The Lost Tribe (1949) User Reviews

"This is the land of Zom."

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 10 April 2007]

Having just watched the original "Jungle Jim" movie from the prior year, I couldn't help noticing how similar the plot elements were for this follow up film, as the jungle hero agrees to help Zoron, the leader of Zom, from trespassing white men who would plunder the kingdom of it's treasure. Which wouldn't have been so enticing if Jim hadn't agreed to offer the villains a handful of diamonds each to agree to stay away. Now there's a strategy, and Jim was supposed to know the mind of greedy white men!

If you enjoy a good healthy dose of goofiness with your jungle flicks, this one will be right up your alley. Jim battles crocodiles and sharks, usually after an impressive dive into the water to keep viewers reminded of his genuine Olympic prowess. Throw in a small army of men in gorilla suits and you have the makings for a rousing finale to defeat the bad guys; you know your main villain is truly evil when he kills his own niece early in the story. Those gorillas looked awfully similar to the ones played by Ray "Crash" Corrigan in a whole load of ape films from the 1940's and 50's, so it came as no surprise to learn that the movie itself was filmed at the Corriganville Ranch in Simi Valley, California. I didn't know Corrigan had understudies.

I had to do a double take when Chot (Paul Marion), son of Zoron, reminds his sister Li Wanna (Elena Verdugo) that it's forbidden for any white person to see the land of Zom. Hmm, and that was shortly after she led Jungle Jim to Zom to meet her father. No sense letting inconsistency in the story line stand in the way of an entertaining jungle flick.

For anyone keeping track, this film's entry in the 'non African animals appearing in an African setting' would be the quick stock shot of a South American toucan. You have to be attentive though, it's a quickie. Fortunately too, the movie itself comes in at slightly over an hour, not too strenuous for the attention span if you go for this kind of stuff like I do. But one question though, for an ancient lost city, just how many times did Chot, Li Wanna and Jim go back and forth to Zom in the course of the story - I just couldn't keep track.

"You speak truly Jungle Jim"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 4 August 2018]

Jungle Jim is asked by a girl Li Wanna from the hidden city of Zom to persuade some men to leave the city alone. The ruler of Zom gives Jim some diamonds to help persuade the men who include a sea captain and the local bar owner but once seeing the diamonds their lust for more treasure increases. Incident follows incident until the very lively climax. If you like jungle movies this has it all; a lost city, cute animals, a pretty jungle maiden, familiar stock footage, men in gorilla suits and a brawny hero.

The brawny hero Jungle Jim being played of course in his pleasant way by Johnny Weissmuller. He's basically like Tarzan but he wears clothes instead. He does get to fight a lion and a crocodile like Tarzan but also fights a couple of sharks which Tarzan wasn't prone to do. Supporting him nicely is the gorgeous Elena Verdugo as Li Wanna. Jimmy The Crow plays Caw-Caw the Crow and outshines the rest of the cast.

Not the best jungle movie but it kept me entertained.

Recycled lost city sets lead to lesser Jungle Jim.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 25 February 2017]

It takes nearly two reels for this to get its plot started, focusing on stock footage and shots of cute wild baby animals (including a bear!) and the viciousness of nature, mostly thanks to the presence of destructive men. The hidden city from the first film has been exposed, so Jim ventures out to deal with restless natives, discovering another hidden civilization where valuable crystals become the source of greed. Young Elena Verdugo, as the daughter of a really ancient king, becomes Weissmuller's latest eye candy for nearly 70 minutes, while he struggles to prevent this seemingly peaceful land. Meanwhile, there's a man in an ape suit (holding a baby chimp) fighting a lion, rescued by Jim who wrestles with it as mama ape looks on then cozies up to him in thanks.

There's a vicious femme fatale (Myrna Dell) obviously up to no good, Caucasian actors in jeweled turbans playing African royalty and all sorts of nefarious villains with no real motive. I could easily have rated this at a 3 or 4, but it's done all so innocently and comes off as such Saturday morning fun that I couldn't bear to bomb it. At any rate, it's still better than any of the best Bomba movies I've seen, and without a doubt, any of the schlock that's being released as "entertainment" today. Dell is hysterically over the top as a blowsy Shelley Winters type, trying to seduce the not interested Weismueller. Once again, his comical crow pal and cute pup are back, adding more visual comedy to the delightfully silly story.

The Gratitude of the Gorilla community

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 8 September 2012]

Johnny Weissmuller's second appearance of Jungle Jim concerns him protecting the secret and treasures of an ancient civilized tribe called Zhamm who have built a hidden city. The son of the chief has been paying court to a girl in another place giving her trinkets made of precious metal. That gets the antenna treasure of Joseph Vitale and Ralph Dunn raised.

Fortunately for the good guys Jungle Jim performed an intervention when he takes sides against a lion attacking a gorilla and her baby. He also takes out a crocodile and a shark as well during the course of the film. That wins him the gratitude of the gorilla community and in the climax they prove to be of invaluable help.

The Lost Tribe is high camp all the way, gloriously bad cinema, but kind of fun.

Below average, even for a Jungle Jim movie.

[youroldpaljim · 24 November 2001]

With the exception of CAPTIVE GIRL, this may be the worst film in the entire "Jungle Jim" series. This film is below average even for a Jungle Jim movie, and the average was pretty low to begin with. The plot is a rehash of the previous film, JUNGLE JIM (1948); bad guys from the outside want to pillage a lost city in the jungle. The city is supposed to be in some far off remote region of Africa, but judging from the film, its about an hours walk from a populated port town. This film is loaded with all kinds of plot contrivances and elements that don't ring true, even for a Jungle Jim movie. The only thing of interest is the exciting ( and pretty bizarre) final confrontation with the bad guys.

Call off your apes! If we go she goes!

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 9 September 2012]

***SPOILERS*** One of the better "Jungle Jim" movies has Jungle Jim, Johnny Weissmuller,have it out with a bunch of greedy fortune hunters who are trying to find out the the city, loaded with diamonds & gold, beyond the mountain range Dzamm is located. It's the son Chot, Paul Marion, of the emperor of Dzamm Zoron, Nelson Leigh, who almost lets the cat out of the bag. That by Chot falling helplessly in love with the niece Norina, Myrna Dll, of the head fortune hunter Captain Rawlins, Rulph Dunn, and bringing her presents strutted with diamonds from the city. That has Norina turn the screws or charms on Chot in getting him to tell her where the city of Dzamm is located.

Jungle Jim gets into the act or movie by saving Chot's sister princess Li Wanna's, Elena Verdugo, life from first being eating by a man eating crocodile and then lion almost before he had a chance to introduce himself to her! While keeping the jungle safe for it's less dangerous inhabitants Jungle Jim also saved his gorilla friend Zimba, actually a guy in a monkey suit, and chimpanzee companion, who's in fact the real deal, from another ferocious lion attack. That act of heroism on Jungle Jim's part would later figure or be rewarded in the movie exciting final and hair raising sequence.

It's Emperor Zoron who at first tries to placate Captain Rowlins and his partner Calhoun, Joseph Vitale, with a bag of precious and uncut diamonds delivered by Jungle Jim that only wets their greedy appetites to find out where they came from:The city of Dzamm. Holding Jungle Jim and princess Li Wanna hostage these greedy diamond hunters and their motley crew of drunken, with both booze and greed, sailors make their way to Dzamm knowing that the peace loving population there being totally against the use violence are nothing but a bunch of wimpy pushovers.

***SPOILERS*** Breaking into the the Emperor Zoron's golden palace Captain Rawlins Calhoun & Co.have the run of the place like a bunch of kids in a toy or candy store grabbing everything, diamonds jewels gold & silver, that isn't nailed down. It's just when things looked at their worst that Zimba and his band of hairy and unkempt mountain gorillas came to the people of Dzamm as well as Jungle Jim and Princess Li Wanna's rescue. Heart lifting final with the monkeys or gorillas doing in the greedy and power drunk fortune hunters saving Jungle Jim most of the trouble of doing it himself. There was a sad note in the movie in that Chot who by getting up enough courage and not being a pacifist saved both Jungle Jim and his sister Princess Li Wanna's lives when they were being hostage by the fortune hunters. But that was the price he had to pay for revealing the secret of the city of Dzamm to his love Norina. As things transpired in the movie Norina in fact wasn't around, she was murdered by Calhoun, or lived long enough to see it anyway.

Jungle Jim and the City of Gold

[lugonian · 3/10 · 20 September 2012]

THE LOST TRIBE (Columbia, 1949), directed by William Berke, returns Johnny Weissmuller of Tarzan movie fame (1932-1948) to his newfound role as Jungle Jim. Based on the comic strip character created by Alex Raymond, this second installment, though slightly better than the series opener, JUNGLE JIM (1948), is typically formula stuff. For the Saturday matinée crowd pleaser, there's non-stop action as hero matches wits against villains trespassing on a hidden city of people people somewhere beyond the mountain.

Starting off with African scenery and stock footage of various animals, a voice-over narrative reads off passages such as, "This is the jungle ... the kingdom of the animals where the savage lion rules ... and home of the tribesman ...it is not the leopard's fangs nor the lion's claws that he fears,these are the dangers they can cope with, it is no longer a problem of survival, it is now a question of greed." The greed the narrator is pertaining to is the greed of white men. The next scene finds two native men shot by Sam Weklen (John Melton) and his partner, Avery (George DeNormand), who, by orders of Captain Rawlins (Ralph Dunn), is to follow the trail that leads to a secret city. Witnessed by a crow named Caw-Caw, the bird flies over to the camp of Jungle Jim and warns him (in crow lingo) of the dangers ahead. Sensing something wrong, Jim (Johnny Weissmuller), accompanied by his dog, Skipper, follow the crow to the other side of the jungle where he finds the intruders have already been killed by a lion now after a native girl, Li-Wanna (Elena Verdugo) whom Jim saves. He learns Li-Wanna has been sent by her patriarch father, Chief Zoron (Nelson Leigh) to locate him for help. In fear of possible invasion in their sacred city, Zoron believes that, through the offering of a small pouch of diamonds to the white men, might satisfy them enough to go away. Chot (Paul Marion), son of Zoron, turns out to be the one responsible for the news about the hidden city by earlier leaving the territory, encountering and becoming infatuated with Norina (Myrna Dell), and through the course of time, treasuring her with gifts of diamonds and crystals. Although Chot believes she cares for him, Norina, associated with Calhoun (Joseph Vitale), posing as her uncle, and Captain Rawlins, uses this young naive native for their own purpose. After Jim comes on the vessel to offer the men a pouch of diamonds as a peace offering, Rawlins accepts the gift and "promises" to leave. However, the promise is proved false, no doubt. As Norina's methods of acquiring information needed from Jim fails, Rawlins' men overpower, abduct and hold him prisoner on board the captain's vessel where Jim is subjected to beatings while helplessly strung up.

The basic element of outside intruders stirring up trouble is hardly new but always good basic screen material. Somewhat compared to James Hilton's LOST HORIZON (Columbia, 1937), the city of Dzamm may not be a Shangri-La, but a paradise haven headed by a bearded white haired man looking more like Moses than Chang. Dzamm doesn't offer eternal youth, only eternal richness of gold to turn ordinary people into greedy thieves. Anyone familiar with Weissmuller's early screen offerings of TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (MGM, 1941) and TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS (RKO, 1945), can't help but notice such similarities THE LOST TRIBE has to offer, particularly AMAZONS where the principal players have to journey long distance to enter the hidden city. Though AMAZONS has the presence of Barton MacLane as the ruthless villain, a pity he didn't assumed a similar portrayal here since he's a better known and stronger presence than Ralph Dunn. Myrna Dell provides some uplifting moments as the bad girl trying to gather information from Jim (who prefers drinking coconut milk) by flirting with him, while Elena Verdugo offers whatever possible as an attractive figure in a sarong.

Reportedly produced on a "shoe-string" budget, production values for THE LOST TRIBE is of higher caliber than one would expect. The basic situations are laughable at times indicating it's not to be taken very seriously. One of the basic flaws is the continuity. The initial 15 minutes of has Jungle Jim in short pants and undershirt going through a long journey. After being invited to the city of Dzamm, the next scene finds him in safari clothes, boots and white hat. What a quick change artist he is.

So not to be a disappointment to fans of his Tarzan series, Weissmuller, having put on additional pounds since last seen in loincloth, goes through his traditional moments diving into the water (fully clothed), facing great danger wrestling a (plastic) crocodile and shark (though not at the same time), and saving a giant gorilla protecting its young from the claws of a dangerous lion. Obviously a man in a gorilla suit, the petite King Kong acts more human than humans do. However, this ape called Simba becomes an important part of the film's climax. In closing, amusing moments in this photo-play come from the animals, namely the dog, Skipper. One scene early in the story has Skipper getting cat licked early by a raccoon. In later episodes, the dog would appropriately be substituted by a chimpanzee similar to Cheta's duties of the Tarzan movies.

Shown irregularly on commercial television from the 1960s to early 70s, American Movie Classics picked up its option by airing the Jungle Jim series (1997-2000) before making its Turner Classic Movies premiere August 3, 2012. Weissmuller has seen better days during his years playing Tarzan, but at least the "Jungle Jim" series kept his career going for a few more years. Next installment: MARK OF THE GORILLA (1950)(**)

The usual bad stock footage and non-African animals you see in 1001 jungle epics!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 2 March 2019]

I have only seen one Jungle Jim movie, long ago, and I hope the rest aren't as awful as "The Lost Tribe". It has all the elements I hate in a third-rate jungle film...lots of bad stock footage which often features animals that aren't even African, a guy in a gorilla suit and Jim's friends...a raccoon and a doggy! Later, there even are clips of Polynesians and a shark!! None of this makes sense in Africa and the film is just a sad imitation of the old Tarzan films with Johnny Weissmuller. Now, Johnny looks a lot older and slower...and he's just going through the motions. The only action he does is swim...and since Weissmuller was a gold medal swimmer, this is no surprise. He seems to go swimming practically all the time in this picture!

The kingdom of Zaam has remained hidden for many, many years. They are a peaceful white people(?) and want to live in peace...but with a kingdom filled with diamonds, you know sooner or later greedy outsiders will strike. So, one of their people comes to Jungle Jim for help, as they have no stomach for war and just want to be left alone. Perhaps he can help and he'll be needed to take action because a dumbbell from Zaa has fallen for an outsider and she's just using him for the diamonds and her real boyfriend hopes to follow the dummy back to his hidden city.

So is it any good? Not really. It's pretty much the same as dozens of other films with greedy outsiders coming to the jungle and Jim/Tarzan coming to the rescue. A cheap and cynical excuse for entertainment.

The Lion and the Gorilla

[Michael_Elliott · 5 August 2012]

The Lost Tribe (1949)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The second film in the Columbia series has a group of white folks showing up in the jungle to do whatever it takes to locate a hidden city where an unnumbered amount of diamonds are. Of course things take a violent turn so Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) must step in and put a stop to it. I'm viewing this series out of order but to date this here is without a question the worst I've seen and that's saying quite a bit because in all honesty the entire series has been pretty bad. I'm really not sure where to start but we could discuss the poor acting, the laughable rubber crocodiles or perhaps we could discuss the really bad stock footage. We could discuss all of the horrible things but what would be the point of that? Instead I'll bring up the one classic thing that makes the film worth sitting through and that's a scene towards the middle of the picture where we get a lion going up against a gorilla, which is of course just a man inside an outfit. The fight between the two was pretty exciting and I must say that it had such a campy feel to it that I couldn't help but think that the entire film should be better known to fans of bad cinema. While watching the fight I had to wonder what the guy inside the outfit was thinking. Sure, the lion was trained to work with actors but if I was inside that suit I'd be worried that the lion would think he was going up against something real. Either way, thankfully both the lion and gorilla give the best performances in the film and they keep it from being a complete bomb. Good job boys!