| Female Jungle | |
|---|---|
film poster by Albert Kallis |
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| Directed by | Bruno VeSota |
| Produced by | Burt Kaiser |
| Written by | Burt Kaiser Bruno VeSota |
| Starring | Lawrence Tierney Kathleen Crowley John Carradine Jayne Mansfield Burt Kaiser |
| Music by | Nicholas Carras |
| Cinematography | Elwood Bredell |
| Editing by | Carl Pingitore |
| Distributed by | American Releasing Corporation (ARC) |
| Release date(s) | January 1955 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 73 min |
| Language | English |
Female Jungle is a 1955 black-and-white B-movie notable for being Jayne Mansfield's first film; one of Lawrence Tierney's last before his comeback and the only American International Pictures entry into film noir.
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A cop (Tierney) is suspected of killing a gorgeous film star. Since he was extremely drunk at the time, even he suspects that he did it.
The investigation leads him to Candy, an artist's mistress (Mansfield), as well as to a slimy Laura-type gossip columnist (John Carradine) who spent time with the woman that night and becomes the main suspect. But he also becomes a red herring when a third man is finally found to be the real killer.
Producer Bert Kaiser and director Bruno Ve Sota (directing his first film)[1] who both have roles in the film shot the movie in ten days under the title of The Hangover[2] in 1954. Kaiser unsuccessfully tried to sell it to Paramount Pictures and Allied Artists[3] before it was picked up by American Releasing Corporation that later became American International Pictures.
It's rumored that Mansfield was paid $150 USD for her role in the film.[4] The movie was shown as a double feature with Roger Corman's Oklahoma Woman in 1956 to ride on Mansfield's popularity which had risen dramatically due to her 20th Century Fox films released at the time.
In Death on the Cheap, Arthur Lyons writes that the film, although "shoddily written, produced and directed", is significant for several reasons, including "It was American International's only foray into film noir... The film also marked a return to the screen of noir icon Lawrence Tierney, whose off-screen bar brawls and numerous arrests during the 1940s had made him persona non grata in Hollywood."