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Queen of the Amazons
1947 - Suitable for Children - 60 Mins.
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| Director: Edward F. Finney | | Producer: Edward F. Finney | | Written By: Roger Merton | | Starring: Robert Lowery, Patricia Morison, J. Edward Bromberg |
| Review by: James O'Ehley |
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'Queen of the Amazons' is a 1947 “jungle” movie set in Africa.
Maybe the movie’s producers had more stock footage of African wildlife and dancing “natives” (in one scene set to a vaguely jazz tune!) to pad the movie’s running time with. Who knows?
The plot concerns a woman whose fiancée has disappeared during a safari in Africa. That they would reconsider their relationship during the course of the movie should come as no surprise to audiences because they don’t seem to be a very communicative couple: her search for him kicks off in India for some reason – wrong continent altogether! Also, she soon becomes attracted to the guide she has hired to find the fiancée. That is despite the fact that the guide “hates women”. I guess that back then that meant something different . . .
Besides, the fiancée has been kidnapped by a missing tribe of white women (the titular “amazons”) and has gotten quite comfy with their leader who is obviously named Zita, a sort of perfectly coiffeured Mrs. Kurtz in leopard skin outfits who is lording it over the natives. No miscegenation though: at one stage she explains how she considered importing “white settlers” when some of these “amazons” (women survivors of a shipwreck actually) came to be of a marriageable age. Incidentally all the so-called “White she-devils” look like 1940s pinup calendar models and unfortunately one doesn’t see enough of them (I meant that in a PG sort of way).
'Queen of the Amazons' gleefully counts off the “jungle” movie clichés: porters are killed by lions, there is a swarm of locusts, one subplot involves ivory smugglers, and so forth.
The “natives” are always “restless” (in both Africa and India) and have names like Tanga and Bambo. Even though the movie’s voice-over describes them as “superstitious” and the film’s characters refer to “savages” and makes sure to point out “a White man has been injured” the movie isn’t particularly racist, even by today’s standards or the standards of the time. It isn’t even all that sexist either, even though our heroine is a great shot in one scene, but perfectly useless when our hero is mauled by a lion: then she can only stand by shouting hysterically while the lion is ultimately chased away by another man.
How much you enjoy 'Queen of the Amazons' depends on your appreciation of movie clichés. It is campy, yes, and unintentionally funny. Still, I had a good time watching it: 'Queen of the Amazons' is goofy, harmless, silly fun. Best of all its running time clocks in at a mere hour and thus the movie never overstays its welcome.
If you enjoyed modern incarnations of the so-called “jungle” movie such as 'Congo' and 'The Lion and the Darkness' because of their sheer silliness, then you’d want to check out the real item on offer here. Also, it is interesting to note how many elements the 'Indiana Jones' movies would share with this movie . . .
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