Tonight's Movie: The Jungle Princess (1936)

British explorer Christopher Powell (Ray Milland) injures his leg on a foray into the jungle. The rest of Chris's party gives him up for dead, but he's rescued by THE JUNGLE PRINCESS, Ulah (Dorothy Lamour).

When Chris is able to return to his friends' camp, lovestruck Ulah follows him, precipitating a showdown between Chris and his fiancee (Molly Lamont), as well as between the British explorers and the natives, who fear the mysterious Ulah and her pet tiger.

The film is pure escapism which requires the willing suspension of disbelief on multiple occasions, but it's fun. In essence the movie is a reverse of the TARZAN story, with the girl who has grown up alone with jungle animals rescuing the British man. The movie is marred only by an overly violent climax, although I did love the "flying monkeys."

The two leads, Lamour and Milland, throw themselves into their roles with enthusiasm; they're the reasons the movie works as well as it does. This was Lamour's first "sarong" role, and she became a star playing Ulah. Lamour is quite good, especially given that she must convey her role without the benefit of using much English. She gets to sing the haunting "Moonlight and Shadows" after Chris teaches her the words.

Milland, as always, is a charmer; I love his wry humor. It's fun to watch Chris's journey as he goes from jungle "outsider" to loving not only Ulah but her animals, who initially terrify him.

Lynne Overman, who plays Milland's friend, has some good lines as he meets Ulah. The cast also includes Akim Tamiroff and Hugh Buckler.

THE JUNGLE PRINCESS was directed by William Thiele. It was shot in black and white and runs 85 minutes.

This movie has not had a video or DVD release. A reasonably good copy of this hard-to-find film can be obtained from Free Classic Movies on DVD. The print has flaws and a couple brief blips and skips, but overall it's quite watchable. I've wanted to see this movie for years, so I was delighted to finally have the opportunity to watch it, even if it wasn't in pristine condition. (January 2010 Update: Free Classic Movies on DVD is now out of business.)

Turner Classic Movies will be showing more Paramount films next year -- Milland's THE UNINVITED and KITTY are coming to TCM in February -- so perhaps Paramount's THE JUNGLE PRINCESS will eventually make it to TCM as well.

May 2018 Update: THE JUNGLE PRINCESS is now available on DVD from the Universal Vault Collection.