Captive Wild Woman (1943)

One of Universal's poorer efforts, 5 October 2007

Captive Wild Woman is proof that not all of the Universal horror movies of the 30s and 40s should be considered "classics". I've seen worse movies, but this is certainly one of the poorer Universal efforts I've thus far run across. The plot description on IMDb ("A mad scientist transplants human glands into a gorilla, turning the ape into a beautiful young woman (Acquanetta). However, a severe emotional jolt soon reverts her back into her primitive self with disastrous consequences.") only describes about half the movie. Seriously, the story of the gorilla turned to woman and back again doesn't take up half the movie's already short 61 minute runtime. The other half is made up of scene after seemingly endless scene of lion taming. It gets dull pretty quickly and zaps whatever energy the movie might have otherwise had going for it. Ape-turned-woman Acquanetta doesn't do much of anything other than stand mutely outside the cage and stare at the lions. How exciting is that? But if you've seen any of her other movies, having her stand like a statue is probably the extent of her acting ability. Milburn Stone is alright as the lion tamer. He also has the enviable task of man-handling Evelyn Ankers at every opportunity. Speaking of Ankers, she's wasted in a "do nothing" role. Finally, there's John Carradine. While he's actually very good, his screen time is too limited what with all the lion taming going on.

More rampaging gorilla, someone other than Acquanetta playing the gorilla woman, more Carradine, something for Ankers to do, and less lion taming – that's what Captive Wild Woman needed.

4/10