| Jungle Menace | |
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Photograph of star Frank Buck |
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| Directed by | Harry L. Fraser George Melford |
| Produced by | Robert Mintz (executive) Louis Weiss |
| Written by | George M. Merrick Sherman L. Lowe Harry Hoyt George Melford George Rosener Arthur Hoerl Dallas M. Fitzgerald Gordon Griffith |
| Starring | Frank Buck Reginald Denny LeRoy Mason |
| Cinematography | Edward Linden Herman Schopp |
| Editing by | Earl Turner |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 26, 1937 |
| Running time | 15 chapters (308 min) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Jungle Menace (1937) is the first serial released by Columbia Pictures.
Based on the success of Republic Pictures's 1936 serial Darkest Africa, starring real-life animal trainer Clyde Beatty, Columbia made this exotic jungle serial starring real-life animal collector Frank "Bring 'Em Back Alive" Buck. Set in the fictional land of Seemang in Asia, Buck plays the role of Frank Hardy, a soldier of fortune who intervenes in and investigates attempts to run a rubber plantation owner and his daughter off their land.
In his autobiography, director Harry L. Fraser described filming the scene in Jungle Menace during which a boa constrictor attacks the heroine Dorothy (Charlotte Henry). The villain has tied Dorothy hand and foot and she thrashes wildly, terrified when she suddenly sees the huge snake:
"The snake was in no hurry. Slowly he slithered across the girl's body, while she screamed and struggled. He turned, looking for a spot to slip under her to make his first wrap. I motioned to the reptile crew to get ready, and a split-second later gave them the signal to move in. But now, the maddened snake fought them and did its best to coil around one of the men. Before that happened, however, I had cut, and we had a good cliff-hanger with our terror-stricken heroine to close the episode." [1]
Each of the fifteen chapters was 20 minutes long and contained plenty of action: "One man defying a thousand deaths in a green hell of creeping horror! The fearless Frank Buck in his most hair-raising role! Merciless killers...a beautiful hostage...a cargo of wild animals run loose when the typhoon strikes! Terrifying adventures torn out of the heart of cruelest Asia!"
The critics enjoyed the show:
"Kids will love Jungle Menace for its harem-scarum adventure and for the presence of Frank Buck, with his Wild Animals Associates, Inc. Frank Buck plays the hero, Frank Hardy, when gangdom invades the rubber business and river pirates grab off plantation cargo. Plenty of old-time names are in the cast: Reginald Denny is a plantation foreman, Esther Ralston an owner, Charlotte Henry and William Bakewell play young lovers; also featured are Clarence Muse, Willie Fung, Leroy Mason, Richard Tucker, and Duncan Renaldo." [2].
In 1946 material from this serial was re-edited into the 70-minute feature film Jungle Terror.
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