Forbidden Adventure is a pseudo-documentary allegedly compiled from recently discovered film, diaries and notes of a 1912 expedition into Cambodia by two explorers searching for the lost city of Angkor. Accompanying the men are suspiciously non-Asian, bare-breasted "natives" of African descent, played by extras allegedly "recruited from a Los Angeles whorehouse," according the DVD's back cover text.

The bearded, pith hat-wearing explorers eventually reach Angkor, and marvel at its architectural and historical splendor, but meanwhile the native girls are curiously drawn to the wild gorilla guarding the ruined city....

Though the film's original advertising and Something Weird's gleefully lurid DVD art promise a story build around "monkey adoration" (i.e., bestiality), Forbidden Adventure's Hot Stuff is pretty much limited to watching naked women traipsing through the jungle carrying packs, spears, and the like - though back in 1935, the very idea of watching a movie full of semi-naked women was incredibly sinful. No doubt the producers were attempting to justify the endless parade of naked breasts by presenting an "educational documentary" consisting of "real natives." Most of the picture, however, is really a creaky travelogue/nature documentary, with much of the running time devoted to the many exotic animals encountered by the explorers on their way to Angkor. There's no attempt at characterization; there's no onscreen dialogue, just endless narration

The origin of the film is unclear. A lot of the footage was actually shot in Southeast Asia, but from the looks of it these scenes were shot perhaps five years and as many as two decades earlier. (According to the IMDb, Forbidden Adventure incorporates footage from 1931's Ingagi, but that film was set in the Congo.)

Much of the newer footage was obviously faked, including almost everything at Angkor, which has the two men wandering the ruins in rear-screen projection shots and a few crude mattes. There are few clear shots of the gorillas, but much of the time it's clearly a man in a costume. The high quality of the ape skin and personality of its design suggests that it might have been the work of Charles Gemora, though this suit is a bit hairier than the one Gemora used in other mid-1930s films, such as the Laurel and Hardy short The Chimp.

The movie is pretty tough sledding; this reviewer recommends the much shorter British cut that's also included (it runs 55 minutes vs. the 82-minute American version) which has a different opening, narration and music, but which is ostensibly the same. Looking at it today, Forbidden Adventure is anything but sexy, but its early 20th century footage of Cambodia and the fascination watching the filmmakers trying to fool us with all the faked scenes is fairly entertaining.

The 62-minute Forbidden Women is another curio. Apparently this is a Filipino production, possibly with American input and, at the very least, features scenes of obviously American strippers crudely inserted into the narrative. Though set on an "unknown island in the South Pacific," Forbidden Women's familiar tale of palace intrigue is set in a mythical kingdom more Siamese than Polynesian (and its citizens are explicitly Islamic). Prepubescent Prince Sigore (Bimbo Danao? the cast goes unidentified), a Filipino cross between Sabu and Bobby Blake, returns to his kingdom as heir to the throne. His arrival is heralded in the film's big musical number, curiously similar to the Danny Kaye number "(You'll Never) Outfox the Fox" from The Court Jester (1956). However, the Sultan's evil cousin and sister-in-law conspire to take power by poisoning the ruler and discrediting Prince Sigore. It's a frame-up as the Prince is caught red-handed in the Ladies-Only Temple of the Golden Chamber, home to the Forbidden Women.

Where did Forbidden Women come from? Was it a wholly Filipino production with American inserts or primarily an American production shot in the Philippines? Is its story typical of the kinds of films popular in the Philippines in 1948, or tailor-made for a perceived foreign market? Whatever the answer, the film was shot entirely in English, though one assumes that many in the cast were primarily Tagalog speakers, as the performances are uniformly terrible. The sets are elaborate but cheaply-made and the action crudely realized. But some in the cast, especially the actors playing Prince Sigore, his attendant (a Filipino Smiley Burnette, complete with blank, wall-eyed stares), and the Sultan are likable.

Video & Audio

Both versions of Forbidden Adventure look great considering their age and obscurity. The newer footage obviously shot for the film is in a condition comparable with mid-1930s moviemaking, though in both the U.S. and British cuts the image gets very dark and murky during the last 20 minutes. This may have been inherent in all release versions and perhaps optically altered to appease censors. (These latter scenes likewise feature crude, cobweb-like mattes that vainly try to cover up all those bare breasts. It doesn't succeed.) The British version bears a British Board of Film Censors seal bearing the title Beyond Shanghai, but somewhere along the way a Forbidden Adventure title card has been inserted back in. The British version (along with almost all the extras) features Something Weird Video's annoying "SWV" watermark, which distractingly appears from time to time in the lower right-hand corner of the image.

Forbidden Women looks fantastic, a crisp full-frame, black and white transfer that sharp with good grain and contrast. Neither film is subtitled.

Extra Features

Beyond the British release of Forbidden Adventure, supplements include a "Hot Version" insert for Forbidden Women that's nothing more than a plain-looking woman gyrating about in a cocktail dress. (Neither she nor the women in the full cut of Forbidden Women could be regarded as great beauties.)

Also included are trailers in varying condition for Forbidden Adventure, The Gorilla Woman, Mau Mau, and The White Gorilla.

The best extra, however, is a 15-minute montage Gallery of Roadshow Jungle Exploitation Art with Audio Oddities. Shown are press kits, ad mats, trade ads and articles and photos of movie theaters exhibiting Forbidden Adventure and other films, an incredible array of archival material. Over all this are mostly radio ads for jungle and non-jungle exploitation movies, including local drive-in theaters promoting movies like Black Caesar and Night of the Living Dead.

Parting Thoughts

Though the movies are pretty terrible, as examples of fringe exploitation from long ago Forbidden Adventure and Forbidden Women make for entertaining, at times fascinating relics. Recommended.

Stuart Galbraith IV is a Kyoto-based film historian whose work includes The Emperor and the Wolf - The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune and Taschen's forthcoming Cinema Nippon. Visit Stuart's Cine Blogarama here.