RAMPAGE (aka: JUNGLE RAMPAGE)

(director: Phil Karlson; screenwriters: Robert I. Holt/Marguerite Roberts/from the novel by Alan Caillou; cinematographer: Harold Lipstein; editor: Gene Milford; music: Elmer Bernstein; cast: Robert Mitchum (Harry Stanton), Elsa Martinelli (Anna), Jack Hawkins (Otto Abbot), Sabu (Talib), Cely Carillo (Chep), Emile Genest (Schelling), Stefan Schnabel (Sakai Chief), David Cadiente (Baka); Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: William Fadiman; Warner Bros.; 1963)

“Robert Mitchum’s presence was enough for me to find this toothless adventure tale to be at least digestible.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Phil Karlson (“They Rode West”/”Walking Tall”/”Kid Galahad”) efficiently and in a no-nonsense way directs this jungle adventure melodrama. It’s based on the novel byAlan Caillou, and is written by Robert I. Holt and Marguerite Roberts.

Big game trapper Harry Stanton (Robert Mitchum) is hired by the Wilhelm Zoo in West Germany to go to the Malay jungle and bring back the rare felinecalled “The Enchantress,” a combination of tiger and leopard. Going along with Harry is professional trophy hunter Otto Abbot (Jack Hawkins) and his sultry younger mistress Anna (Elsa Martinelli). In the jungle, the two hunters battle over Anna. When Otto learns he lost his mistress to Harry, he tries to kill him by releasing The Enchantress in the train car returning to Germany, where he locked Harry in.

The melodrama was unconvincing and over-baked, but there were some good hunting scenes with Sabu as guide. But Robert Mitchum’s presence was enough for me to find this toothless adventure tale to be at least digestible.

REVIEWED ON 6/30/2012 GRADE: B-