1944's "The Jungle Captive" concluded Universal's Paula Dupree trilogy, a cut above the second, "Jungle Woman," neither as good as "Captive Wild Woman." Of the three, only "Jungle Woman" was not included in the 1958 Son of Shock television package, all three finally gathered together in MCA's massive 1972 collection 77 Horror Greats. "The Jungle Captive" made two appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater (9 years apart), unencumbered by the interminable stock animal footage that cluttered up previous entries, here a more straightforward mad scientist endeavor with Otto Kruger as pathologist Stendahl, whose assistant, billed in the ads as 'Moloch the Brute,' is played by Rondo Hatton, still a year away from his famous Creeper series (both produced by Ben Pivar). With Acquanetta having departed Universal, the role of Paula Dupree now went to unknown actress Vicky Lane, who had an even shorter career than her predecessor, having completed just one featured role before this, which ended up her final film. At least The Ape Woman (now mute again, unlike in "Jungle Woman") gets to briefly walk around in full bestial Jack Pierce makeup (lovely Vicky also gets a more skimpy wardrobe than Acquanetta, who wore less only for the posters). Aside from the catatonic Paula no other characters return, though the doctors played by John Carradine and J. Carrol Naish both get a mention; with a helpless heroine in Amelita Ward, hapless hero in Phil Brown, plus the absence of the 'Venezuelan Volcano,' the short series comes to a merciful end in a pointless sequel filled with padding that offers nothing but running time until the painfully predictable climax. Rondo's famous features and gravelly voice at least enjoy what must have been his largest role yet, Universal pleased enough to move forward with three more starring vehicles in 1945.
Review of The Jungle Captive
