Jungle Heat
Cast & Crew
Howard W. Koch
Lex Barker
Mari Blanchard
James Westerfield
Glenn Langan
Miyoko Sasaki
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In November of 1941, labor relations negotiator Roger McRae and his wife Ann arrive at the Hawaiian island of Kauai to resolve disputes at sugar plantations owned by his employer. When the planter who was supposed to meet them fails to appear, they ask Dr. Jim Ransom to take them to the plantation. After Jim informs McRae that the planter was killed a few days earlier, his car runs out of gas caused by a hole in the tank, which Jim suspects was punctured by two Japanese men who were near the car when they stopped at a small village. Fortunately, Jim has a spare can of gas, which he also uses to set an explosion that delays a vehicle following them. Upon reaching the plantation, McRae informs Jim that he regards the native islanders as only a few steps removed from their primitive ancestors and intends to "show them an iron first." Shortly after their arrival, a neighboring plantation operator, Harvey Mathews, visits the McRaes and relates that the islanders are being stirred up to demand radical changes in pay, working hours and housing by a Filipino agitator named Felix Agung. Mathews also warns McRae not to become too friendly with Jim, as it is believed he is sympathetic to the workers. The next day there is an explosion at the sugar processing plant and several injured workers are taken to Jim for treatment. Ann, a former nurse, volunteers to help Jim and is angered that her insensitive husband is concerned only with the physical damage to the plant. Jim and Ann work with U.S. Army major Richard Grey in helping the injured and when they drive Richard home, he introduces them to his charming Japanese wife Kimi. The Greys are social outcasts, however, because of their interracial marriage. Later, after Ann assists Jim with an expectant mother, he tells her that Agung and the workers are not responsible for the violence and sabotage, which is being perpetrated by Japanese Fifth Columnists who have come to the islands. Although Jim also informs McRae that the unrest is much more complex than mere plantation labor problems, McRae insists upon jailing Agung and plans to have him expelled from the islands. When Agung escapes and is shot in the leg, McRae joins Richard in hunting him while Ann, no longer able to tolerate her racist husband, joins Jim. As they run to reach Agung's hut before the others, they realize that they are in love. After McRae and Richard reach the hut, Jim tells them that he has treated Agung's leg and that Agung has escaped. Outraged that Jim would help Agung, McRae insists upon firing into the shack, killing Agung's wife inside. Meanwhile, Mathews, who is in league with the Japanese, plans another subversive act with his Japanese manservant Kuji. He then warns McRae that Agung is hunting him to avenge his wife's murder. After Jim discovers Mathews' involvement with the Japanese, he and Richard plan to pay him an unexpected visit, but Mathews, tipped off by Japanese spies, plants several land mines around his plantation. That night, when McRae, followed by Agung, goes to Mathews' plantation, Mathews offers to help him ambush Agung. However, Agung outmaneuvers them and attacks McRae with a machete. After McRae runs off and is killed by one of the land mines, Mathews and Kuji take Agung prisoner and order Jim and Richard to leave the plantantion if they want to keep Agung alive. Richard shoots Kuji and, as Ann drives up, Mathews is holding Agung at gunpoint in an empty swimming pool. However, Agung grabs Mathews' gun and when Mathews runs away, traps him and shoots him several times. Later, once the sun rises, Jim and Ann walk together on a beach and he tells her that, as a result of Mathews and Kuji's deaths, it is now unlikely that there will be an invasion. While a large number of planes pass overhead, Jim tells Ann that this day is the beginning of a whole new world for them and idly uses a stick to write the date in the sand: 7 December 1941.
Director
Howard W. Koch
Cast
Lex Barker
Mari Blanchard
James Westerfield
Glenn Langan
Miyoko Sasaki
Rhodes Reason
Glenn Dixon
Bob Okazaki
Jerry Frank
Daniel Wong
Andrew Gross
Yun Kui Chang
Kunio Fudimura
Leo Ezell
Crew
Angela Alexander
Les Baxter
Jameson Brewer
Henry E. Brill
John A. Bushelman
Jack T. Collis
Ben Colman
Ted Coodley
Charles Cooper
Arden Cripe
Louis Dewitt
Joe Edesa
Joe Edmondson
Kathleen Fagan
Wesley V. Jefferies
William Margulies
Jack Rabin
Aubrey Schenck
John F. Schreyer
Sam Waxman
Mary Westmoreland
Paul Wurtzel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Jungle Heat was shot in Kauai, HI immediately after Bel-Air's 1957 release Voodoo Island (see below). Most of the crew and two of the actors worked on both films.
