Just Screenshots: Captive Wild Woman (1943)

Captive Wild Woman (1943)

Brilliant, but ruthless and unscrupulous scientist Dr. Sigmund Walters (nicely underplayed by John Carradine) turns a huge wild ape into a beautiful, yet still deadly mute woman named Paula Dupree (an impressively expressive pantomime performance by the ravishing Acquanetta). Paula gets a job keeping animals tame in a circus. Complications ensue when Paula falls for rugged and dashing animal trainer Fred Mason (a likable portrayal by Milburn Stone) and reverts back to a hirsute bestial state. Director Edward Dmytryk, working from a compact script by Griffin Jay and Henry Sucher, relates the engrossing plot at a steady pace, maintains a serious mood throughout, and stages the thrilling climax involving a fierce thunderstorm and a hulking rampaging gorilla (veteran simian thespian Ray Corrigan in a nifty suit) with considerable rip-snorting aplomb. This movie further benefits from sound acting by a sturdy cast: Carradine keeps his trademark eye-rolling hammy tendencies on a leash for once, Acquanetta's dark exotic beauty adds credibility to her admittedly far-fetched role, plus there are praiseworthy contributions by the fetching Evelyn Ankers as Mason's concerned girlfriend Beth Colman, Lloyd Corrigan as jolly circus owner John Whipple, and Fay Helm as the reluctant Nurse Strand. The scenes involving savage lions and tigers performing various daring feats in a cage are genuinely gripping and exciting. George Robinson's crisp black and white cinematography makes neat use of fades and dissolves. The spirited film library score likewise does the rousing trick. The terse 61 minute running time ensures that this picture never gets dull or overstays its welcome. A huge enjoyable fright feature potboiler. (IMDB Woodyanders)