"Nabonga" is not merely a 1944 "B" movie of interest only to those far too interested in the history of "B" movies - though it is that. I was expecting a cardboard jungle "epic", but a superior one in that it has Buster Crabbe, Barton MacLane, Crash Corrigan and his gorilla suit and the luscious Julie London in her first motion picture. What a surprise to find Crabbe portraying not another version of Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers or other perfect hero but a man driven to vindicate his father's reputation even if it should mean lying, cheating, theft from the girl to whom he is obviously attracted as well as trapping her beloved gorilla. Our hero is at least part anti-hero; not unheard of in a motion picture certainly but odd in a wartime Buster Crabbe vehicle. The moral uncertainty of Crabbe's character makes "Nabonga" different from its ilk. Apart from that interesting plot quirk, "Nabonga" is enjoyable on its own terms as a "white goddess" potboiler. There is an interesting relationship between Crabbe's character and Tobu, a black man who is treated as an equal not a servant and for whom the hero is willing to risk his life. "Nabonga" is an odd slice of 1940s cinema, ending with an exhortation to buy "war stamps and bonds at this theatre".
