In this story of a woman desperate to hold onto her youth, the men come off as the biggest collections of jerks, a-holes, and rotten users ever. They are all portrayed as being shallow, stupid, and driven by sex. Dr. Talbot, husband of the 'Leech woman' is the worst of them all, but none of them are any good. Dr. Talbot is cruel to his alcoholic wife just because she is starting to look a little aged - she is about ten years older than he is. Apparently he wanted her only for her looks. When an ancient black woman comes to his office and offers him the secret of rejuvenation which her African tribe knows, he takes advantage of his emotionally vulnerable wife so that he can take her to Africa and use this secret on her to make her young again. Then he'll be rich AND he'll have his good-looking young wife back. Disgusting.
Almost as horrible is the oddly accented guide in 'Africa'. As the MST3K crew says, this guy couldn't guide you through a petting zoo. And the moment the youth wears off, he tries to run away from June(the Leech woman)as though she has a contagious disease. This after he slept with her. Jerk. She uses his pineal gland juice(how does a woman who has no training manage to hit that tiny little gland straight on every time, I wonder?)after he falls in some quicksand. A death that is thoroughly deserved, in my mind.
June goes back to the states and preys on sleazes and scumbags of all kinds to stay young. Then she throws herself on the lawyer Neil, who is the third of the horrible trio. He throws over his long established fiancée just because he might be able to get laid with a slightly better looking woman. Unfortunately this rat DOESN'T get killed, which is too damn bad. I sympathize with June, actually, a woman living in a world where men appreciate her only for her looks. She's surrounded by these awful men, and she obviously adores men. These are the only things she's got to work with, so she does the best she can with a bad deal. According to this movie, men are just plain horrible. Maybe that wasn't what the movie makers intended to convey with this cautionary tale, but that's what it comes out looking like in the end.
The funniest parts of this film are the fake Africa sets and the ridiculous 'Africans', whose dance routines are just hysterical. And when they cut stock footage of real African tribes in, you're left howling with laughter at the difference. That, and the make-up job they did on the ever aging June are also quite amusing. The fact that this movie has some good ideas and information cut into what is a stock footage marathon and an abysmal acting-fest is what makes it the funniest of all, however. I love these old fifties movies that take a few pieces of factual information and surround them with ridiculous plots, wooden dialog, and laughable sets.
Almost as horrible is the oddly accented guide in 'Africa'. As the MST3K crew says, this guy couldn't guide you through a petting zoo. And the moment the youth wears off, he tries to run away from June(the Leech woman)as though she has a contagious disease. This after he slept with her. Jerk. She uses his pineal gland juice(how does a woman who has no training manage to hit that tiny little gland straight on every time, I wonder?)after he falls in some quicksand. A death that is thoroughly deserved, in my mind.
June goes back to the states and preys on sleazes and scumbags of all kinds to stay young. Then she throws herself on the lawyer Neil, who is the third of the horrible trio. He throws over his long established fiancée just because he might be able to get laid with a slightly better looking woman. Unfortunately this rat DOESN'T get killed, which is too damn bad. I sympathize with June, actually, a woman living in a world where men appreciate her only for her looks. She's surrounded by these awful men, and she obviously adores men. These are the only things she's got to work with, so she does the best she can with a bad deal. According to this movie, men are just plain horrible. Maybe that wasn't what the movie makers intended to convey with this cautionary tale, but that's what it comes out looking like in the end.
The funniest parts of this film are the fake Africa sets and the ridiculous 'Africans', whose dance routines are just hysterical. And when they cut stock footage of real African tribes in, you're left howling with laughter at the difference. That, and the make-up job they did on the ever aging June are also quite amusing. The fact that this movie has some good ideas and information cut into what is a stock footage marathon and an abysmal acting-fest is what makes it the funniest of all, however. I love these old fifties movies that take a few pieces of factual information and surround them with ridiculous plots, wooden dialog, and laughable sets.