I love this movie so much

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Captive Wild Woman (1943)** 1/2 (out of 4)The setting for this Universal horror movie is a circus where a group of animals have just landed and they are trying to be whipped into where they can perform on a stage. Dr. Walters (John Carradine) takes a liking to a female gorilla that shows signs of intelligence. He ends up stealing the gorilla and transforms her into Paula (Acquanette) who in human form still has signs of an animal.The "Paula the Ape Woman" series certainly wasn't one of the best from Universal. During the opening title credits there's a big thank you to Clyde Beatty who was able to help with the various animal stunts in the film and this is where the movie goes wrong. These stunts are certainly wonderfully entertaining but they also add a rather cheap feel to the picture because of the obvious doubles that are used when the characters are in cages with the animals.I'd also argue that there's way too much footage of the animals because it eats away at the really short sixty-minute running time. In fact, I'd argue it eats up so much of the running time that the Paula story really become a subplot, which is too bad because it works as a female version of the Wolf Man character. The film does a pretty good job at building up sympathy for the Paula character and especially during one scene where her hearts get broken. The transformation scene was also quite good and the look at the ape woman was a winner.CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN also benefits from the atmosphere in Acquanetta's performance. She really does seem like a wild woman. Evelyn Ankerks and Milburn Stone offer up nice performances and it's always a lot of fun to see Carradine.

It shows a lack of confidence by the writers to introduce a character such as this and not give her a line of dialog, and not even indicate that the character is mute. The exotically named Acquanetta is the titled character, a lady ape transfered into a lady human, and the Clyde Beatty like Milburn Stone is the object of her affections. Unfortunately for her (or Evelyn Ankers as Stone's fiancée), he doesn't feel the same way about her, and the actress whose name sounds like a hairspray goes ballistic. You can't blame it on her, though; It's the animal in her, as Ethel Merman would sing. Put the blame on where it belongs, and that is of course (as it is in most Universal horror movies) a mad scientist, in this case, the oh, so dramatic John Carradine.It isn't just mankind rebelling against the laws of nature which is disturbing, but the ridiculousness of the big cat trainers, made totally evident here. But even though this shows a realistic part of circus life, that isn't the issue of why this film is so bad. It is obvious that the script was rushed together to capitalize on the success of "The Wolf Man". The transformation of the titled character from gorilla to human to half human/half gorilla is done with weak special effects, and the dialog is absolutely absurd. The one real scary moment comes when Acquanetta makes her attempt on scream queen Ankers. The actors are sincere, but even they must have been put off by the "here we go again" syndrome. Certainly watchable if you like "Mystery Science Theater" type cinema without the wisecracks, but you'll probably come up with a few of your own.

1943's "Captive Wild Woman" was a first in many ways- Universal hired Ben Pivar to produce a series with a female monster, and signed veteran character player John Carradine with the intent of making him a 'horror star,' successful on both counts. Acquanetta also was introduced to the movie-going public, after small roles playing native girls in "Arabian Nights" and "Rhythm of the Islands," in the title role of Paula Dupree, the human result of glandular experiments conducted by Dr. Sigmund Walters (Carradine), injecting massive amounts of female sex hormones into a captured ape, plus the necessary brain transplant from the doctor's interfering nurse (Fay Helm). Acquanetta's wide-eyed performance is entirely mute, a wise decision considering the resulting sequel "Jungle Woman," quickly followed by another, "The Jungle Captive," where the character, now played by Vicky Lane, has again been rendered mute. Jack Pierce's makeup design was similar to The Wolf Man, appropriately ferocious but recognizably simian. The only weakness is a heavy reliance on stock animal footage originally filmed for Clyde Beatty's "The Big Cage" (1933), which in all probability was the main reason why this movie was made in the first place (roughly 20 minutes out of 60). John Carradine, in the first of a long line of mad scientists (over 40 years!), is initially quite charming, obviously a dedicated specialist, but once he sets up the theft of the ape, he reverts to type (his next would be Monogram's "Revenge of the Zombies"). Included in the SON OF SHOCK Universal package issued to television in the late 50s, "Captive Wild Woman" aired four times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater: July 6 1974 (following 1967's "Mission Stardust"), May 29 1976 (following 1958's "The 39 Steps"), July 9 1977 (following 1967's "Satanik"), and Mar 12 1983 (solo).

This film gets an unfair bad rap sometimes, mainly because of the inferior sequels. In reality it is a great change of pace from other Universal Horror films. Yes it did utilize some animal footage from another film, but it had plenty of its own new shot sequences with the lions/tigers.Hats off to John Carradine for turning in one of his best, if not THE best horror film role he did. Evelyn Ankers is in fine form as usual. The ape womans transition is nicely done and the character was unique in the Universal Horror series. This along with Man Made Monster deserve better praise and discussion since many of the other films have been discussed endlessly in books and magazines.10/10!