Female Jungle
Encyclopedia
Female Jungle is a 1955
black-and-white
B-movie
notable for being Jayne Mansfield
's first film; one of Lawrence Tierney
's last before his comeback and the only American International Pictures
entry into film noir
.
The investigation leads him to Candy, an artist's mistress (Mansfield), as well as to a slimy Laura
-type gossip columnist (John Carradine
) who spent time with the woman that night and becomes the main suspect. But he also becomes a red herring when a third man is finally found to be the real killer.
and Allied Artists before it was picked up by American Releasing Corporation that later became American International Pictures
.
It's rumored that Mansfield was paid $150 USD for her role in the film. The movie was shown as a double feature
with Roger Corman
's Oklahoma Woman in 1956 to ride on Mansfield's popularity which had risen dramatically due to her 20th Century Fox films released at the time.
in Hollywood."
1955 in film
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
notable for being Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
's first film; one of Lawrence Tierney
Lawrence Tierney
Lawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
's last before his comeback and the only American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
entry into film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
.
Plot
A cop (Tierney) is suspected of killing a gorgeous film star. Since he was extremely drunk at the time, even he suspects that he did it.The investigation leads him to Candy, an artist's mistress (Mansfield), as well as to a slimy Laura
Laura (1944 film)
Laura is a 1944 American film noir directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb. The screenplay by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Elizabeth Reinhardt is based on the 1943 novel of the same title by Vera Caspary....
-type gossip columnist (John Carradine
John Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
) who spent time with the woman that night and becomes the main suspect. But he also becomes a red herring when a third man is finally found to be the real killer.
Production
Producer Bert Kaiser and director Bruno Ve Sota (directing his first film) who both have roles in the film shot the movie in ten days under the title of The Hangover in 1954. Kaiser unsuccessfully tried to sell it to Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and Allied Artists before it was picked up by American Releasing Corporation that later became American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
.
It's rumored that Mansfield was paid $150 USD for her role in the film. The movie was shown as a double feature
Double feature
The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.The double feature, also known as...
with Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's Oklahoma Woman in 1956 to ride on Mansfield's popularity which had risen dramatically due to her 20th Century Fox films released at the time.
Critical reception
In Death on the Cheap, Arthur Lyons writes that the film, although "shoddily written, produced and directed", is significant for several reasons, including "It was American International's only foray into film noir... The film also marked a return to the screen of noir icon Lawrence Tierney, whose off-screen bar brawls and numerous arrests during the 1940s had made him persona non grataPersona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
in Hollywood."
Notable cast members
- John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
as Claude Almstead - Lawrence TierneyLawrence TierneyLawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
as Det. Sgt. Jack Stevens - Jayne MansfieldJayne MansfieldJayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
as Candy Price - Kathleen CrowleyKathleen CrowleyBetty Jane Kathleen Crowley is an American actress and was Miss New Jersey in 1949 and a contestant for Miss America in the same year . After the pageants, she became an actress who specialized in being phenomenally seductive in TV series and movies...
as Peggy Voe - Burt Kaiser as Alex Voe
- Bruno VeSota as Frank
- Eve Brent (billed as Jean Lewis) as Monica Madison