Duel in the Jungle (1954)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Absolutely brilliant

A Masterpiece!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

British made Technicolor flick that really shows off Jeanne Crain's carrot top to advantage. She plays Marian Taylor: personal secretary to London-based diamond merchant Perry Henderson(David Farrar), who has recently taken out a life insurance policy of $2 million on himself, with his elderly mother as beneficiary. American insurance investigator Scott Walters is sent to London to check out why Perry would want such a large policy. There, Scott meets Perry's brother, with an office next door, and Perry's luscious private secretary: Marian. Scott takes an immediate personal interest in Marian, but she tries to dissuade his attempts to engage her. He even comes knocking on her apartment door after disturbing most of the other M. Taylors in the London phone book. Eventually, she informs him that she's engaged to Perry. Scott is also interested in her as a likely source of further information on the whereabouts of Perry, somewhere in Southern Africa. Separately, each takes a flight to Johannesburg. Scott discovers Marian has taken the same ship that Perry disappeared from, so Scott intercepts this ship at a small town, and discovers Marian on it. They both arrive at a small town, where Scott discovers Perry's mother. Meanwhile, Marian has hired some natives to take her on an expedition to a native village in the interior, where she thinks(why?) Perry's mother has gone. After discovering Marian's trip, Scott hires a jeep and driver to follow her. Eventually, he finds her, not pleased at first, but they board a canoe and go up the Zambezi River, portaging around impressive Victoria Falls, until they come to the village. They are shocked to find Perry, instead of his mother, there. Seems he slipped off the ship, made it to shore, and took backroads to this village. His plan was for his mother to collect the insurance money, and 'loan' it to him to finance the search for diamonds off the shore of East Africa(He should have chosen Namibia, on the west coast.) After some time, he would come out of hiding, and head this search. This fraud shocked Marian, who began to favor Scott. She and Scott took a canoe down the Zambezi river after a sneaky attempt to kill Scott failed. Near the head of Victoria Falls, they abandoned the canoe and roamed through the 'jungle', knowing that Perry was close behind in another canoe. Perry found them and began shooting at Scott, until another European showed up, with native support. Perry then ran to his canoe and paddled downstream, toward Victoria Falls, but capsized in the rapids, and was in danger drowning or being swept over the falls. Scott dove in and pulled his limp body to shore, where he recuperated. Presumably, the insurance policy was cancelled, Perry was apprehended for insurance fraud, and Scott and Marian strengthened their romance.The first part of the film is rather slow, emphasizing Scott chasing Marian. Once we get into the African bush, things pick up. We see glimpses of various savanna animals, close by the greenery near the river. We also get a decent look at part of Victoria Falls, although an aerial view would be needed to appreciate its vast horizontal scope. Nice to see real Africans, instead of African Americans dressed up like natives, to experience their chanting and drums in the village and on the trail.Jeanne was the token helpless female of the 'jungle' trek. She adequately served as eye candy, and as a bone of contention between the 2 male stars. It's not the most exciting jungle flick out there, but reasonably interesting. For a more exciting viewing experience, I suggest "Duel in the Sun".

When I saw the synopsis of this movie showing on our "oldies" channel, I was intrigued because it spoke of Rhodesia, jungle and coast in the same sentence. I was brought up in Rhodesia and there is certainly no jungle to speak of (just rain forests) and it's a land-locked country. So it seemed like a good idea to watch it and see what it was all about.I guess I was hyper-critical of all the inaccuracies because of my background. Things that other viewers may not notice. Such as lions and leopards roaming the rain forest. Neither inhabit the forests in my experience. And neither would be on the prowl during the heat of the day. And a cobra just hanging around in the grass waiting for someone to stand on it by accident! Not likely. And other "dangerous" snakes like the pythons in the pit. If Vincent were to fall into the pit, he would have caused them more harm than they him. And the "monkey" that threw out the luggage looked more like a chimp to me. Not a native of southern Africa.But the thing that amused me the most was the strange mix of languages used. Especially the use of the word "bwana". This is a Swahili (Arabic) word. Swahili is spoken in some parts of eastern Africa NOT southern Africa. So it was funny to hear Vincent say "bwana" followed by him speaking Zulu to his colleagues. In reality he would have said "baba". It was also funny to hear the one guy talking Afrikaans, because this is really only spoken in South Africa (not Rhodesia) although a lot of Rhodesians would have learned it as a foreign language. The license plate of the vehicle (TJ XXXX) they were driving was a Transvaal / Johannesburg plate so I guess they were in South Africa for that scene. I don't speak Swahili, so I can't say for certain if that is what Henderson was speaking. But it wasn't any language I was familiar with. But besides these sorts of things, it wasn't a bad movie. A bit predictable. The plot line contained the helpless, clueless woman of course. Pretty much standard for movies up until very recently, so not unexpected.The views of Victoria falls made it worth watching in my opinion. I have very happy memories of visiting the falls when they were still accessible like shown in the movie. Now there are safety rails everywhere.

This British-produced (albeit with American leads) film doesn't reach any great heights, but is a solid piece of entertainment.The plot is about insurance investigator Scott Walters (played by Dana Andrews) investigating the death of diamond dealer Henderson (played by David Farrar who went overboard on one of his own ships during a storm. Due to the large payout his company will make, Andrews is immediately suspicious and the more he investigates (travelling to Africa in the process), the more his suspicions grow.The mystery is a fairly intriguing one, although it's pretty obvious that Henderson will be found (especially as he's prominently listed in the credits), and the eventual explanation as to why he did it is rather hard to believe.The final section of the film is a confrontation between the two leads; seemingly Henderson has all the advantages being on his 'home turf' and having lots of locals working for him, but Scott Walters is a tougher and smarter foe than he anticipates.Jeanne Crain is effective as the woman who initially is in love with Henderson but eventually falls in love with Walters (despite disliking him for most of the film). The romance between Walters and Crain's character is effectively portrayed, although her naivety at not knowing Henderson's true plans is a bit of a stretch.Add in some nice African scenery, and you have a pleasant, satisfying film.

Interesting adventure in which Dana Andrews plays an insurance investigator who goes to Africa to check out the death by drowning of a man ( David Farrar ) who had a million dollar insurance policy. Also looking for info regarding the allegedly dead man is his wife, Jeanne Crain. Pretty fast paced drama, the last portion of the film set in the African jungle. Dana Andrews & Jeanne Crain were one of the great film pairings. Besides this film, they were also in State Fair, Madison Avenue, and Hot Rods to Hell. I had seen this film as a kid & it had kept me on the edge of my seat. It doesn't get much play these days--but I did find a DVD thru a collector. Seeing the film again was a thrill.