Jungle Queen (serial)

{{About|the 1945 Universal film serial|the variety of plant known as Jungle Queen|Alpinia purpurata|a serial with a similar name|Queen of the Jungle}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Jungle Queen

| image = Jungle Queen FilmPoster.jpeg

| caption =

| director = Lewis D. Collins
Ray Taylor

| producer = Morgan Cox
Ray Taylor

| writer = George H. Plympton
Ande Lamb

| narrator =

| starring = Edward Norris
Eddie Quillan
Douglass Dumbrille
Lois Collier
Ruth Roman
Tala Birell
Clarence Muse

| music =

| cinematography = Maury Gertsman
William A. Sickner

| editing = Irving Birnbaum
Jack Dolan
Ace Herman
Alvin Todd
Edgar Zane

| distributor = Universal Pictures

| released = {{film date|1945|1|23}}

| runtime = 13 chapters (219 min)

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

}}

Jungle Queen (1945) is a Universal movie serial. This serial was later re-edited into a feature film for television called Jungle Safari (1956).

Plot

In 1939, Nazi Germany sends a team of agents to incite revolt and seize British Middle Africa as a first step in conquering Africa. Attempting to place their own sympathiser in charge of the local tribe, they face resistance from Pamela Courtney searching for her Uncle Allen Courtney, a pair of American volunteers and the mysterious Jungle Queen Lothel, who appears out of nowhere in her nightgown to give advice and instructions to the tribe.

Cast

Edward Norris as Bob Elliot
Eddie Quillan as Chuck Kelly
Douglass Dumbrille as Lang, the Nazi villain
Lois Collier as Pamela Courtney
Ruth Roman as Lothel, Jungle Queen
Tala Birell as Dr. Elise Bork
Clarence Muse as Kyba
Cy Kendall as Tambosa Tim
Clinton Rosemond as Godac
Lumsden Hare as Mr X
Lester Matthews as Commissioner Braham Chatterton
Napoleon Simpson as Maati
Budd Buster as Jungle Jack
Emmett Smith as Noma
James Baskett as Orbon

Critical reception

Cline writes that "although well produced, it often became bogged down with complicated plot twists, psychological debates and confusion as to who was on whose side, and what was really being accomplished." The Jungle Queen herself is never adequately explained.{{cite book

| last = Cline

| first = William C.

| title = In the Nick of Time

| url = https://archive.org/details/innickoftimemot00clin

| url-access = registration

| year = 1984

| publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.

| isbn = 0-7864-0471-X

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/innickoftimemot00clin/page/35 35]

| chapter = 3. The Six Faces of Adventure

}}