Christopher Powell is in Malaya with his fiancée and her father, capturing wild animals. While out hunting he is attacked by a tiger, and his native guides run away, leaving him for dead. But the tiger is the pet of Ulah, a beautiful young woman who grew up by herself in the jungle. She rescues Chris and takes him back to her cave, where she nurses him to health and falls in love with him. When he eventually returns to camp, she follows. His fiancée is jealous, and the natives do not like Ulah or her pet tiger either, all of which leads to a lot of trouble.
The film was initially banned in Nazi Germany, but Paramount requested the ban to be lifted in October 1937, and the censorship office lifted the ban in March 1938.[1]
Reception
Writing for The Spectator in 1937, Graham Greene gave the film a mildly positive review. He critiqued the film's hackneyed use of exaggerated social consciousness as a trope, but noted that "the climax is magnificent" and ultimately characterized it as a "lively picture".[2]
The Jungle Princess was a major hit and launched Lamour's career as one of the leading stars of the era, often cast, sarong-clad, in similar jungle adventure romances, which led to her playing leading lady to Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in the Road to...musical comedy movie series beginning four years later.
The Indonesian film Terang Boelan (1937) was partially inspired by The Jungle Princess.[3][4]
"Kino Nostalgie Die Dschungel Prinzessin" [Cinema Nostalgia: The Jungle Princess]. Kinogucker [Cinema Movies]. Original german handbills from 1939 (in German). May 27, 2015. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015.
