Jungle Queen – Chapter 12: Dragged Under

OUR STORY SO FAR: If you’re wondering why I have a smile on my face and seem to be in rather upbeat spirits…it’s because this week’s installment of Jungle Queen (1945) is the serial’s penultimate chapter—after next week, we will be done with this silliness once and for all.  It seems like it was only three years ago when I first undertook this assignment…mainly because it was nearly that (the first Queen post was in July of 2009) and while I’ve stated previously that I regret waiting so long between the first chapter write-up and the subsequent ones, after watching it weekly I don’t think my decision was so terrible in retrospect (mainly because the serial itself is terrible).

An opening title card warns us that the clock is ticking before the Second World War gets underway…but instead of companies purchasing television commercials at astronomical rates, we are instead whisked to Old Blighty to the headquarters of “Mr. X” (Lumsden Hare), who in theory is supposed to be the man in charge of thwarting the Germans from starting the conflagration, but seems in this serial to function more as a Greek chorus on the action.  In his office are his loyal undersecretary (George Leigh) and another extra that shall go unnamed, simply because he has no lines of dialogue.

MR. X (on the phone): So that’s the latest…quite…quite…thanks, old chap… (He hangs up the receiver) Henderson reports from Berlin that Germany will attack Poland at any moment…

UNDERSECRETARY: Not unexpected, what?

You gotta love the British.  They’re so bloody unflappable.

UNDERSECRETARY: But at least this office has its affairs in order…

MR. X: But not in Tambosa…let Chatterton know the worst at once…

Yes, this is really what war boils down to, friends and neighbors.  Making sure the paperwork is complete.  So the scene shifts to Tambosa, which headquarters the office of the Royal Commissioner and Replacer of Copier Toner, Braham Chatterton (Lester Matthews), who has his own assistant in a man simply known as Rogers (and played by character great Cyril Delevanti, who I caught in a Twilight Zone repeat just this past week).

CHATTERTON: Of all the commissioners under Mr. X’s supervision…I’m the only one who isn’t ready…everybody I need has disappeared: Bork…Bob…Chuck…Pam…Jungle Jack…Godac…

“Darlene!  Annette!  Karen!  Cubby!”  Well, now that the Mouseketeer roll call is finished—let’s pick up from where we were last week.  Bob Elliot (Edward Norris) and Chuck Kelly (Eddie Quillan) hit upon the brilliant scheme to follow telephone wires across jungle and swamps to track down the Nazis’ hideout, believing them to be just as thick as the ones running the POW camp on Hogan’s Heroes.  But thanks to the quick thinking of faux Swedish botanist Dr. Elise Bork (Tala Birell), who’s sort of running the show in the African middle jungle, a pair of Nazi goons named Heinkel (Peter Helmers) and Muller (George Eldredge) have re-directed those wires to a small cave where our two idiot heroes follow and enter and…

…the villains blow them up real good.  (This may turn out to be the best Jungle Queen chapter of them all!)  After inspecting their handiwork (they disappointingly don’t high-five one another—I guess that sort of thing only happens in The Producers), Muller and Heinkel scamper off back to headquarters, and the scene shifts to the cell where annoying Pamela Courtney (Lois Collier), intrepid safari explorer Jungle Jack (Budd Buster) and ineffectual native chieftain Kyba (Clarence Muse) are being held prisoner.  To make matters worse, Dr. Bork is giving them a lecture on German superiority.

BORK: …and now do you understand, Miss Courtney?  Why Africa rightfully belongs to Germany?  And how she intends to get it?

PAMELA: What Germany will get, Dr. Bork, won’t be Africa…

JACK: When you shoot a cat—be sure he’s dead…before you put your rifle down…

I should point out here before cat fanciers start stampeding to the comments section that J-Jack is using “cat” in the lion/tiger sense.  (Well anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

BORK: By the way…don’t expect Mr. Elliot and Mr. Kelly to save you…they’ve been buried alive…

Dun-dun-dun!!!  Bork leaves her prisoners on that note of self-satisfaction, and the scene shifts back to Mr. Elliot and Mr. Kelly, who are looking for a way out of their predicament.

BOB: Boy…they certainly did a good job this time…how are we going to get out of here?

CHUCK: I don’t know… (Looking off to the side) Hey Bob—do you see what I see?

A boulder rolls out in front of the two men, revealing an opening in a cave wall.  Crouching down to examine it, Bob tells his partner: “Don’t follow me til’ I call you, Chuck.”  Bob crawls into the opening and along a tunnel until he finds himself standing upright inside another cave…he then gives Chuck the all-clear.

CHUCK: The Nazis tried to kill us…not scare us…so somebody else opened this tunnel…

BOB: Must have been Lothel…

The two of them look back at the tunnel, and then turning back around get a surprise—it is Lothel (Ruth Roman), the mystery queen of the jungle!

LOTHEL: The middle jungle people need their friends…but our enemies have captured them…

BOB: Who else have the Nazis captured, Lothel—in addition to Godac?

LOTHEL: Kyba…the Tongghili who should succeed Godac…an old hunter…and the niece of the murdered Courtney…

CHUCK: Jungle Jack and Pam!  Where are they?

LOTHEL: In the caves of Mt. Balgan…

BOB:  You mean…you can’t help our friends?

LOTHEL: Mine is another destiny…

CHUCK: That’s a new way of saying “no”…

Okay, I did laugh out loud at that…particularly since I haven’t been able to figure out just what the hell Lothel’s “destiny” is or why she’s able to pay Godac (Clinton Rosemond) regular visits in the cave where he’s being held prisoner but doesn’t lift a finger to rescue his sorry ass.

BOB: Take it easy, Chuck… (To Lothel) Will you show us the way to go there?

LOTHEL: Yes…follow me…

The three of them quickly reach the cave’s exit.

CHUCK: All we have to do is find where the telephone wires start again and follow them!

LOTHEL: I will show you a path…

BOB: That’s for me… (To Chuck) You follow the wires if you want to…

CHUCK: Sometimes I wonder if I’m stupid or just talk too much…

BOB: Oh, you don’t talk too much…

Oh, burrrnnn!!!  The three of them continue to rush through the flora-decorated backlot and one dissolve later, they reach a clearing.  Pointing off into the distance, Lothel intones: “Follow the path that will lead you to the caves of Balgan…to Godac, Kyba, your friends…to your enemies…”  She then runs off ahead, but by the time Bob and Chuck follow she’s done another vanishing act. (Chuck: “Well…Queenie’s done it again…”)

The scene shifts to the “nerve center” inside Mt. Balgan—the communications set-up manned by radio operator Weber (Louis Adlon), who finds himself joined by goons Heinkel and Muller.

WEBER: Finished?

MULLER: Yeah…

WEBER (with uncharacteristic glee): We’ll be at war with Poland before tomorrow!

HEINKEL: Good!  The sooner the better…where’s Lang?

WEBER: In with Godac…

Heinkel heads off in the direction of the cell of Godac—the all-powerful judge of the middle jungle tribes—where we also find the ruthlessly inefficient Lang (Douglass Dumbrille), Bork’s second-in-command.

HEINKEL (to Lang): Is Godac reasonable?

LANG: No…he refuses to tell us where the real Sword of Tongu is hidden…

HEINKEL: Perhaps he just doesn’t understand…

LANG (brightening): You’ve been taught all the latest scientific methods of the Gestapo—haven’t you, Heinkel?

“Not only that, Herr Lang…I was employed as a prison guard for five months at Guantanamo…”

HEINKEL: That’s why I say…Godac doesn’t understand…

LANG: Well, give him a demonstration…but don’t kill him…

Lang exits the cell to allow Heinkel to do that voodoo that he do so well…and because the last shot we see is Heink drawing his revolver from his holster we know these “scientific methods” can’t be good.  Back in the radio room, Weber continues to listen animatedly to war news developments as if it were a Yankees doubleheader.  Dr. Bork arrives, joining Lang, Weber and Muller.

BORK (to Lang): Has Godac told you the secret?

LANG: No…he’s stubborn…I warned Heinkel not to kill him…

BORK: How about Maati?

LANG: He should be waiting for me on the trail…

BORK: Good…have him postpone producing the sword and claiming Godac’s place…

LANG: Well—should I tell him about the sword being imitation?

BORK: No…let him continue to believe that it’s the real Sword of Tongu…

I’ll say this for Nazis—they’re consistent.  They’re always capitalizing on opportunities to knife their allies in the back.  Those allies—power-mad native chieftain Maati (Napoleon Simpson), his stooge, Noma (Emmett Smith) and a few other warriors—are precisely where Lang said they’d be, hanging out in the jungle when he approaches.

LANG: Godac is beginning to believe it is wise to do what we want…

MAATI: Godac will give me the lower throne?

LANG: If he doesn’t, you can claim to be his successor anyway…your middle jungle people will never suspect you…

NOMA: The Tongghili wait…

LANG: Until tomorrow?

MAATI: When Godac chooses me…I will kill Godac…I wanna be the judge…

“Tell me about the rabbits, George…”

LANG: Well, you can do it when the time comes—go ahead… (Staring off into the distance) Look!

Lang has spotted Bob running in a nearby clearing, so drawing his revolver, he fires a shot in our hero’s direction.  As Bob runs off, Lang and the natives give chase…and as Bob zips by Chuck, Chuck runs off behind his friend.  The two men desperately try to elude Lang and the natives, finally seeking temporary shelter underneath some bushes:

CHUCK: Why stop here?

BOB: You’re not stopping, Chuck…he didn’t see you…cut across the telephone wires and follow them into Balgan…

CHUCK: While you get it here?  Hah!  Just watch me…

BOB: Not seeing you with me they’ll think you’re dead…I’ll hold them off long enough so no one will follow you…

CHUCK: Uh-uh…no soap, Bob…

BOB: Listen, Chuck…it’s our only chance to rescue Pam, Godac and the others!!

CHUCK: Well…okay, Bob—I guess you’re right…

BOB: Go on!  Beat it!

Either Chuck’s loyalty is a bottomless pit…or he’s got some news for himself where Bob’s concerned.  Chuck runs off as Lang and the others start to close in.  Bob fires his pistola in the air to distract their attention, but Lang observes “He’s given himself away.”  And indeed he has, as the natives quickly surround the bushes where Bob thought he was safe.  “Well, Mr. Elliot,” gloats Lang, “we’ve finally caught up with you.”  There is then a quick shot of Chuck hauling ass and elbows through the jungle…and then stopping because the idiot has apparently lost his bearings.

Back in their cell in the caves of Mt. Balgan, Pamela and J-Jack watch as Kyba stares off into space, as in a trance…

JACK: What’s the matter, Kyba?

PAMELA: Is something wrong?

KYBA: Godac’s in danger…very great danger…

JACK: Well…no more so, Kyba, than the rest of us…

KYBA: Godac will not live…

Kind of spooky as to how Kyba knows all this, but he’s correctamundo…Dr. Bork enters Godac’s cell and she is not happy with Heinkel concerning the judge’s weak physical state.

BORK: The science of torture, Heinkel, is to prolong it…there’s always another day…but there’s only one Godac…

HEINKEL: I never saw anyone stand so much pain…I…I guess I thought him stronger than he is…

BORK (after giving Heinkel a disapproving look): There’s a chance I can save him…

Damn it, Elise, you’re a botanist, not a surgeon!  The two of them exit the cell and return to the radio room, where Weber is positively giddy over Germany’s preparations for World War II (“Our friends are getting ready for general mobilization!”).  Bork then addresses her underlings in a curious bit of dialogue exchange—it’s like part needless plot exposition, part disciplinary dressing-down of Heinkel for his blundering.

BORK (to Weber): What do you know about the Sword of Tongu?

WEBER: The man who knows its hiding place—Godac—is the judge of all the tribes…the sword is the symbol of his power…

BORK: If we knew the secret…and a new judge like Maati didn’t know it…we would control Maati, wouldn’t we?

MULLER: Why, that’s obvious…

“But nevertheless, it doesn’t deter us from explaining this week after week!”

MULLER: …Maati has to have the sword in order to be judge…and he can only get it from us…

BORK: Precisely…

Now here’s the part where Heinkel learns he did piss-poorly on his performance review…

BORK: But chances are, Heinkel…that we will never learn that secret now… (To Muller) Where are the medical supplies?

MULLER: I’ll get them, Doctor…

In Godac’s cell, the judge of all the middle jungle tribes is fading fast.  But he has just enough breath in his body to speak to Lothel…yes, that Lothel.  The one who could have rescued him several chapters ago but apparently hers “is another destiny”:

LOTHEL: I’ve come, Godac…so that the secret of the sword would not be lost to your Tongghili…

GODAC (with little strength left): Lothel…I’ve been waiting for you…only you can save my people now…

“I just hope…you are able to help them more… than you were able…to save me…jungle bitch…”

LOTHEL: Where is the hiding place for the Sword of Tongu?

GODAC: The Sword of Tongu is hidden in…in…

But we never learn his answer to her question, because we’re back in the radio room again, where the chewing-out of Heinkel continues:

BORK: With Germany undertaking to fight the whole world…mistakes cannot be tolerated…

In the Nazi industry, failure is not an option.  (I think Bork’s just pissed because now she has to change the number on the “Days without an accident” sign outside the cave.)

HEINKEL: But Dr. Bork…I thought Godac was stronger than he is!  You can’t always tell about people!  When you torture them!  How was I to know he would…gaaaaahhhh!!!

Heinkel never finishes his appeal, because Weber—in what I would think is a little out of his job classification—has plunged a dagger right into Heinkel’s back.  “Get rid of the body,” Bork orders Muller and Weber, and when the two men carry the dead Nazi off, she grabs the first-aid kit and heads for Godac’s cell.  But since Godac has drawn his rations, perhaps she should have waited to discipline Heinkel after she administered to Godac’s medical needs.  Cut back to the radio room, where Lang is escorting the captured Bob to his new home.

MULLER: Elliot!

LANG: He must have gotten out of your trap someway, Muller…I was going to kill him right away but I thought I’d better let Bork decide what to do with him…

WEBER: Good idea, Lang…Heinkel almost killed Godac…

LANG: Oh, I told him to be careful… (Noticing that Bork has arrived) How’s Godac?

BORK: Dead… (To Muller) Arrange Godac’s body for Maati to take away… (Muller exits) Now that Godac’s dead… (Smiling) and now since Mr. Elliot is with us…all our prisoners have become valuable…

Bork has some additional dialogue concerning Maati which is, sadly, undecipherable because of a bad splice in the print that VCI used for the DVD.  It becomes clear again with Weber announcing that the Germans are bombing Poland:

BORK: You see, Mr. Elliot…Germany’s plans…have left nothing to chance…

WEBER: England is declaring war!  France will follow!

BORK (with scorn): They are signing their death warrants…

BOB: You Germans also said the same thing in 1914, Dr. Bork… (He chuckles) You know what happened…

BORK: I’ll let you talk to me about it a little later, Mr. Elliot…but I don’t think you’ll find it funny… (To Lang) Put him with the others…

Yeah. Bob…that trash talk would have been more effective had we not waited three years to get into that first one.  Bob is quickly tossed into the cooler with Pamela, Kyba and J-Jack.

PAMELA: Bob!  We thought you were dead!

JACK: Where’s Chuck?

(Bob starts to answer but Lang cuts him off)

LANG: It would be cruel, Mr. Elliot, to make your friends think Mr. Kelly was dead…you prevented us to capture you in order that Kelly might escape, hoping he might save you…but the natives picked up his trail…Mr. Kelly hasn’t gone as far as you’d hoped…

Lang leaves, locking the door, as the others band together to help to untie Bob.  We then dissolve to a shot of Chuck running in the jungle, followed closely by Maati, Noma and the rest of the warriors.  Chuck reaches a clearing by a river (the same one that had the boat to which Lothel led Bob and J-Jack in Chapter 6) but since there is no transportation for our numbnut sidekick, he dives into the water in a desperate bid for freedom.

MAATI: We don’t have to worry about him…see?  Carka…

Carka, for those of you not up on your Tongghili, refers to the plentitude of stock footage crocodiles that frequently pops up in this serial (notably in Chapters 2 and 3).  So it looks as though Chuck is going to become an hors d’oeurve for the hungry critters.  Swim! Swim!  (I’m talking to the Carka, by the way.)