The Naked Jungle
| Naked Jungle | |
|---|---|
 Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Byron Haskin |
| Produced by | George Pal |
| Written by | Ranald MacDougall Ben Maddow Philip Yordan based on a story by Carl Stephenson |
| Starring | Eleanor Parker Charlton Heston Abraham Sofaer William Conrad |
| Music by | Daniele Amfitheatrof |
| Cinematography | Ernest Laszlo, ASC |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 3, 1954 |
| Running time | 95 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
The Naked Jungle is a 1954 film directed by Byron Haskin, and starring Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker. Telling the story of an attack of army ants on a Peruvian cocoa plantation, it was based on the short story Leiningen Versus the Ants by Carl Stephenson.
[edit] Plot
As the film opens, Joanna (Eleanor Parker), a New Orleans woman arrives at the South American cocoa plantation to meet her new husband, plantation owner Christopher Leiningen (Charlton Heston) whom she has married by proxy.
Leiningen is cold and remote to her, rebuffing all her attempts to make friends with him. She's beautiful, independent, and arrives ready to be his stalwart helpmate; however, no one has told him she's a widow. He rejects her. During the next week, as she awaits the boat to take her back to the United States, they learn that legions of army ants - the Marabunta - will strike in a few days' time. Leiningen refuses to give up the home he fought so hard to create. Instead of evacuating, he resolves to make a stand against this indomitable natural predator. Joanna joins the fight to save the plantation; their courage and his probable loss of all he's worked for may crack his resolve to send her away.
The screenplay, was co-written by Ranald MacDougall and the blacklisted writer Ben Maddow. The film was produced in Technicolor by George Pal, who also made The War of the Worlds, Tom Thumb, and The Time Machine. The film's title might be[original research?] a reference to how the ants "strip" the jungle and turn it into a wasteland.[citation needed]. On the other hand, near the beginning of the film Leiningen points his arm away from his plantation and says "Out there is the naked jungle," so it may just mean untamed jungle. Real Marabunta are not exactly like the ones in the movie. They don't lie dormant for 27 years and they don't eat large vertebrates. They are also accompanied by Antbirds and various other other birds that eat some of what they can't.
William Conrad, who had starred as Leiningen in a 1948 adaptation of Stephenson's story for the radio program Escape, appears in the film as a district commissioner. The unique "sound" of the ants devouring everything in their path was created by swirling a straw in a glass of water with crushed ice, which was then amplified.
[edit] Filming location
Portions of this movie were filmed in Florahome, Florida.[citation needed] This small town is located in Putnam County west of the county seat, Palatka. The dynamiting of the bridges was one of the scenes filmed here.[citation needed] A local citizen died when he was thrown from his horse during one of the explosions.[citation needed]
[edit] External links
Streaming audio
- Leiningen Versus the Ants on Escape: January 14, 1948
- The Naked Jungle on Lux Radio Theater: June 7, 1954
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