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The Naked Jungle

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Not to be confused with the TV programme Naked Jungle.

The Naked Jungle
1960 reissue film poster
Directed byByron Haskin
Screenplay byRanald MacDougall
Ben Maddow
Philip Yordan
Based onLeiningen Versus the Ants
by Carl Stephenson
Produced byGeorge Pal
StarringEleanor Parker
Charlton Heston
Abraham Sofaer
William Conrad
CinematographyErnest Laszlo
Edited byEverett Douglas
Music byDaniele Amfitheatrof
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • March 3, 1954 (1954-03-03)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.3 million (US/Canada rentals)[1]

The Naked Jungle is a 1954 American adventure film directed by Byron Haskin, and starring Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker. Telling the story of an attack of army ants on a Brazilian cocoa plantation, it was based on the 1937 short story "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson.[2]

Plot

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In 1901, Joanna Selby is on her way from New Orleans to a South American cocoa plantation to meet her new husband (whom she married by proxy), plantation owner Christopher Leiningen. On a boat up the river to the Leiningen plantation, Joanna meets the local Commissioner, who informs her that he is aware of her circumstances, having stood in for her as the bride during the proxy ceremony. When Joanna asks him to tell her about her new husband, the Commissioner responds that in a month's time she will be able to tell him more than he knows now. The marriage has been arranged by Leiningen’s brother in New Orleans, who had asked Joanna’s assistance in screening applications for the arranged marriage. Impressed by Christopher Leiningen’s characteristics as a strong self-made man, Joanna proposes herself as the choice. Joanna is beautiful, independent, and arrives ready to be Christopher’s stalwart helpmate.

On meeting Joanna at her arrival, Christopher is cold and remote, studying her manners and testing her French language, piano skills, and conversational abilities to determine whether she is as portrayed. Displaying a flash of anger, Joanna insists that she is exactly as screened. Wary that she is too good to be true, Christopher expresses that there must be a reason why she has agreed to become the wife of a stranger. Surprised, Joanna responds that she was left a widow with her husband’s debts, which his brother already knew. Christopher expresses surprise that his brother would have chosen her, knowing his attitude. Joanna admits that his brother was hesitant, but she convinced him that she was the superior choice. Upset that she is a widow, Christopher expresses disdainfully that all his carefully chosen and valuable possessions are new, nothing previously owned. At the piano, Joanna expresses that his is not a first-rate piano; a good piano plays better when it has been played.

Christopher remains cold, rebuffing all her attempts to make friends with him. There is a strong sexual tension, with Christopher making one clumsy, forceful advance one evening when drunk. When Joanna rebuffs his demanding embrace, Christopher declares that the marriage will not work, and she must leave. Boldly Joanna expresses that she realizes his rejection is due to insecurity at his lack of sexual experience. Christopher admits that he has neither frequented brothels nor exploited native women, as most planters do.

As Joanna awaits the boat to take her back to the United States, the Commissioner arrives to visit and informs Christopher that a 30-mile-wide swath of army ants, known as marabunta, is headed in their direction. Though there has been a mutual softening of their relationship, Christopher decides to take Joanna to a port where she can catch an earlier boat for her own safety. When native workers begin to desert the plantation, Joanna refuses to leave, telling Christopher that none of his workers will stay if they see his wife desert. Impressed by her shrewdness and determination, Christopher expresses admiration for her courage, warning her that she will need it if she stays.

Instead of evacuating, Christopher resolves to make a stand against this indomitable natural predator. Joanna joins the fight to save the plantation. The ants take several days to arrive and during that time their joint effort brings the couple closer, with respect and love beginning to blossom. Christopher resorts to blowing up a timber dam to flood his own estate, washing the ants away. Alive together amid the ruined plantation, Christopher and Joanna resolve to reclaim the plantation and rebuild a life together.

Cast

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Production

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Drive-in advertisement from 1954.

In November 1952, George Pal announced he would adapt the short story "Leiningen Versus the Ants" into a feature film, with Philip Yordan to write the screenplay.[3][4]

In March 1953, Charlton Heston was announced as the male lead.[5] In May 1953, Teddi Sherman was reportedly working on the script.[6] The screenplay was co-written by Ranald MacDougall and the blacklisted writer Ben Maddow.

William Conrad, who had starred as Leiningen in adaptations of Stephenson's story for the radio programs Escape and Suspense, appears in the film as the district commissioner[7] (this was announced in July 1953[8]).

The unique "sound" of the ants devouring everything in their path was created by swirling a straw in a glass of water with crushed ice, which was then amplified. Much of the Rio Negro (Amazon) jungle riverscape, as well as the bridge dynamiting and sluice scenes, are second-unit stock footage shot in Florahome, Florida.[9]

Impact

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The film was adapted for radio on the June 7, 1954 broadcast of the Lux Radio Theatre; Charlton Heston reprised his role as "Leiningen" and Donna Reed played "Joanna".[10]

A scene from the film was used in the 1971 film The Hellstrom Chronicle.

The film strongly influenced the 1985 MacGyver episode "Trumbo's World", which also featured clips from the film.

In 1978, Martin Scorsese listed the film as among his "100 Random Pleasures" in a section of films which "are not good. They're guilty. But there are things in them that make you like them, that make them worthwhile."[11]

Broadcast

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In 1970, it aired on WVUE-TV in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of its highly publicized switch of channel positions with that city's PBS member station, WYES-TV.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "1954 Boxoffice Champs". Variety. January 5, 1955. p. 59. Retrieved June 28, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Crowther, Bosley (April 3, 1954). "The Screen: Three Films Arrive". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  3. ^ Hopper, Hedda (November 17, 1952). "Looking at Hollywood: George Pal for Make Weird, Jungle Story Picture". Chicago Tribune. p. B3.
  4. ^ Pryor, Thomas M. (November 17, 1952). "Columbia Raises '53 Output Total". The New York Times. p. 21.
  5. ^ Hopper, Hedda (March 20, 1953). "Heston Will Battle Ant Horde in Film". Los Angeles Times. p. A6.
  6. ^ "Movieland Brief". Los Angeles Times. May 13, 1953. p. 19.
  7. ^ "Escape-Leiningen Versus the Ants". escape-suspense.com. 22 April 2017. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  8. ^ Traven Story Shaping for Sheridan; 'Spring Song' New Film Buy Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 6 July 1953: B9.
  9. ^ "Flower power reigns in tiny town along S.R. 100 - Orlando Sentinel".
  10. ^ "The Naked Jungle". Lux Radio Theater. June 7, 1954 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ Scorsese, Martin (September–October 1978). "Martin Scorsese's Guilty Pleasures". Film Comment. Vol. 14, no. 5. pp. 63–66.
  12. ^ "WVUE Channel 8 News Collection". Earl K. Long Library. University of New Orleans. June 2005. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Naked Jungle.

Streaming audio

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