If you're a fan of random stock footage of animals from the early 20th Century, this is the movie for you. At least half of the film is taken up with clips of animals that are so poorly shot, it's often difficult to see what you're looking at. Animals that in nature are continents apart are presented as if they live in the same African jungle. I swear that some of the animals even appear to be in zoos or other unnatural settings. Piece these clips together, throw in a nonsensical story about the search for a lost city by some bored rich dudes, and add an even more nonsensical plot line where Buster Crabbe is searching for a cure to a deadly disease by slaving over a Bunsen burner in the jungle - you've got Jungle Man. By the time our heroes come down with the illness, I had long ceased to care about any of it. I was rooting for their deaths as it might mean the movie would end faster. It's all a total bore. The one hour run-time feels more like an eternity. If you can't tell, I didn't care much for Jungle Man.The lone highlight for me was seeing Buster Crabbe and Charles Middleton together on screen. I'm not much a fan of the old Flash Gordon serial, but I realize it's historical significance. Seeing Flash and Ming together here was pretty cool.

"An African expedition searching for the 'City of the Dead' finds them facing many perils along the way. Natives, wild animals, and deadly diseases are met by the explorers as they look for the lost city and a long lost missionary. A doctor working on a cure for the jungle illness joins the expedition in the hopes their combined forces can meet the challenges they face," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Director Harry Fraser shows some humor by panning busty Sheila Darcy (as Betty Graham) just before she coincidently utters her line, "Two heads are better than one." This film (also known as "Drums of Africa") intercuts "stock" animal/jungle scenes unconvincingly with hunky jungle doctor Buster Crabbe (as Robert "Junga" Hammond) and the visiting expedition. Sub-standard Saturday matinée stuffing.** Jungle Man (9/19/41) Harry Fraser ~ Buster Crabbe, Sheila Darcy, Charles Middleton

The synopsis for "Drums of Africa" (1941) certainly sounds noirishly inviting: "Buster Crabbe leads an expedition to the heart of Africa in hopes of finding the fabled City of the Dead." The movie's USA release title was "Jungle Man". And according to the synopsis in the TV Source Book, "Tarzan (Buster Crabbe) foils the man-eating beasts that are trailing a beautiful girl (Sheila Darcy) in the jungle." Both synopses are wrong on all counts! Buster is not Tarzan. Nor does he lead a safari! Yet, would you believe, The New York Daily News gave this one two stars! For those not in the know, that particular newspaper was not over-generous with stars. "King's Row" received only three stars, "Gone With the Wind", four! Well, this compendium of wild life stock shots is not worth half a star, let alone two! True, Mr Crabbe smiles a lot and flexes his muscles for his fans, while Miss Darcy commendably puts into practice her belief that the proper attire for jungle wear is a South Seas sarong. Charles Middleton, none the worse for his previous encounters with Buster, is no longer Ming, the Merciless, but Missionary, the Lovable! And of course we never see the City of the Dead. All we get instead are two postcard photos of Angkor Vat! There needs to be a rating less than zero for a minus film like this one!

If someone can figure out the plot for this movie, please let me know. The story line jumps all over the place, except during the many times when stock footage is shown to make the movie longer - way too much longer. The "City of the Dead" is so obviously Asian (perhaps Anwat) that I was surprised they had the gall to show it in this "African jungle" movie. That was also stock footage as the actors and the "City" are never seen together. The budget for this movie was probably a couple of hundred dollars. I like Buster Crabbe, but I was hoping the sharks would kill him in this movie.