Jungle Queen!

Jungle Queen is an unusual movie serial. It seems at once to be serious and silly. The plot of this 1945 flick is a somewhat heavy-handed one with the story actually set in 1939 before the Nazis have rolled into Poland and kicked off the second World War. The clear intention of the film is to slam the Nazis and I'm totally down with that, in whatever form it might appear.

Ruth Roman is the titular character and she's one of the oddest things in the movie. Clearly inspired by H.Rider Haggard's "Ayesha", "Lothiel" as she's called literally runs through uncanny flames to reach a portal which opens up and she delivers some warning or proclamation to the assembled tribes of the "Middle Jungle". She is presented as ubiquitous, showing pretty much anywhere she chooses when she chooses to aid the heroes as they try to uncover and put and quick stop to the Nazi schemes.

One of the strongest elements of this serial is that black actors are used exclusively as far as I can tell to play the part of African natives. After seeing some lame attempts in other B-grade movies to present such a population, this was a pleasant surprise. I wish the acting had been up to the effort and sadly there are a myriad of accents present, none of which indicate the "Middle Jungle".

One critic I read said the story is too convoluted, and I cannot disagree. You have to keep your head on swivel as the plot unfolds (sometimes in dismaying slowness) but just when you think the road is too twisted, the light shines and it goes again, if barely. This one is for big fans of the genre, and not casual viewers who would be turned off I suspect to the form.

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