Nabonga

I am 26yrs.old and many people can't understand how someone my age could be a fanatic over NABONGA and all the great movies and serials with BUSTER CRABBE.This film is on of my favorite ''BUSTER''flicks becuase it's clean,very enjoyable for anyone of any age and you get to see CRABBE do some swimming.For those who don't know,CRABBE was an olympic swimmer.All in all this and evey other ''BUSTER''flick is worth spending money on.

VCI Entertainment and Producers Releasing Corporation present "NABONGA GORILLA" (1944) (75 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when Buster Crabbe took us into the jungle with suspenseful excitement every time... the Buster Crabbe series of Poverty Row Films were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s ... don't miss any of the Buster Crabbe features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his screen time in Hollywood USA,

Under Sam Newfield (Director), Sigmund Neufeld (Producer), Fred Myton (Story and (Screenplay), Willy Stahl (Music Director), Robert E. Cline (Cinematographer), Holbrook N. Todd (Editor) ----- the cast includes Buster Crabbe (Ray Gorman), Fifi D'Orsay (Marie), Barton MacLane (Carl Hurst), Julie London (Doreen Stockwell), Bryant Washburn (Hunter), Herbert Rawlinson (T.F. Stockwell), Prince Modupe (Tobo), Jackie Newfield (Doreen Stockwell, as a child), Ray Corrigan (Nabongo the Gorilla), I. Stanford Jolley (Policeman) . . . . . . our story goes deep into the jungle of Africa searching for the sole survivor a young girl of a plane crash ... a young girl Julie London is now a woman and protected by a gorilla (Ray Corrigan in a gorilla suit) who found her ... to clear his father and his bank Buster Crabbe is bound and determined to find out what really happened ... but Barton MacLane his guide has other ideas and the plot thickens and the excitement builds ... will Buster get the money, save the girl, take care of MacLane without any interference from the gorilla Nabonga ... this could be very tricky and interesting so sit back and enjoy what is about to unfold ------ special footnote, Julie London was an actress and a very sultry singer who starred in a number of movies in the 40s & 50s before beginning a popular singing career, most remembered for her role as Nurse Dixie McCall in the television series "Emergency!" (1972), Julie's biggest popularity as a singer was in the late 50s, leaving her full-time film career to concentrate on her singing career, over 40 of her albums to date have been released, and her vocal style has been endeared by many core fans, known as "The Liberty Girl" for helping establish Liberty Records as a successful label, her many hit albums on that label include "Julie Is Her Name", "Calendar Girl" with some borderline erotic (for the time) cover photography by Gene Lester, "About the Blues", "Your Number, Please", "Send For Me", "Love Letters", "The End of the World", "In Person at the Americana", "The Wonderful World of Julie London" and the provocatively titled "Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast".------ another great jungle adventure for Buster Crabbe under the PRC Picture banner, proves to be one of his most exciting performances.

Special footnote, actor Buster Crabbe graduated from the University of Southern California and won the 400 meter freestyle in which he medaled in the 1932 Olympics, went to work for Paramount in "King of the Jungle" (1933), next role was "Tarzan the Fearless (1933), Crabbe returned to Paramount Pictures was featured in Zane Grey Westerns which were well received, then came the roles that made him a household word "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers" at Universal Picture Serials (1936-1940), meanwhile PRC Studios was looking for a leading hero "Billy the Kid" and "Billy Carson" in the 1940's B-Western series and ran its course for six years, later made several televison appearances and appeared in a series "Captain Gallant and the Foreign Legion" (1955-1957).....

SPECIAL FEATURES:

BIOS:

1. Buster Crabbe (aka: Clarence Linden Crabbe II)

Birth Date: 2/17/1907 - Oakland California

Died: 4/23/1983 - Scottsdale, Arizona

2. Barton MacLane

Date of birth: 25 December 1902 - Columbia, South Carolina

Date of death: 1 January 1969 - Santa Monica, California

3. Julie London (aka: Julie Peck)

Date of birth: 26 September 1926 - Santa Rosa, California

Date of death: 18 October 2000 - Encino, California

4. Ray "Crash" Corrigan (aka: Raymond Benard)

Date of birth: 14 February 1902 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Date of death: 10 August 1976 - Brookings Harbor, Oregon

5. Sam Newfield (Director)

Date of birth: 6 December 1899 - New York, New York

Date of death: 10 November 1964 - Los Angeles, California

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western double features with Buster Crabbe:

BUSTER CRABBE WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURES:

1. Vol. 1 - Western Cyclone/Sheriff of Sage Valley (1942-43) (VCI #7213) (DVD)

2. Vol. 2 - Fugitive of the Plains/Fuzzy Settles Down (1943-44) (VCI #7299) (DVD)

Ask Amazon.Com to carry the above Buster Crabbe titles

if they are not available as of yet...you can order

and pick up your copy now from VCI Entertainment.

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "Nabonga Gorilla (1944), the

digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more

high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and

B-Westerns...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment where there

are plenty of copies available on DVD and VHS, stay tuned once again for top

notch action mixed with deadly adventure from the "King of Serials" VCI...just

the way we like 'em

Total Time: 75 min on DVD/VHS ~ VCI Home Video ~ (10/24/2000)

This is a fun film of the kind that was occasionally on on pre-ScoobyDoo Saturday afternoons, after the cartoons were finished and a friend was over. Its great attraction is the inimitable Buster Crabbe, whose manliness and courage enable him to trek into the most hostile of environments. This is a lively adventure, in which he goes into the jungle in search of treasure, but he is not a normal treasure hunter.

The film starts with the escape of a finance fraudster - echoes of contemporary America! - who crashes on an airplane in deepest Africa with his young daughter. Cut to about 15 years later, and the young Crabbe is in a nearby colonial town, investigating rumors that a white witch is presiding with a gorilla over a treasure somewhere in the deepest interior. A greedy bar owner and his sidekick, an aging entertainer barfly, listen in and go on a trek of their own in search of the treasure. After many harrowing adventures, including wrestling with crocodiles and negotiating with a savage gorilla, Crabbe finds the white witch and I'll give you three guesses who she is. It is all very fun, over-the-top acting that you would expect from Flash Gordon, one of my childhood favorites.

OK, Crabbe has noble motives with a surprise of his own and the ending is somewhat of a deus ex machina as he decides to carry the dame back to civilization (with her treasure), but you should not expect the African Queen as a standard of quality for this kind of studio swashbuckler. I enjoyed it, my kids laughed at it a lot, and it held my attention. I love Buster Crabbe.

REcommended to fans from that Saturday afternoon TV era. It's nostalgic, you get a different view of Crabbe, some good fights, the gorilla suit is hilarious, and the story is not abominably stupid.

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