Budget DVD Theater: Law of the Jungle

The First Law of the Jungle, a careful viewing of this 1942 Monogram effort reveals, is as follows: When in a confined space and approached by an angry gorilla, fire your shotgun at the beast. If he still advances after you empty the weapon, you must throw the gun at the creature.

This moment tells you what you need to know about "Law of the Jungle." As a big fan of "throwing the gun at your opponent after you run out of bullets" scenes, I'm overjoyed to see a jungle explorer do it to a gorilla. I hoped it would happen, it happened, and I cheered. Alpha Video brings us this entertaining little jungle flick on a DVD that is worth about what you'll pay for it.

There are some other jungle laws that are followed here, such as:

*Thou shalt not expect too much from a PRC effort that is barely an hour long. There is a plot, though, and you gotta say, it moves.

*Do not look too closely at the scenery. It's the jungle, OK? Just go with it.

*Since the movie IS set in the African jungle, expect copious jokes about cannibalism.

*There will be pompous villains with foreign accents. This is the early 40s, so they will be Nazis.

*Mantan Moreland is always not only funny, but the most interesting person on the screen at any given time (this is more of a general Law of the Movies). Indeed, Mantan is enjoyable in this one as the valet/sidekick/comic relief of the straightlaced professor who is exploring the jungle. He's a riot when he cheats the natives at dice.

*You had better believe there will be a homely female native who sets her sights on the comic relief in hopes of engaging him in some exotic marriage ritual.

"Law of the Jungle" obeys these laws with efficiency and provides a fun hour or so of typical jungle melodrama and Mantan Moreland hijinks. There is a story about a Brooklyn stage performer stranded in the exotic locale because her passport was stolen. Turns out someone is pursuing her...but why? Will the singer find a sympathetic ear in American explorer Larry Mason, in Africa to dig up some old bones (a task which gives Moreland some good bits of business)?

This stuff isn't always the most thrilling cinematic material, but things pick up near the end when this group meets the local chief. As for our singer, well, I guess she and Mason are the nominal leads, but they aren't all that compelling. Not to offend any Arline Judge fans, but she's not exactly a fresh-faced ingenue, and you get the sense that her safari's had a lot more mileage than she lets on.

It's directed by old Monogram hand Jean Yarbrough, and if you expect more than what you get here, well, you just don't appreciate what you're getting. It's a great selection for Budget DVD Theater because of the gun scene alone, but fortunately there is enough Mantan to fill out the hour.