Bengal Tiger (1936) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

After causing his friend's death, an animal trainer marries the man's daughter to atone.

Cast & Crew

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Louis King

Barton Maclane

Cliff Ballenger

June Travis

Laura [Homan Ballenger]

Warren Hull

Paul Graetz

Joseph King

[Bill] Hinsdale

Film Details

Also Known As

Bengal Claws, The Bengal Killer

Genre

Drama

Classic Hollywood

Release Date

Sep 5, 1936

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Warner Bros. Productions Corp.

Distribution Company

Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 3m

Sound

Mono

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

8 reels

Synopsis

Animal trainer Cliff Ballenger is determined to gain mastery over "Satan," a man-eating tiger. One night, after he has spent the evening drinking with aerialist Joe Larson, his best friend, Satan breaks loose, and a drunken Cliff must drive him back into his cage. Upon his return to the circus, his roommate, Carl Homan, lectures Cliff about working the big cats when he is drunk. Cliff insists that he can work the animals drunk or sober and goes out to Satan's cage to prove it. When Satan attacks Cliff, Carl tries to save him and is killed in the process, while Cliff loses his leg. Filled with remorse over Carl's death, Cliff looks for Carl's daughter Laura and finally learns that she has been jailed for stealing food. Cliff buys a small house and, when Laura leaves jail, proposes to her. Although she is not in love with Cliff, she agrees to marriage out of gratitude. The day of their wedding, Cliff brings Joe home and Laura falls in love with him. After she reveals her love to Joe, he insists that they cannot hurt Cliff. Joe decides to leave town, but before he can go, they learn that the winter quarters of the circus are on fire and the animals are in danger. At great risk, Cliff rescues Satan with Joe's help. After Joe is knocked out, Cliff saves him, insisting that he stay at his house to recuperate. Joe recovers and Laura begs him to take her away with him. Cliff comes home to find them kissing, and knocks Joe out and throws him into the tiger's cage. When Laura begs Cliff to save Joe because she loves him, Cliff does and finally meets his death in Satan's jaws.

Director

Louis King

Cast

Barton Maclane

Cliff Ballenger

June Travis

Laura [Homan Ballenger]

Warren Hull

Paul Graetz

Joseph King

[Bill] Hinsdale

Richard Purcell

Carlyle Moore Jr.

Ambulance driver and intern

Don Barclay

Gordon Hart

Hospital superintendent

Saul Gorss

Stuart Holmes

Carol Wines

Marie Prevost

Willard Hall

Glen Cavender

Jake Goodrich

Clara Horton

Secretary in hospital

Lucille Ward

Milton Kibbee

Houseley Stevenson

Justice of the peace

Jolly Lee Harvey

Charlotte Sullivan

Little Billy

John Aason

Richard Alexander

Paul Panzer

J. Merrill Holmes

Baldy Belmont

Jane Wyman

Crew

Roy Chanslor

Story and Screenplay

Earl Felton

Story and Screenplay

Leo F. Forbstein

Vitaphone Orch Conductor

Bryan Foy

Esdras Hartley

Harold Mclernon

L. Wm. O'connell

Carrol Sax

Assistant Director

Jack L. Warner

Executive Producer

Film Details

Also Known As

Bengal Claws, The Bengal Killer

Genre

Drama

Classic Hollywood

Release Date

Sep 5, 1936

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Warner Bros. Productions Corp.

Distribution Company

Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 3m

Sound

Mono

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

8 reels

Articles

Bengal Tiger

October 5, 2006

Of all the Hollywood studios, Warner Bros. was most notorious for recycling its successful films, reworking dependable story lines into every genre imaginable. Tiger Shark (1932), a melodramatic box-office bonanza directed by Howard Hawks and starring Edward G. Robinson as a tuna fisherman with an unfaithful wife, was unofficially remade more often than any other Warners hit. The basic plot has an older man winning the hand of a beautiful younger woman who marries him out of a sense of obligation. The bride then begins an affair with a handsome coworker of her husband who is closer to her own age, and once the husband finds out the two men fight it out in a climactic brawl.

Among some two dozen reprisals of this situation by Warners were Bengal Tiger (1936), set in a circus; and Slim (1937) and Manpower (1941), both set in the world of power company linemen. In Bengal Tiger, Barton MacLane is the older man, an animal trainer; Warren Hull is his younger assistant; and June Travis is the beautiful woman they both love. Adding to the excitement of the final clash is a circus fire during which MacLane¿s prized Bengal tiger escapes.

MacLane appeared in some 200 films, most of them at Warner Bros., where he typically provided menace as a gangster or Western outlaw but also occasionally played rough-hewn heroes. Hull was the leading man of many low-budget features and serials who also worked in radio and TV and is best remembered as the host of Strike It Rich. Travis, a pretty brunette who could be either tempestuous or demure, was a Warner Bros. contract player from 1934 and developed into a reliable leading lady before her retirement from films in 1939.

Director: Louis King
Screenplay: Roy Chanslor, Earl Felton
Cinematography: L. William O¿Connell
Original Music: Howard Jackson, Heinz Roemheld (both uncredited)
Cast: Barton MacLane (Cliff Ballenger), June Travis (Laura), Warren Hull (Joe Larson), Paul Graetz (Carl Homan), Joseph Crehan (Hinsdale).

by Roger Fristoe

Bengal Tiger

Bengal Tiger

Of all the Hollywood studios, Warner Bros. was most notorious for recycling its successful films, reworking dependable story lines into every genre imaginable. Tiger Shark (1932), a melodramatic box-office bonanza directed by Howard Hawks and starring Edward G. Robinson as a tuna fisherman with an unfaithful wife, was unofficially remade more often than any other Warners hit. The basic plot has an older man winning the hand of a beautiful younger woman who marries him out of a sense of obligation. The bride then begins an affair with a handsome coworker of her husband who is closer to her own age, and once the husband finds out the two men fight it out in a climactic brawl. Among some two dozen reprisals of this situation by Warners were Bengal Tiger (1936), set in a circus; and Slim (1937) and Manpower (1941), both set in the world of power company linemen. In Bengal Tiger, Barton MacLane is the older man, an animal trainer; Warren Hull is his younger assistant; and June Travis is the beautiful woman they both love. Adding to the excitement of the final clash is a circus fire during which MacLane¿s prized Bengal tiger escapes. MacLane appeared in some 200 films, most of them at Warner Bros., where he typically provided menace as a gangster or Western outlaw but also occasionally played rough-hewn heroes. Hull was the leading man of many low-budget features and serials who also worked in radio and TV and is best remembered as the host of Strike It Rich. Travis, a pretty brunette who could be either tempestuous or demure, was a Warner Bros. contract player from 1934 and developed into a reliable leading lady before her retirement from films in 1939. Director: Louis King Screenplay: Roy Chanslor, Earl Felton Cinematography: L. William O¿Connell Original Music: Howard Jackson, Heinz Roemheld (both uncredited) Cast: Barton MacLane (Cliff Ballenger), June Travis (Laura), Warren Hull (Joe Larson), Paul Graetz (Carl Homan), Joseph Crehan (Hinsdale). by Roger Fristoe

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The film's working titles were The Bengal Killer and Bengal Claws. The plot of this film strongly resembles the 1932 Warner Bros. film Tiger Shark written by Wells Root.

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