Green Hell (1940)

Director: James Whale

Writer: Frances Marion

Composer: Frank Skinner

Starring: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Bennett, John Howard, George Sanders, Alan Hale, George Bancroft, Vincent Price, Gene Garrick, Francis McDonald, Mala, Peter Bronte, Lupita Tovar, Iron Eyes Cody

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Seduction!...Desperation!...Adventure!...

Plot: A group of adventurers head deep into a South American jungle in search of ancient Incan treasure. A beautiful woman, brought to their camp by hired bearers, has come to join her husband, a newer member of the group, who was recently killed by hostile natives. As the months go by, jealousies and tempers flare as fights break out over the woman. The Incan treasure is finally found but the treaure-seekers, now united by a common enemy, are about to be attacked by hundreds of fierce natives armed with bows and poisoned arrows.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I loves me some jungle pictures...until I watch one that sucks.  But it's still a type of film that I'm willing to watch regardless of who made it or what it's about.  If it takes place in the jungle then I'm there.  I dig the location.  Maybe it's because I don't have any trees in my yard anymore (thanks a lot, stupid hurricanes).  This one's OK.  It's all fine and dandy until a chick shows up.  Then everything changes.  It stops being an action adventure and becomes a romance drama of sorts.  Then the natives get restless and it then becomes a survival picture for the last twenty minutes.  What's to like then?  The ancient temple set is amazing!  Also, it's nice seeing Alan Hale playing something different and playing it straight.  I've mostly seen him as comic relief and most of the time it's in an Errol Flynn picture.  And finally it's seeing George Sanders playing a nice guy for a change.  He's great at everything but it's a nice change of pace for a man who made a fantastic career out of playing a cad.  The cast does a good job I suppose.  My doubt is mostly with the romantic stuff.  That's when it gets too melodramatic for my taste.