Big Screen Jungle Queens: (Nabonga (1944) / Queen of The Amazons (1946) / Blonde Savage (1947) / Savage Girl (1932) / Jungle Siren (1942) (5-DVD)

Nabonga (1944, B&W, 75 minutes): An embezzler and his daughter crash their plane in the jungles of Africa. Young Doreen (Julie London) is the sole survivor and befriends a gorilla, Samson, who becomes her guardian. Ray Gorman (Buster Crabbe) is out to clear the name of his father, who is falsely accused of stealing the money. Ray is unaware that he is being trailed in the jungle by scheming couple Carl and Marie (Barton MacLane and Fifi D'Orsay) intent on stealing the treasure that is guarded by a White Witch and her ape companion. The parties clash in double-crossing treachery that unleashes the fury of Samson. Nabonga borrows from King Kong and the "gorilla gone wild" pictures of the era and is a classic tale of beauty and the beast. Directed by Sam Newfield.

Queen of The Amazons (1946, B&W, 60 minutes): A beautiful woman journeys to the forbidden depths of the African jungle to find her missing fiance. She is warned by the natives that the jungle is controlled by a tribe of she-devils - voodoo women who murder all outsiders. When she discovers that her boyfriend has been captured by these fearsome females, she and her expedition assault their hidden enclave. While unraveling the mystery, she discovers that his disappearance is linked to ivory smuggling. A greedy cartel, enraged at her intrusion, unleashes its forces trapping her between the hostile Amazons and a bloodthirsty army. Stars Robert Lowery; Directed by Edward Finney.

Blonde Savage (1947, B&W, 60 minutes): Millionaire developer Mark Harper (Douglass Dumbrille) hires pilots Steve Blake (Leif Erickson) and Hoppy (Frank Jenks) to find the tribe of jungle savages responsible for slaughtering workers on his excavations. They crash-land and are captured by hostile natives ruled by Meelah (Gale Sherwood), a beautiful wild blonde. Meelah had been raised from infancy as a goddess by the tribe after her parents were murdered by Harper. Blake and Meelah fall desperately in love and set out to prove Harper's guilt. Veda Ann Borg steals the show with a gritty performance as Harper's saucy wife in this jungle action adventure.

Savage Girl (1932, B&W, 66 minutes): Legend tells of a mysterious dark-haired white woman deep in the African jungle, a goddess who possesses great power over wild beasts. Famed hunter Jim Franklin dismisses the story and plans a trip to the dangerous region to capture wild animals. Financing the trip is an eccentric millionaire, Amos P. Stitch, and guiding them is an unscrupulous explorer named Alec Bernouth. The hunting party captures a ferocious lion, under the unseen gaze of the white goddess. The leopard-skin clad beauty releases the lion from its cage, but is caught in a trap set by the hunters. Her striking beauty captures the heart of Franklin, but Bernouth has more insidious intentions for the girl. Banished from the group when his rape attempt is foiled, Bernouth plots his revenge by enlisting the help of hostile natives who would like nothing more than to kill Franklin and the girl. The goddess must rely on her extraordinary powers to save them. The Savage Girl features old-fashioned jungle thrills of the popular Tarzan films while incorporating the fascination with gorillas many films in the genre display. A very modest precursor to King Kong's big arrival the following year, The Savage Girl was a blueprint for many grade-B jungle adventures, including Nabonga in 1944 with Buster Crabbe. Director Harry Fraser was proficient in westerns during the 1930s but returned to the jungle for more simian adventures with White Gorilla in 1945. Actress Rochelle Hudson kept busy in many B-pictures during the '30s and '40s including Les Miserables (1935), Mr. Moto Takes A Chance (1938) and a film called Konga (1940), which was ironically about a stallion, not an ape. She also was renowned for her prominent role as Natalie Wood's mother in the classic Rebel Without A Cause (1955). Hudson revived her career in the mid-sixties with appearances in the cult horror movies The Night Walker, Strait-Jacket and Dr. Terror's Gallery Of Horrors, her last film.

Jungle Siren (1942, B&W, 66 minutes): Wild native girl Kuylaya saves American agent Gary Hart from certain death at the hands of tribal assassins. Hart is on a mission to prevent the African village of Caraby from being taken over by Nazi raiders. German fifth columnist Herr Lukas is secretly bribing a powerful tribal warlord to lead a native uprising. Lukas' beautiful wife seduces Hart, inflaming the jealous Kuylaya. Politics and passions explode in violence that will determine the future of Caraby.Ann Corio, star of Minsky's Burlesque, made her way to Hollywood in 1941 when Mayor LaGuardia shut down the striptease clubs of New York. Her famous body won her roles in "B" adventure pictures, such as Swamp Woman (1941) and Call Of The Jungle (1944). Olympic swimming medalist Buster Crabbe starred in over a hundred films playing action heroes in serials including Tarzan The Fearless (1933) and most notably Flash Gordon (1936). He starred on TV in the popular series "Captain Gallant Of The Foreign Legion" (1955-1957) along with his real-life son, Cullen, who played the role of Cuffy. Sam Newfield, the workhorse of PRC, helmed over 250 motion pictures.

This release offers a collection of movies featuring Amazons and other powerful women of the jungle. Some of the classic films offered in the set include NABONGA from 1944, QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS from 1946, BLONDE SAVAGE from 1947, SAVAGE GIRL from 1932, and more.