Liane, Jungle Goddess
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEduard von Borsody
Written byAnne Day-Helveg (novel Liane, das Mädchen aus dem Urwald),
Thomas Fough (idea) and
Ernst von Salomon (script)
Produced byHelmuth Volmer (producer)
StarringMarion Michael
Hardy Krüger
CinematographyBruno Timm
Edited byWalter von Bonhorst
Music byErwin Halletz
Distributed byArca-Filmgesellschaft mbH
Release date
  • 4 October 1956 (1956-10-04)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman

Liane, Jungle Goddess (German Liane, das Mädchen aus dem Urwald) is a 1956 West German film directed by Eduard von Borsody. It was based on the 1956 novel Liane, das Mädchen aus dem Urwald by Anne Day-Helveg.[1] The film attracted considerable attention due to Marion Michael appearing topless.[2]

Plot

During a German expedition in Africa, Thoren is attacked and captured by the native Botos. Before they can kill him, a long-haired, topless wild woman convinces the Botos to let him go. Thoren becomes fascinated with the woman and enlists Kersten and Keller to capture her.

Meanwhile, in Germany, shipping tycoon Theo Amelongen and his nephew Viktor see an article about the wild woman that was found and Theo suspects that it might be his long-lost granddaughter Liane, who went missing 18 years ago when the ship she and her parents were on went down. Theo sails to Africa and Thoren takes Liane with him and Jacqueline. Liane's tribesman friend Tanga sneaking onto the ship with Liane's pet lion, Simba.

When the group ends up at Theo's house, Viktor discovers that Liane will be inheriting the fortune. Viktor hires one of the survivors of the ship Imperia sinking and asks him to testify that he had no survivors.

When the attorney arrives with Viktor, they find Theo dead in his study. The police are called in and it is revealed that Viktor was responsible for his uncle's death. Viktor then gets into his car as Thoren and the police pursue him. The car chase goes down the street until Viktor ends up driving off the bridge to his death.

Liane inherits the Amelongen fortune and heads back to Africa to visit the Danner expedition.

Cast

Sequel

There was a sequel called Nature Girl and the Slaver [de], a.k.a. Jungle Girl and the Slaver (1957) where Marion Michael reprises her role of Liane. Set in North Africa, this story concerns Arab slave traders who abduct Liane and members of her tribe.[3][4]

A third film Liane, die Tochter des Dschungels was released in 1961 but it was only a compilation of the first two films.

Reception

The film was a big commercial success,[5] mostly based on the presence of Marion Michael as "female Tarzan".[6][7]

The film was distributed in France as Liane, la sauvageonne and at the time of the release of the sequel Jeanne l'esclave blanche, Jean-Luc Godard praised the films' (and the actress's) beauty.[8]

In a retrospective critical assessment, Film Dienst described the film as "Simple nonsense, which, however, became one of the great financial successes of the post-war period due to its flirtation with nudity, which from today's perspective is ridiculous."[9] Another commentator found it "extremely childish".[10]

References

  1. ^ "Liane, das Mädchen aus dem Urwald (1956) - SHOT IN BERLIN (deutch)". www.shotinberlin.de. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Marion Michael: "Das Mädchen aus dem Urwald" ist tot". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  3. ^ Lahti, Janne; Weaver-Hightower, Rebecca (26 July 2020). Cinematic Settlers: The Settler Colonial World in Film. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-09445-9.
  4. ^ online, CINEMA. "Liane, das Mädchen aus dem Urwald (1956) - Film | cinema.de". www.cinema.de (in German). Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  5. ^ Schulz, Torsten (19 October 2007). "Das "Mädchen aus dem Urwald" ist tot". Der Spiegel (in German).
  6. ^ Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey (23 April 1999). Captive Bodies: Postcolonial Subjectivity in Cinema. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-4156-5.
  7. ^ "Liane! Urwald-Mädchen sucht endlich Frieden". Berliner Kurier (in German). 7 December 1997. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  8. ^ Godard, Jean-Luc (1998). Jean-Luc Godard par Jean-Luc Godard: 1950-1984 (in French). Cahiers du cinéma. ISBN 978-2-86642-194-6.
  9. ^ "Liane, das Mädchen aus dem Urwald". www.filmdienst.de (in German). Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  10. ^ Azzopardi, Michel (1987). Vingt ans dans un tunnel: le cinéma ouest allemand de 1946 à 1966 (in French). Nouvelles Editions Debresse. ISBN 978-2-7164-0129-6.

Bibliography

External links

Ernst von Salomon
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