To be honest, I had little faith in this one and, if the "Leonard Maltin Film Guide" is to be trusted, that feeling is certainly true of its two sequels; however, I was pleasantly surprised by it even if, at the end of the day, the film rests squarely on the (most capable) shoulders of John Carradine and, admittedly, the animal training scenes (actually stock footage from a much earlier title!) probably take up more than half of its running-time (which is barely over an hour to begin with!). Anyway, the plot is basically "The Island Of Dr. Moreau" using more up-to-date technology (glandular transplant) and given an American small-town setting; however, the latter stages denoting the hybrid creature's murderous jealous fits are a definite nod to the Val Lewton classic CAT PEOPLE (1942). Having preceded this with a viewing of the superior (and more sci-fi oriented) MAN MADE MONSTER (1941), it was interesting to witness the similarities in the "Mad Doctor" characterization down to the dialogue, where not only is he willing to commit murder (sacrificing one measly life for the good of Science) but in the way the mind of a brilliant scientist has warped in the pursuit of his own 'immortality'; a Shakespearean actor, Carradine cannot have been pleased to be appearing in this type of fare (and he made scores of them throughout his lengthy career!) but there is no denying the intensity and, thus, conviction of his performance here (amusingly, he plays a Dr. Sigmund[!] Walters) particularly the calmness with which he tosses circus wrangler Paul Fix into the path of a gorilla which hates his guts or working out in his mind how to use, rather than merely dispose of, people who threaten to disrupt the all-important experiments (such as wavering assistant Fay Helm and, eventually, heroine Evelyn Ankers). The latter (with whom I happen to share my birthday!) graced many a Universal horror movie as did, incidentally, some of the borrowed music cues! but here she has to contend with the oddly-named Acquanetta, who looks exotic enough (and certainly fetching in 'jungle' garb) albeit saddled with a speechless role (thus having to act virtually with her eyebrows alone!) and, later, unbecoming ape make-up!!; also appearing briefly as Ankers' younger sister (and Carradine's guinea-pig) is Martha Vickers billed under her real surname, MacVicar, and who would later be memorably sexy in Howard Hawks' THE BIG SLEEP (1946). Lloyd Corrigan, then, is the flustered circus owner, Vince Barnett the diminutive comic-relief of an absent-minded feeder and, of course, there's rugged Milburn Stone as the would-be animal trainer leading-man: apparently more often seen as a character actor or in bit parts, he makes for one of the dullest heroes in the annals of Universal Horror! Although this film eventually found its way on that exclusive (or is that elusive?) "Universal Classic Horror Archive" 3-Disc Set, I had to regretfully settle for an artifact-riddled DivX copy...
Review of Captive Wild Woman
