort. His mania for quality possessions carries over to his idealized vision of a Virgin Queen. He sends to the United States for a mail order bride in much the same way that he sends for the objects that fill his castle. He insists on numbers and quantifiable components to his many dreams. Just as he once ordered 800 pounds of classic books to fill his library, he now orders a virgin bride (Eleanor Parker), who is gorgeous, blond, articulate. Unfortunately, she was previously married and his perception of her as 'used goods' sets up the tension for the first half of the film. The focus in the second half shifts to another form of nature that also resists his control. The natives call it 'marabunta,' a 20 mile wide by 2 mile long army of voracious ants, consuming all in its path.There are several outstanding scenes that make this film work. Heston's interpretation of the monomaniacal medieval ruler begins to soften as he realizes that there are some aspects of nature that resist taming. He can carve out a jungle empire with his bare hands. He can even confront a marauding ant army with those same hands, but when he faces a woman who has her own ideas about her place in his Amazon landscape, then he is forced to acknowledge that to get, he must first give. His ruined forest is a small price to pay to learn this eternal truism.