When American fighting men (and women) returned from service in World War II, they returned with their horizons expanded. While our boys in Europe had some romantic adventures along the streets of Rome and Paris, commandoes of the Pacific theater got to know the "exotic" beauties of the islands and Southeast Asia. For many, these South Seas experiences evolved into a taste for what became known as "tiki culture", lounging around with fruity cocktails at Trader Vic's while dreaming of hula girls. The tiki craze, combined with musings about comic-book figures like Sheena the Jungle Girl, formed a very specific fantasy, which played out endlessly in film and fiction: an Average Joe, while exploring some far off corner of the world (or even another planet, in some cases!) is captured by a tribe of primitive but beautiful Amazons. His only choice in the matter is to mate with these statuesque creatures, or be sacrificed to their crazy god.
Of course, these Amazon fantasies had been around for a long time. Even Tarzan got captured by all-female tribes now and then. But they really took off in the postwar era, in between a short but furious wave of burlesque movies and nudist camp romps. Lots of these non-PC oddities repose in the vaults of Something Weird Video, and this DVD offers up a couple of the best.
Continental Pictures' BOWANGA BOWANGA (also known as WHITE SIRENS OF AFRICA and WILD WOMEN) fits the Amazon formula almost perfectly. It came at the tail end of the career of director Norman Dawn, who had carved out a niche for himself over decades making outdoors adventures set on South Pacific islands and frozen tundra. Here, big game hunters Kirby (Morton C. Thompson) and Italian Count Sparafucile (Don Orlando) are on an African safari when they come upon the haggard form of Trent (Lewis Wilson, the first screen Batman). While recovering, Trent tells a wild tale in flashbacks, in which he encountered warrior maidens of the legendary Ulama tribe, and barely escaped with his life. Hearing his story, our red blooded adventurers want to meet up with these mesa-dwelling primitive cuties, but are promptly captured. Queen Bonga Bonga (Dana Wilson) and her sisters in animal skins enjoy the usual Amazon hobbies skinny dipping, dancing around a fire, and slapping around puny men. Taking a shine to Trent, Bonga gives him a shot at saving his skin and becoming her husband by taking on one of her shapely bodyguards in a wrestling match. Only handmaiden Awoona (Charlene Hawks, also in Dawn's TWO LOST WORLDS in 1951) seems sympathetic to the boys, and offers a chance at escape.
BOWANGA suffers from the same weakness of many jungle epics, an over reliance on stock footage, with all of the film's wildlife supplied by other movies, some stretching back to the silent era, and no doubt including some of Dawn's earlier movies. There's even a shot of a moose grazing near an African stream! Trent's flashback is padded out with a childhood memory several minutes long which is obviously taken from an early talkie.
The disc's campy highlight is undoubtedly the cult favorite WILD WOMEN OF WONGO. A narrator tells us how 10,000 years ago, an "experiment" resulted in the fabulous babes of Wongo being paired with gruff slobs, while in neighboring Goona, beautiful men mate with women who are "...not beautiful". One day, Goonaman Engor (Johnny Walsh) comes to Wonga seeking aide his village is suffering raids by ape men even more brutish than the men of Wongo. As this "man with woman's skin" is turning heads, interrupting the betrothal of the king's daughter Omoo (Jean Hawkshaw), the men plot to assassinate the visitor, but their plan is foiled by the women.
The girls are sent to the temple to receive punishment, engage in some sloppy dancing and go skinny dipping until the dragon god is appeased. During all this, Omoo foils the sacrifice by wrestling an alligator to death (an impressive bit of stuntwork by Hawkshaw). Meanwhile, Engor makes his way back home, where his tales of the wild women of Wongo have the guys drooling. Later, the ladies fight off an attack by ape men, and head back home to help defend their village, but find the place deserted. With no men left, the Omoo leads the women to Goona, to take pretty new mates by force if necessary. However, it turns out the Wongomen have only been off hunting for the women, but unable to find them, they head for Goona, too. What happens when both genders of Wongo collide with the folks of Goona? The ending should please elitists of all ages.
By the late Fifties, some of these cave operas were shot in glorious color, honoring both skin tones and other scenery. Shot in Florida, WONGO offers fine views of garden and nudist camp locations which would soon serve as backdrop for many sexploitation titles by the likes of Herschell Gordon Lewis and Doris Wishman. The Wongo Dragon Temple is played by the same Coral Gables soon used by Wishman for NUDE ON THE MOON. Although mildly offensive, the film's goofy events are undeniably amusing in spite of themselves, and the stilted dialogue should keep you laughing. In keeping with the farcical tone, a snarky parrot offers wisecracker commentary on the action.
Kids saw our third feature in matinees as FURY OF THE JUNGLE, but this is the uncensored version marketed internationally as VIRGIN SACRIFICE. Great White Hunter Samson (David DaLie), a sort of lower rent Jungle Jim, flashes back to the last time he ventured into this wild part of Central America while paddling a canoe. Then, he came upon a native tribe in full frenzy, with a prize captive awaiting sacrifice. We don't know if she's a virgin or not, but in any case Samson sits idly by in the bushes while the woman is stripped to the waste (onscreen) and stabbed to death (off). Flashing forward, Samson finds his partner speared to death in the bush, and goes out looking for those responsible. The guilty parties are a gang of renegade Vicuni led by the brawny Tumic (Antonio Gutierrez), who want to get back at our hero for killing their sacred "tiger" (actually a leopard) some years back. To help out, Samson picks up pal Fernando (director Fernando Wagner) and his daughter Morena (Angelica Morales, who provides the requisite skinny dipping scene), who are supposed to act as guides, but their true purpose is to provide victims. Tumic kills Fernando, and while Samson is having another flashback to the virgin sacrifice, the savages abduct Morena.
It's kind of tough to not root for the villainous Tumic, as he's really a lot smarter and tougher than the bland hero. Lucky for Samson, it's a long trek back to Tumic's village, giving him plenty of time to pick off bad guys. But can he catch up in time? Other than a few bits of nudity, colorful locations, and some violence, VIRGIN SACRIFICE is the usual jungle hokum full of walking around to meandering library music a sure ticket to Slumberland.
VIRGIN was supposedly filmed in Guatemala, using real Vicuni tribesmen as extras, but much of it's vibrant color footage was obviously staged in dingy studios, with dialogue looped in slightly out of sync. DaLie was apparently more of the real thing in 1955, he made documentary short THE LIVING SWAMP, about his hunting adventures in the Okeefenokee, after which he specialized in outdoor pictures. Later, he co-wrote and directed the Amazon adventure THE MIGHTY JUNGLE, and returned to more familiar (if marshy) ground with SWAMP COUNTRY in 1966. Wagner split his time between acting and directing Mexican TV shows.
What would a Something Weird DVD be without some ephemeral extras? This one offers a gem: a 13-minute 1927 adults only short subject called "Forbidden Daughters" in which a New York society dame searches through an African rajah's harem full of naked women for her lost husband. Finding him in the arms of a native princess, she strips down to fight for her man!
Trailers for VIRGIN (so faded it's nearly in B&W) and WONGO are also included, as well as those for DAUGHTER OF THE SUN GOD, TARZANA THE WILD GIRL and the melodramatic I MARRIED A SAVAGE (which can't possibly be as good as the trailer). There's also one of SWV's trademark galleries. This one combines rare vintage exploitation posters, stills and ad mats with radio spots for similar pictures to make a great 13-minute slideshow. The only flaw in it is that it's impossible to fast-forward or rewind the program.
Another terrific Something Weird package!
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