Sat 20 Dec 2014
A Movie Serial Review by Dan Stumpf: CALL OF THE SAVAGE (1935).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[11] Comments
CALL OF THE SAVAGE. Universal, 1935. Serial: 12 episodes. Noah Beery Jr., Dorothy Short, H. L. Woods, Bryant Washburn, Walter Miller, Fred MacKaye. Based on the novel by Otis Adelbert Kline. Director: Louis Friedlander (aka Lew Landers).
One of the other things I do every year is watch an old-time time movie serial. One year not too long ago it was Call of the Savage, a competent and quite enjoyable trifle from folks who knew how to properly do a trifle. The writers — whose names would mean nothing to you — were all seasoned serial hacks, who based the story around Otis Aldelbert Kline’s classic Jan of the Jungle, though how faithfully I cannot say.
Call was directed by Lew Landers, a director who knew enough to keep this thing moving before anyone looked too closely at it. Landers serves up all the improbable thrills — lions, tigers, shipwreck, stampede and volcano — mismatched stock footage and laughable back-projection with a commendably straight face, even dragging in sets and props from Bride of Frankenstein for the obligatory Lost City with nary a giggle.
And then there’s the thespians. Harry Woods, normally a baddie in Westerns, gets to play a mysterious good guy for a change, his type-cast history lending a certain ambiguity to the character, and Dorothy Short, who spent her life in B-movies, looks quite fetching in a leopard skin.
But best of all is Noah Beery Jr. as the Jungle Man. That’s right. Noah Beery Jr, the loveable sidekick of a dozen westerns, James Garner’s dad in The Rockford Files. Yep, he plays a cut-rate Tarzan here, and he plays it as a likeable half-wit, not so much Noble Savage, but more like Old Mose in The Searchers. And somehow the incongruity just adds to the dopey charm of a movie I liked in spite of itself.
December 21st, 2014 at 3:37 am
This was the same year (1935) that Landers (Friedlander) directed THE RAVEN with Lugosi and Karloff
December 21st, 2014 at 4:38 am
Come to think of it the book and its sequel JAN IN INDIA were a shade on the goofy side too. Kline wasn’t bad, but still a cut rate ERB.
Noah Berry Jr. did quite a few leading man roles in programmers, but he was always meant to be a side kick or character actor. My first exposure to him was as Bill Williams KIT CARSON sidekick on television.
He had a rare ability to play a bit dull witted and wise at the same time, usually a kind of dumb but likeable easy going guy who always ended up the voice of reason and morality. Not an easy combination to pull off though having a face like his uncle Wallace in later years paid helped.
For what I think are standout performances check him out in DECISION AT SUNDOWN with Randolph Scott and JUBAL with Glenn Ford.
December 21st, 2014 at 7:04 am
As luck would have it, this is probably my first experience as a kid watching serials. I saw a chapter what ended with a huge rock slamming into the back of Noah’s head during the eruption of a volcano, way back in the 1950s on a tiny B&W TV. Up until that time, stories like this ended happily for Capt Gallant, Superman and Ramar. But imagine my shock when I saw the cliffhanger ending and thought that Uncle Joey from Circus Boy was doomed to a sizzling death! What a confusing concept!!
Over all, just another jungle serial, but for me, this is a MUST Re-watch every few years.
December 21st, 2014 at 8:22 am
Thank you for an interesting review.
Lew Landers has become something of a cult figure, especially among auteurist film historians. I have some starter notes on him here:
http://mikegrost.com/landers.htm
December 21st, 2014 at 1:37 pm
Landers/Friedlander directed Lugosi’s 2 most effective appearances (THE RAVEN [’35] and RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE) an interesting dirt-cheapie called DEATH VALLEY (’46)and a fine Von Stroheim flick, THE MASK OF DIJON, but I think of him more as a director who had his moments than an auteur.
December 21st, 2014 at 2:02 pm
Dan,
I think the rule is three good films or one great film and you are an auteur. I always thought of Landers as one of those yeoman like pros who once in a while rose above himself. Capable, but no under appreciated master.
Then again there are always amateur critics trying to make a name by ‘discovering’ some lost master, and they usually manage to convert a few of the types who always want to join on a bandwagon (Mike, I am not talking about you, you are always interesting on any topic and a hell of a researcher).
I don’t know why, but it isn’t enough to say Landers, or Witney, or Norman Foster or whoever were capable directors whose work bears watching without trying to turn them into Orson Welles (I know the Foster connection, that’s why I chose him) or Hitchcock, while no one looks at Michael Curtiz and saw what scope he had and how much of an auteur he was.
Being good isn’t enough.
December 21st, 2014 at 4:02 pm
David,
All excellent points, particularly regarding Curtiz. Now, please, add Noah, Jr.’s outstanding work in The Savage Horde, produced by Republic in 1950 with Bill Elliott, Bob Steele and an intriguing premise somewhat related to Shane.
December 21st, 2014 at 5:10 pm
Barry,
SAVAGE HORDE is another good example of what Beery brought to a film. Glad to add it to the list.
December 21st, 2014 at 8:02 pm
I reviewed RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE here:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=26245
December 22nd, 2014 at 4:01 am
I reviewed THE RAVEN & RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE here:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=20168
July 17th, 2017 at 6:56 am
Just to let you all know that you are still appreciated in 2017. My first memory of Mr. Beery is his role as a tough Marine in GUNG HO!