Jungle Gents
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Edward Bernds
Leo Gorcey
Huntz Hall
Bernard Gorcey
Laurette Luez
Patrick O'moore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In Louie's Sweet Shop, Sach assists a police officer in recovering a bag of stolen diamonds by sniffing them out, then realizes that his sense of smell has been heightened by new antibiotic pills he is taking for a sinus condition. The owner of the diamonds, Alf Grimshaw, tells Sach and his pal Slip that they can become rich by using Sach's olfactory talent to recover a horde of lost diamonds in Africa. Grimshaw, Sach, Slip, and their friends Louie, Chuck and Butch then journey to Africa or, as Slip calls it, "The Dark Condiment." They meet Grimshaw's partner, the ailing Holmes, at his trading post where he explains how another of their partners had found the diamonds, but was killed before he could tell Holmes where they were hidden. Before Holmes became ill, he and Grimshaw had searched the area, but had only been able to establish that the diamonds were hidden in a complex of caves. Dr. Goebel, Holmes' physician, is present when Holmes gives Sach a map of the route to the caves and warns him to guard it with his life. Later, Goebel and his crooked confederate, Shanks, decide to follow the expedition to the caves and steal the diamonds. The group sets off and on their first night in the jungle decides to build several fires to ward off lions. After Sach inadvertently uses the map to start his fire, he conceals the fact that it is been destroyed and instead leads them aimlessly in circles. Goebel, Shanks and their bearers are also following the same bewildering trail. After days of wandering, Sach admits that the map is gone and that the paper he has been consulting is actually a mail-order girdle advertisement. The contrite Sach threatens to commit suicide, but changes his mind and is relegated to the rear of the group. As they stumble on through the jungle, a lion threatens Sach who is then rescued by Anatta, a curvaceous jungle woman who becomes enamored of him. When the others return to find Sach, Anatta runs away, and after the bearers see the dead lion, they assume that Sach killed it and proclaim him a great white hunter. Meanwhile, Goebel and Shanks visit Omotawa, a native chief, and arrange that he will kill all the strangers, except the one with the big nose. After the chief takes the boys prisoner, Goebel informs them that he and Sach will go diamond hunting the next morning while Slip and the others are turned into shrunken heads. Slip realizes that the only way they can escape their predicament is by disabling Sach's sense of smell, so they ensure that he catches a cold. The next morning, as Sach sneezes, Slip informs Goebel and Shanks that Sach cannot smell anything. Goebel and Shanks then take Sach to their hut where Rangori, the masked witch doctor, tries to cure his cold. Soon after, Anatta appears and knocks Rangori out, after which Sach dons Rangori's mask and robes and frees the others. After Sach recovers from his cold, Grimshaw convinces Anatta to take them to the caves, which are reputed to be haunted by a faceless ghost. Inside one of the caves, Sach and Slip collide, disabling Sach's nose when they hit their heads together. Sach accidentally finds the horde of diamonds, however, when he is chased by the ghost. Goebel and Shanks arrive and hold the group at gunpoint until the ghost reappears, enabling the boys to overpower them. The ghost is revealed to be Holmes, who has been tracking Goebel and Shanks, after having discovered that they had killed his partner. Later, as Slip, Louie, Chuck and Butch prepare to leave on a boat, they wave goodbye to Grimshaw, Holmes and Sach, who has donned a loincloth and decided to stay with Anatta. When Anatta's boyfriend, who looks like Tarzan, shows up, Sach runs off to join the others on their trip back to the Bowery.
Director
Edward Bernds
Cast
Leo Gorcey
Huntz Hall
Bernard Gorcey
Laurette Luez
Patrick O'moore
Rudolph Anders
Harry Cording
David Condon
Bennie Bartlett
Emory Parnell
Woody Strode
Joel Fluellen
Eric Snowden
Murray Alper
John Harmon
Roy Glenn
Emil Sitka
Pat Flaherty
Jett Norman
Crew
John L. Banse
Edward Bernds
Ralph Butler
Sam Fields
Bert Henrikson
Austen Jewell
Joseph Kish
Bert Lawrence
Augie Lohman
Maudlee Mcdougall
David Milton
Harry Neumann
Edward Polo
Lester A. Sansom
Ben Schwalb
Marlin Skiles
Elwood Ullman
Allen K. Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
All of the original footage for this "jungle" comedy was filmed on a soundstage.
Notes
The opening title cards of this film read: "Allied Artists Pictures Corporation presents Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and The Bowery Boys in Jungle Gents." Hollywood Reporter news items of 14 and May 21, 1954 add Norman Bishop, Dan Towler and Harry Thompson to the cast, although their appearance in the completed film has not been confirmed. Actor Jett Norman was later known as Clint Walker; Jungle Gents marked his motion picture debut. The CBCS also lists actor Pat Flaherty's character as "Officer Cady," but in the film he is addressed as "Flaherty." For more information on "The Bowery Boys" series, please consult the Series Index and see the entry for Live Wires in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1954
Another installment of the "Biwery Boys" series.
Released in United States 1954
