Review of The Human Jungle

The Human Jungle is a fairly mediocre crime thriller that combines police procedural with noir to limited effect. Clearly made on the cheap (by Allied Artists, the 'high-budget' arm of the – by-then defunct – Poverty Row studio, Monogram) the film is populated with a number of actors who were either never more than second-string or were still in the early stages of their careers. Gary Merrill was as famous for being the toy-boy squeeze of Bette Davis as he was for his acting skills, and in this one he wears a permanent scowl and is nearly always angry – presumably to show the righteousness of his crusade; Lamont Johnson as the police department's hot-head never really cut it as an actor and would find more success as a director. He's OK here, and certainly had the looks to go further, but his character seems to have been inserted for no reason other than to flesh out a short running time. Claude Akins and Chuck Connors, both in the early years of their careers, also appear as a pair of tough guys. Highlight of the film, though, is Jan Sterling as a brassy bottle-blonde, callously used by the cops as bait to catch the villains. In fact, the cast is by far the most interesting thing about this ordinary b-movie.