kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** After a night of drinking and partying actress Monica Madison,Eve Brent, while leaving the Can-Can nightclub is attacked and strangled as her diamond brooch is stolen by her attacker. Coming or staggering out of the club to check out things is police Sgt.Stevens, Lawrence Tierney, who's so smashed that he doesn't know what world he's on. With Sgt. Stevens's boss Capt. Kroger, Jack Hill, spotting him he lets Stevens have in in being drunk on the job even though he's actually off-duty. Ther's also the suspicion by Capt. Kruger that Stevens's in being totally out of it as well as being at the scene of the crime may well be Miss. Madison's murderer! The movie takes a hard right turn when all of a sudden out of nowhere this weirdo Claude Almstead, John Carradine,shows up at the Voe's Alex & Peggy, Burt Kaiser & Kathleen Crowley, apartment in the dead of night-200:AM-to have Alex a professional cartoonist sketch a caricature of himself!You would think that with a stranger showing up at his door in the middle of the night after a murder was committed just blocks away Alex would be a bit suspicious and throw the guy out but he doesn't! Not only does he invite Almstead into the apartment but has his wife Peggy, who's barley awake, to boil up a cup of coffee for him? Eevn crazier is that Alex soon leaves the apartment for a hot date leaving the creepy looking Almstead all alone with his wife Peggy!***SPOILERS**** It soon turns out that with Sgt. Stevens doing the legwork that there's a link to Monica Madison's murder that connects to both Almstead and Alex who both turned out to be her lovers! And that link had to do with a drawing or caricature that Alex did of her as well as Almstead being at the Can-Can nightclub just hours before she was murdered! What can actually be called a 100% film noir style movie with it being filmed in almost total darkness, to save on budget costs, without a single ray of sunlight in it. The movie "Female Jungle" also has the distinction of being buxom blond Jane-Man O Man-Mansfield's film debut as Candy Price as well as having it's star Kathleen Crowley raped, for real not in the movie,that held up production for some three days!

kevin olzak 1955's "Female Jungle" was an early release from American International Pictures, when it was still called American Releasing Corporation, possibly a vanity project for actor Bert Kaiser, who not only plays a major role, but also co-wrote and produced (his only feature film, period). First time director Bruno Ve Sota, later responsible for 1955's "Dementia," 1958's "The Brain Eaters," and 1962's "Invasion of the Star Creatures," was a busy character actor in low budget films (particularly Roger Corman or Jerry Warren), and frequent villain in TV Westerns. Immeasurably aided by the cinematography of Universal ace Elwood 'Woody' Bredell, his best known titles including "Black Friday," "The Mummy's Hand," "Dark Streets of Cairo," "The Invisible Woman," "Man Made Monster," "Horror Island," "Hold That Ghost," "The Strange Case of Doctor Rx," "Mystery of Marie Roget," "The Ghost of Frankenstein," "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror," and "Phantom Lady." The film looks very good, the setup taking place almost in real time, just over an hour, starting off with the strangling murder of a pretty young blonde (not Jayne Mansfield, but Eve Brent, also making her film debut). She turns out to be a famous starlet, whose rise to the top was aided by news columnist Claude Almstead (John Carradine), who, like Clifton Webb's Waldo Lydecker in "Laura," remained confident that she'd always return to him whenever she strayed. There's a starving artist, Alex Voe (producer Bert Kaiser), who discovers Almstead at his apartment door at 2AM, curiously demanding a sketch performed; his not so faithful wife Peggy (Kathleen Crowley) has no problem accompanying the older man back to his place for a nightcap and moonlight swim. Ultimately, the film stubbornly focuses on its least interesting character, boozing cop Jack Stevens (Lawrence Tierney), barely recovered from his alcoholic blackout, conducting an investigation on the fly that never really picks up steam. Jayne Mansfield is absolutely stunning in her film debut, capably handling her supporting role as Candy Price, alternately carrying on with Voe and Stevens, all kisses with each man she comes across; too bad she too gets bumped off. Small parts are well played by director Ve Sota, James Kodl as the saloon owner, and especially Davis Roberts, so good in TV comedies like SANFORD AND SON, a very sober and believable performance as the janitor, usually a role played strictly for comic relief. It's not surprising to find John Carradine in such impoverished circumstances, and it's happily one of his meatiest roles of the 50s; bespectacled, dapper, and clean shaven, either a red herring or a killer, seemingly with understandable designs on another man's beautiful wife. The denouement is a lengthy one, and in his capable hands, ultimately satisfying (the picture would have been nothing without his presence). The pacing slowed by the dialogue-heavy script, it's downbeat but surprisingly good given the little known actors involved.

gnb I imagine the sole reason for most people to want to see this movie is for the screen debut of 50s cinema sex goddess Jayne Mansfield. However, the film itself stands up reasonably well after fifty years.The plot, as you are probably already aware, concerns the hunt for the killer of a Hollywood actress, murdered after she leaves a bar. An off-duty cop is in the frame as the killer and sets out to track down the real culprit.This movie was obviously done on the cheap but has a gritty edge to it and more than enough action and suspense to fill its meagre running time. Shot entirely at night the film has an oppressive feel and has good performances from all concerned. Jayne Mansfield, in her film debut, is very impressive as a slutty broad and performs well without her trademark squeal. Although obviously very attractive she isn't at all glamorous here and acts very well. For anyone in doubt of her abilities then Female Jungle proves that she definitely had something.Cheap, short and in the long term, forgettable, this is still an entertaining way to spend an hour. Don't break your neck to see it but if the opportunity arises, don't pass it by.

Wilbur-10 Even at 73 minutes this film began to drag, which is a shame because as B-movies go it had quite a lot of promise. The 1950's were better known for the sometimes laughable sci-fi offerings - it was often only the cheap special-effects which caused derision though and the films had lots of good ideas and storylines. The film noir rip-offs from the same period didn't rely on effects and most are worth watching - they are certainly better than the straight-to-video junk churned out in the 90's.'Female Jungle' begins with the murder of a glamourous blonde actress outside a bar. Having immediately grabbed our interest the narrative steadily falters and ultimately the good work is undone by a confused plot and characters who elicit little interest. Lawrence Tierney plays the central character, a drunken cop who may be involved in the crime, but he only serves as a dull vehicle around which the minor, but more interesting, characters can operate. These are primarily John Carradine as the suave but sleazy agent of the murdered actress and Jayne Mansfield who plays Candy Price, the mistress of a down-on-his-luck artist who knew the victim ( the artist is played by one Burt Kaiser who also wrote and produced the film, but seems to have done nothing else at all - wonder what happened to him ).The action seems to take place over one night - there are certainly no daylight scenes - but there is a disjointed feel to proceedings and I kept getting lost towards the end as to what was exactly happening. If you take away the great title, the opening 5 minutes and Jayne Mansfield then there is not much here. B-Movies don't need a great deal though and these 3 elements make the film just about worth catching.