Turning an ape into a beautiful black woman...1943.
Captive Wild Woman (1943): Released on June 4, 1943, this B-movie classic features the studio's mad scientist tropes by following an endocrinologist who transplants a woman's glands into an ape, transforming it into a murderous ape-woman.
Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Dmytryk was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted filmmakers.
Captive Wild Woman was the first of what many refer to as The Paula Dupree Trilogy. The films that followed were Jungle Woman, and Jungle Captive.
The cast has some familiar faces: Evelyn Ankers, the unofficial Scream Queen of Universal studios....Milburn Stone, who will become best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr Galen Adams) in the Western series Gunsmoke.....John Carradine, far removed from his appearance in The Grapes of Wrath, and becoming a staple in horror films, playing Count Dracula in two Universal films.....Fay Helm, who was the ill fated Jenny Williams in '41 The Wolf Man.... Martha Vickers, billed here as Martha MacVicar, who was a victim of Larry Talbott's Wolf Man in '43 Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, and who is probably best known for her role as Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep....Paul Fix, seen in the '40 Black Friday with Karloff and Lugosi, and is best known as Sheriff Micah Torrence in TV's The Rifleman....and venerable stunt man and and gorilla suit for hire, Ray Corrigan as Cheela, the ape.
But the "reel" attraction of the film is Acquanetta, as Paula Dupree, the sultry and exotic young woman, the end result of Carradine's Dr. Sigmund Walter's experiments,
It is with utter amazement that a film that depicted the story of an ape being transformed into a beautiful black woman, ever got past the censors, not just once but in three films. (Though it must be noted that Vicki Lane, not Acquanetta, was the character in Jungle Captive.) Nothing like this had ever been seen since the '33 pre-code Island of Lost Souls, with its Lota the Panther Woman, played by Kathleen Burke.
Much has been said and written about the heritage of Burnu Acquanetta. The fact is, she was an attractive young black woman, born Mildred Davenport, whose brother Horace Davenport, was, according to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, "the first African-American judge in Montgomery County." Universal studios publicity department was responsible for creating her image.
The "several stories" about her are bogus, part created by studio and part by her. Life wasn't great for blacks, so she invented a native American persona and image....which was false.
Originally Universal studios touted her as the Venezuelan Volcano....which was false.
She appeared on the cover of Jet, a well known magazine targeted to blacks.
Like another Universal studios contract player Ramsey Ames, was never given any guidance or lessons in acting, just thrown in front of the camera and expected to be good.
It's truly sad that in order to survive...not necessarily to be accepted...she had to create a false identity.
Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Dmytryk was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted filmmakers.
Captive Wild Woman was the first of what many refer to as The Paula Dupree Trilogy. The films that followed were Jungle Woman, and Jungle Captive.
The cast has some familiar faces: Evelyn Ankers, the unofficial Scream Queen of Universal studios....Milburn Stone, who will become best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr Galen Adams) in the Western series Gunsmoke.....John Carradine, far removed from his appearance in The Grapes of Wrath, and becoming a staple in horror films, playing Count Dracula in two Universal films.....Fay Helm, who was the ill fated Jenny Williams in '41 The Wolf Man.... Martha Vickers, billed here as Martha MacVicar, who was a victim of Larry Talbott's Wolf Man in '43 Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, and who is probably best known for her role as Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep....Paul Fix, seen in the '40 Black Friday with Karloff and Lugosi, and is best known as Sheriff Micah Torrence in TV's The Rifleman....and venerable stunt man and and gorilla suit for hire, Ray Corrigan as Cheela, the ape.
But the "reel" attraction of the film is Acquanetta, as Paula Dupree, the sultry and exotic young woman, the end result of Carradine's Dr. Sigmund Walter's experiments,
It is with utter amazement that a film that depicted the story of an ape being transformed into a beautiful black woman, ever got past the censors, not just once but in three films. (Though it must be noted that Vicki Lane, not Acquanetta, was the character in Jungle Captive.) Nothing like this had ever been seen since the '33 pre-code Island of Lost Souls, with its Lota the Panther Woman, played by Kathleen Burke.
Much has been said and written about the heritage of Burnu Acquanetta. The fact is, she was an attractive young black woman, born Mildred Davenport, whose brother Horace Davenport, was, according to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, "the first African-American judge in Montgomery County." Universal studios publicity department was responsible for creating her image.
The "several stories" about her are bogus, part created by studio and part by her. Life wasn't great for blacks, so she invented a native American persona and image....which was false.
Originally Universal studios touted her as the Venezuelan Volcano....which was false.
She appeared on the cover of Jet, a well known magazine targeted to blacks.
Like another Universal studios contract player Ramsey Ames, was never given any guidance or lessons in acting, just thrown in front of the camera and expected to be good.
It's truly sad that in order to survive...not necessarily to be accepted...she had to create a false identity.
