SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Hitchcoc It's just an adventure story. A young girl is raised by a gorilla after her father, a crook, dies. A really boring man played by Buster Crabbe finds her and needs her to give some money and jewels back. Of course, there is another guy who wants the loot. Most of the movie is the discovery of the White Witch who is really just a good looking young woman and the efforts to keep her alive by the duo of Crabbe and gorilla. Most of the scenes are silly and forgettable. There are a lot of animals (stock footage) and lots of vines and trees. It is entirely predictable and there are few surprises. The relationship between the girl and Crabbe goes nowhere. Can you imagine the reality of her being put back into Western society.

vitaleralphlouis NABONGA is just a low-budget gorilla adventure from PRC Pictures, but it offers a good story, more African wildlife shots than most Tarzan movies, and a reasonable level of sex appeal. At 75 minutes, the movie is never dull; and it matters not that Nabonga is an actor in a gorilla suit -- because audiences allowed some slack if the story was good. This rates a solid 7/10, if not better.Contrast this with Peter Jackson's overblown, miserable, and downright stupid 2006 gorilla movie --- that cost in excess of $100 million --- and was dying fast at the box office (per word-of-mouth) two weeks after its release. Jackson's movie had no entertainment value at all.Some say that Nabonga was the inspiration to the 1950 "Mighty Joe Young" --- a truly excellent classic made by the same skilled people that made the 1933 "King Kong". I'd say, not quite. "Nabonga" is a much slimmer story.You can rent Nabonga + Swamp Fire from Netflix, or buy a DVD for about $2.00 on eBay or elsewhere. Worth your time and money.

JohnHowardReid "Nabonga" marks the debut film of Julie London. It's also the first and only movie of Jackie Newfield, daughter of director Sam Newfield (and niece, of course, of Newfield's brother, Sigmund Neufeld).By the humble standards of the Neufeld Brothers, this entry is reasonably entertaining. The story is a familiar one (it was later re-used with great effect in "Mr Joseph Young of Africa"), but here it moves with sufficient pace and encompasses enough action to satisfy second-feature fans. True, Buster Crabbe breezes through his part with plenty of charm, but little conviction. As a good guy, his motives towards and treatment of the heroine often seem a little dubious, but such subtleties don't worry Buster at all. Julie London, however, makes quite an impression, while Ray "Crash" Corrigan has a grand time as the gorilla (though he is outclassed in the acting department by young Jackie Newfield). Fifi D'Orsay seems an unnecessary addition to the story, an opinion oddly shared by scriptwriter Myton who gives her little to do and then removes her from the plot with little ceremony. We would have liked to see more of Prince Modupe, however, whose dignified and knowledgeable native guide is far removed from the usual Hollywood stereotypes.Production values seem adequate enough for Poverty Row and are helped out enormously by Robert Cline's always attractively glossy and often noirishly lit photography.Available on DVD through Alpha. Quality rating: nine out of ten.

classicsoncall I was all ready to strap myself in for the ride, but you know what, once the story got going it didn't turn out to be too bad. It reminded me a little of 1949's "Mighty Joe Young" without the production values, and quite possibly a more notable cast.The story opens with the ill fated plane flight of a wanted embezzler who escapes the authorities with his ten year old daughter in tow. With a tropical storm raging, the plane goes down in an African jungle. Even though the pilot and his two passengers survive, embezzler Stockwell (Herbert Rawlinson) is taking no chances after his cash and jewels are noticed by the flier; and then there were two. Shortly after getting situated, young Doreen Stockwell goes on a jungle foray and discovers a wounded gorilla.It's left to the viewer's imagination to piece things together as the film fast forwards unannounced to a period some years later when Ray Gorman (Buster Crabbe) arrives, curious to discover the facts behind the legend of a 'great white witch'. His servant Tobo (Prince Modupe) lends testimony to the tale of a witch born of a big bird that fell from the sky. Gorman and Tobo go in search of the 'house with wings' and the missing treasure. Adding intrigue to the adventure is the presence of mercenary Carl Hurst (Barton MacLane), who sets out to follow Gorman and cash in on the treasure trove himself, along with an accomplice named Marie (Fifi D'Orsay).I got a kick out of the scene where Tobo saves Gorman by shooting a leopard about to attack; Gorman expresses his wonder at Tobo's ability to read the jungle. Tobo's response - "When you live in jungle all your life, you know these things". Yet in the very next scene, Tobo follows Gorman as both swim across a crocodile infested river! Actually, Tobo's character is handled in rather dignified fashion given the era, when blacks often were portrayed as foils or in subservient roles. Gorman in fact treated his guide with respect and was willing to trust his judgment, and their relationship pretty much got along as equals.The casting coup of the film definitely has to be that of Julie London as the adult white witch Doreen. It was London's first film role, and even though she doesn't sing, she really doesn't have to. It was almost comical to observe her repeated 'I really like you' conversations with Buster Crabbe's character, who managed to miss all the signals. In that regard, the intrepid explorer was a total klutz.I saw this movie under the title "Nabonga Gorilla", which is a bit curious since Doreen's playmate is called Samson, and the name only shows up in the credits with a different spelling - 'Nbongo'. There it states that the part of the gorilla was played by Nbongo, though film fans will easily recognize the name of Ray "Crash" Corrigan as the man in the monkey suit. In ape circles, Corrigan came to be known by many names, including Zamba, Konga, Bonga, and my personal favorite - White Pongo. I wonder if he got to keep the gorilla costume.