Search - The Lost Jungle, Vol. 2 on DVD

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears (and leopards and more)

Lonnie E. Holder | Columbus, Indiana, United States | 01/30/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I had never watched a movie quite like this one. The animal scenes were quite real and the animals appeared to have been injured in the process. I am a big fan of documentaries, but knowing that the scenes where predators were in close proximity to herbivores was staged offended even my usual open-minded sensibilities.

This movie was a serial, and you need both volume 1 and volume 2 to have the whole thing. The plot is simple. Animal trainer Clyde Beatty (playing himself) heads off after girl friend Ruth Robinson (Cecilia Parker) after she and her father disappear during an expedition. Clyde takes a dirigible across the ocean, but the dirigible encounters a storm, as can be seen by cheesy animated effects.

The dirigible lands on an island. It just so happens that Ruth and her father are on the same island. Sharkey (Warner Richmond) keeps trying to sabotage Beatty's efforts, and he lands on the island by parachute, unbeknownst to everyone else. Sharkey finds Ruth's father and the treasure, and is looking for the captain of the ship so that he can leave the island. Unfortunately for Sharkey, his character meets the stereotypical ironic ending.

In the end, the good guys get the critters, the jewels and the babe. Isn't everyone happy?

This movie is quite anachronistic. We know that no islands exist with the variety of animals shown in this movie. Also, the predator density was too high to be sustained. Lastly, this island had African lions and North American mountain lions, which is a good trick in any era. On the other hand, if you can suspend your common sense and knowledge of the world, and you can ignore the cruelty to the animals in the movie (though the cruelty shown was not considered cruel in that era), this movie is an interesting artifact of another era.
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Clyde Beatty the world`s greatest wild animal trainer

Neil E Davis | Bainbridge, Ohio USA | 07/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Clyde Beatty the world`s greatest wild animal trainer always said you can train a wild animal but never tame them.Keep this in mind while watching this exciting 1930`s tale of Clyde marooned on an island overrun with wild animals,crooks and treasure.There are no special effects when Clyde faces the big cats.You also get to see Mr. Beatty`s incredible circus act.The quality is excellent in all twelve epicodes of this black and white serial.Clyde Beatty was born in the year of 1906 in the small town of Bainbridge,Ohio and was to become the greatest wild animal trainer ever known then or since.He was a super star of the circus,movies,radio and television.He authored three excellant books on the subject of animal training and behaviour.Buy and view this DVD.You will NOT be disappointed."

Watch It For The Animals...

Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein | under the rubble | 07/27/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Sure, the story is wacky and the characters are weak, but hey, those animals are grrreat! Clyde Beatty spends all of his time training and performing with his host of lions, tigers, leopards, and bears. So much so, that he doesn't even notice when his girlfriend leaves with her father on a quest for a legendary island, inhabited by both Asian tigers and African lions! Soon, Clyde takes off in a derigible, only to wind up on the same mysterious island! Enter the wild animals (yep, even bears) and Clyde's hypnotic gaze. Forget the dopey story and just enjoy this jungle-circus! Watch for an ultra-young Mickey Rooney (he's the kid with the dog) at the beginning..."

Jungle Boogie

Laughing Gravy | Sacramento, CA United States | 11/14/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The first chapter of this serial is definitely the highlight, as Clyde Beatty's jealous assistant Sharkey (Warner Richmond) tries to kill him by letting an untrained, savage lion into Clyde's training area. Hey, Clyde eats untrained, savage lions for breakfast, so to speak, and soon has the lion juggling bowling pins while it balances on a tightrope and whistles "Camptown Races". Metaphorically speaking.

Anyway, things happen fast, so strap yourselves in. Clyde's girlfriend Ruth (Cecelia Parker) accompanies her father, a sea captain, and his crew in search of a lost island full of treasure. Well, they find it, all right, but the island - which was once part of a giant trans-world land mass that apparently included North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and Patterson, New Jersey, is home to wild lions, tigers, bears, three-toed sloths, gorillas, goats, alligators, and sex-crazed scooter stingers, all of which will kill ya quick as look at ya.

Clyde, his pal Larry (Syd Saylor, who is terrible), and Sharkey the Jealous Assistant take a dirigible cruise, and the dirigible crashes on the same lost island. Lucky for everybody, because Clyde has a "hypnotic stare" that can glare down animals and force them to his bidding. Talk about your game face. After 12 chapters of running around willy-nilly, the treasure is in hand and they all live happily ever after.

Clyde Beatty was no actor, but he looked really good in jodhpurs, and how many people can you say that about? The cast is very interesting, especially if you love the Andy Hardy pictures, as Mickey Rooney has a bit part (chewing the scenery something fierce) in the first episode, and Cecilia Parker (Ruth) played Andy's big sister in the series. Edward LeSaint, Ruth's seafaring father, appeared in roughly 3,000 movies, nearly all of them as a kindly doctor or a judge (that's him on the bench in the Three Stooges' short DISORDER IN THE COURT).

Special mention must be made of the "lost city" that's in a big cavern on the island. It's actually a "lost house", and it appears to be made of stucco and drywall with metal doors with rivets in them. I mean, it is unlike any "lost temple" you've ever seen; it seems more like an abandoned haunted house in an Our Gang film, right down to the cobweb-covered chandelier. Of course, it DOES have an alligator pit full of hungry gators (who nearly, but alas do not, chew up Syd Saylor). It also has a killer gorilla roaming about, and if you watch National Geographic specials or GORILLAS IN THE MIST and you think the great apes are benign, peaceful fellows, well, forget it. This one isn't, but I suspect that he must have a thorn in his paw or hemorrhoids or something. Or maybe he just caught a glimpse of Saylor's act and he's enraged. In any case, although the ape is unbilled, I suspect he's Charles Gemora, for no reason other than he looks like Charles Gemora, and I mean that in a professional way, so if any of Mr. Gemora's descendents are reading this, please don't think ill of me.

This is a fun serial, Mr. Saylor notwithstanding, the Alpha print is okay, and while there are a lot of better serials available on DVD, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one with a leading man who can stare down tigers.


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