A Goof

If you look carefully at the sign hanging on the gate of mad doctor Walters' (John Carradine) mansion, it reads "Crestview Sanatarium." The correct spelling should be "Crestview SANITARIUM."*

That aside, this preposterous film is a lot of fun. Milburn Stone is supposed to be a lion tamer, but in the close shots, it is obvious that the person doing the actual taming is the much taller and thinner real-life animal trainer Clyde Beatty.

Stone, (who we all remember as "Doc" on the TV series "Gunsmoke") does a pretty capable acting job. So does Carradine, who manages to play down his usual bombastic rhetoric. His Dr. Walters is basically a sympathetic character, soft-spoken and dedicated. His obsession with vivisection is the thing that invevitably destroys him.

Walters' madness about the mute woman Paula (nee Cheela the gorilla) is not all that difficult to understand. As played by the gorgeous Acquanetta, who is for the most part bedecked in tight-fitting midriff-less clothes, is a sight to make any man, doctor or layman, lay right down in her path and say, "stomp on me, please!" It is amazing how this woman stands out in this 1943 film as someone who could be a contemporary. It is not just her spectacular figure, or her dark, hypnotic eyes. She has a presence that goes 'way beyond the passing of the years and right into the modern libido.


*This shot, along with several others, was duplicated in the sequel, "Jungle Woman," with J. Carroll Naish replacing Carradine as the doctor. Naish is the hero of this film, with none of the madness that made Carradine's performance so memorable. Unfortunately, Naish's attempts to be humble and bemused fall terribly flat, and he gives a dull, lifeless, embarrasssing performance.


Acquanetta is also back as Paula. This time she speaks and is still as alluring as ever, but dash it all, they have her covered up in long dresses. Her super-lovely legs (not to mention that maddening midriff) are never seen.