The Jungle Princess
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
William Thiele
Dorothy Lamour
Ray Milland
Akim Tamiroff
Lynne Overman
Molly Lamont
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
American hunter Christopher Powell hurts his leg in the Malaysian jungle while on a tiger hunt. Abandoned by his native guides, who are afraid of the "Laughing Tiger," he is rescued by Ulah, a native who grew up alone in the jungle with her tiger "Limau" and chimpanzee "Bogo." Christopher's fellow hunters attempt to locate him, but are unsuccessful and assume he is dead. In the meantime, Christopher educates Ulah in rudimentary English, and they fall in love with each other. Realizing his duty to his fiancée Ava, Christopher finally returns to his camp, with Ulah and her animal friends following. Melan, leader of the natives guides, captures "Limau" believing him to be the laughing tiger of jungle superstition. Ulah rescues "Limau," but is then captured along with the hunters who try to help her. The natives tie up everyone and put Ulah in a pit into which they throw burning embers. After the tribal chief kills "Limau," Christopher frees himself and shoots Melan at the same time that "Bogo" and his chimpanzee companions attack the natives. Chaos ensues, the natives flee, and Christopher escapes with Ulah. Once normalcy is restored, all of the hunters leave except Christopher, who stays with Ulah, having been released from his engagement to Ava.
Director
William Thiele
Cast
Dorothy Lamour
Ray Milland
Akim Tamiroff
Lynne Overman
Molly Lamont
Mala
Hugh Buckler
Sally Martin
Roberta Law
Limau
Bogo
Bernard Siegel
Richard Terry
Nick Shaid
Erville Alderson
Dan Crimmins
John George
Bhogwan Singh
Eddie Sturgis
James P. Spencer
Al Kikume
Kim Maki
Mickey Phillips
Inez Gomez
Mural Sharada
Emilia Diaz
Ray Roubert
Crew
Charles Brackett
Ora Curtis
Hans Dreier
Harry Fischbeck
A. E. Freudeman
Gerald Geraghty
George Hippard
Ellsworth Hoagland
Frederick Hollander
Cyril Hume
Don Johnson
Oscar Lau
Max Marcin
Max Marcin
Gouverneur Morris
Boris Morros
Frank Partos
Kata Ragoso
Leo Robin
Guy Roe
S. A. "skippy" Sanford
E. Lloyd Sheldon
Robert Usher
Phil G. Wisdom
Adolph Zukor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Queen of the Jungle and Jungle Girl. The original screen story by Max Marcin was entitled "Queen of the Jungle." According to a news item in Daily Variety, which called the film Girl of the Jungle, Marcin was originally slated to co-direct. This was Dorothy Lamour's first feature film. Letters and memos in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS library indicate that in July 1935, Joseph I. Breen, director of the PCA, informed Paramount in a letter that although their script for Queen of the Jungle was "fundamentally acceptable from the standpoint of the Production Code and censorship," he was concerned about any hint of an "illicit sex relationship between Ulah and Christopher," and that "the whole business is offensive, an open violation of the Code, and [that] the very flavor of it should be eliminated." Breen further cautioned the studio to avoid "any display of nudity and any possible cruelty to animals."
A final print, titled Jungle Girl, was submitted to the AMPP for approval in October 1936 and Breen rejected it due to the inferred sexual relationship between Ulah and Christopher. In a letter to Paramount, Breen advised the studio to "avoid all business of Chris carrying Ulah into the cave; all the discussion about the rain; the physical contact between them in the cave; and the fade-out on Chris as he kisses Ulah; [and]...the business of the picking of the lotus flowers." Breen also recommended the deletion of specific lines of dialogue, such as Christopher's line, "All she knows about civilized ways is just what I've been able to teach her myself," and Frank's response, "That ought to make her quite a girl." Although correspondence does not indicate whether all the recommended changes were made, the certificate of approval was issued to the film. The viewed print included several scenes recommended for deletion by Breen. A 1937 letter from Breen to Paramount indicates that a prologue was added to the film for release in Great Britain that "establishes Ulah as the daughter of a white man." According to the film's pressbook, Kata Ragoso of the Marova Lagoon in the Solomon Islands, acted as technical advisor for the construction of the Malayan village set. In her autobiography, Dorothy Lamour recalls that during the production, the chimpanzee, "Bogo," attacked a worker on the set, who later died of his injuries. Miss Lamour also states that the song was not written until ten days into production, and she was rehearsed by musician Perry Bodkin while on location at Brent's Crags in the San Fernando Valley, CA. She also notes that retakes were shot while she was filming Swing High, Swing Low (see below).
