The Jungle Jim series of movies starring Johnny Weissmuller came to somewhat of an ambiguous close with "Jungle Man-Eaters", as there were none of those to be found in the entire movie, unless you consider the lion that did battle with the penned bull in the early part of the story. It was an ignominious defeat for the king of beasts, gored unremittingly by the enraged bull, only to be stabbed to death by Jim attempting to save the less than sure footed Zuwaba (Bernie Hamilton) who fell into the pen. Remarkably, Jim made it to the end of the series without ever shedding a drop of blood in encounters with all manner of jungle beasts and underwater denizens of the deep.
The film has probably the most wild animal footage of any in the franchise, virtually all stock footage, including a quick peek at a South American aardvark who must have lost his way. Not only did this flick continue the tradition of inserting non-native African animals at least once in the picture, but there was also a major gaffe in terms of geography. At one point Jungle Jim mentions to Inspector Bernard (Richard Wyler) that in just a few more miles they'll hit the coast just below Nairobi. The intrepid explorer should have consulted a map this time, because Nairobi lies many miles inland, with the country of Tanzania to the south, although in the 1950's, it was called Tanganyika.
The story involves a diamond smuggling operation and meanders back and forth between a warring tribe led by Zulu of the Moro's, and that of Zuwaba of the Kambazi's. The discovery of a new diamond mine threatens to flood the market, and it's incumbent upon Inspector Bernard to stop the smugglers and preserve the value of diamonds for his syndicate. It all sounds pretty impressive, but geez, can you ever have too many diamonds on the world market? Apparently not, as one of Weissmuller's next movies also involved stolen diamonds in 1955's "Jungle Moon Men", another film having nothing to do with the title.
All of the Jungle Jim pictures were pretty brainless as far as plot and story goes, but they served as entertainment for an earlier era with a great deal less sophistication. Watching them today makes for interesting curiosity pieces if only to see how far film making has come. As if to underscore that point, there's a scene in this picture when Jim guesses the identity of the white man inciting the warring Moro's. Commissioner Kingston's (Lester Matthews) reply says it best - "It all fits Jim". If only that were so.
The film has probably the most wild animal footage of any in the franchise, virtually all stock footage, including a quick peek at a South American aardvark who must have lost his way. Not only did this flick continue the tradition of inserting non-native African animals at least once in the picture, but there was also a major gaffe in terms of geography. At one point Jungle Jim mentions to Inspector Bernard (Richard Wyler) that in just a few more miles they'll hit the coast just below Nairobi. The intrepid explorer should have consulted a map this time, because Nairobi lies many miles inland, with the country of Tanzania to the south, although in the 1950's, it was called Tanganyika.
The story involves a diamond smuggling operation and meanders back and forth between a warring tribe led by Zulu of the Moro's, and that of Zuwaba of the Kambazi's. The discovery of a new diamond mine threatens to flood the market, and it's incumbent upon Inspector Bernard to stop the smugglers and preserve the value of diamonds for his syndicate. It all sounds pretty impressive, but geez, can you ever have too many diamonds on the world market? Apparently not, as one of Weissmuller's next movies also involved stolen diamonds in 1955's "Jungle Moon Men", another film having nothing to do with the title.
All of the Jungle Jim pictures were pretty brainless as far as plot and story goes, but they served as entertainment for an earlier era with a great deal less sophistication. Watching them today makes for interesting curiosity pieces if only to see how far film making has come. As if to underscore that point, there's a scene in this picture when Jim guesses the identity of the white man inciting the warring Moro's. Commissioner Kingston's (Lester Matthews) reply says it best - "It all fits Jim". If only that were so.