KILLER APE

KILLER APE (1953). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.

"Fish that climb trees?"

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) and the natives have noticed that the crocodiles in the region have become strangely lethargic. Could it have something to do with experiments in secret caverns to create a drug that will enslave mankind? Evil scientists and nice natives alike are menaced by a hulking man-ape (Max Palmer) who lives in the area and keeps trying to carry off the feisty native girl, Shari (Carol Thurston), who at first has an antagonistic relationship with Jungle Jim. This film is fairly lively, and director Bennet keeps things moving. Others in the cast include Michael Fox as a medical officer, Nestor Paiva [Mr. Reckless] as the head bad guy, and Ray Corrigan [Undersea Kingdom], who for once is not playing a gorilla (after his start as a serial lead). By this time the chimp Tamba had taken over the Jungle Jim series in much the same way that Cheetah took over Weissmuller's Tarzan series. Tamba's antics are very funny, and at one point she leads a charge of dozens of maddened monkeys! At the end the chimp drives off in a car! Carol Thurston gives a good performance as Shari; she played Weissmuller's girlfriend in Swamp Fire.

Verdict: You can't beat those Man-apes! **1/2.

SWAMP FIRE

SWAMP FIRE (1946). Director: William H. Pine.

The teaming of Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe as adversaries who come to blows is the chief selling point of this pot-boiler. Although Weissmuller is top-billed, probably because of his Tarzan films, the main character is actually played by Crabbe. Mike Kalavich (Crabbe) returns from  the war and back to the Louisiana bayou, where a lack of confidence interferes with his ability as a pilot to safely guide ships through the Mississippi river. People think he's lost his nerve when he makes a decision that costs him his cargo, but not human lives. Meanwhile Johnny Duval (Weissmuller) returns from combat duty to his home on the Delta and eventually comes into conflict with Mike. Mike, who joins the Coast Guard, is involved with Toni (Carol Thurston) but a spoiled heiress named Janet (Virginia Grey) has set her cap for Mike; she and Toni have a lively bitch-slap session and a hair-pulling match that is probably the highlight of the picture. Crabbe isn't bad in this, but as expected, the best performance comes from the always-vital Virginia Grey [Another Thin Man] . Pierre Watkin is also in the cast as Grey's father, but then Watkin seems to have been in virtually every other movie ever made and is competent but little else in all of them. Weissmuller and Crabbe also appeared together in the "Jungle Jim" film, Captive Girl.

Verdict: Two Tarzans and Olympic swimming champs face off but the results are less than spectacular. **1/2.