T.F. Stockwell (Herbert Rawlinson) is an embezzler who has stolen money and jewels from a bank in Cairo. With the police hot on his tail, Stockwell hires a pilot (Jack Gardner) to take him and his young daughter, Doreen (Jackie Newfield), to fly them away from Cairo and the police. During a violent storm the plane crashes in the jungle. Police comb the jungle looking for the plane and passengers. Instead they come upon a gorilla (Ray Corrigan) and shoot it. The gorilla is seriously wounded but manages to get away. Later the pilot sees the box of stolen money. Stockwell shoots the pilot. He then looks for his daughter who has wandered away and found the wounded gorilla. Stockwell intends on killing the gorilla but Doreen begs him not to.
Years later, Ray Gorman (Buster Crabbe) is in the jungle looking for the money stolen in the Cairo heist. His father had been accused of helping Stockwell steal the money and jewels. His father committed suicide over the issue. Gorman is determined to find either Stockwell or the money and return it to the bank.
While at a jungle village he hears a story about a white witch who came from the sky and is protected by a gorilla. When Gorman saves a native, Tobo (Prince Modupe), from being murdered the native tells Gorman about a house with wings that fell from the sky and about a little girl who is now an adult. He draws a map for Gorman to where the plane went down. Listening in on the conversation is Carl Hurst (Barton MacLane), a hunter and profiteer, and his girlfriend Marie (Fifi D’Orsay). That night Hurst sneaks into Gorman’s room to try to steal the map but is thwarted. Gorman decides to leave right away to look for the plane. Tobo, grateful for being saved, decides to go with him.
In the jungle Gorman finds the now grown up Doreen (Julie London) but convincing her to give him the money and jewels may be a problem since she is being protected by the gorilla she saved years ago. In addition, Hurst and Marie are following Gorman through the jungle to try to claim the treasure for themselves.
“Nabonga” AKA “Jungle Woman” was released in 1944 and was directed by Sam Newfield. It is a jungle thriller and a low budget poverty row gorillasploitation film.
It’s one of several movies that use the premise of a girl lost in the jungle being raised by gorillas. It’s a standard plot that includes lots of animal montages and jungle treks to add some padding. I’m not sure where the title came from. Some have speculated that the word nabonga means gorilla and some say it was the gorilla’s name but neither one is correct.
Director Newfield’s daughter Jackie played the young Doreen. The gorilla Samson was played by Ray Corrigan. When Samson fights another gorilla, the guy in the other suit is Fred Humes. The movie is Julie London’s film debut. In 1964 Julie London recorded the torch song “Cry Me A River” with the Bobby Troup Quintet. In all Julie recorded 32 albums. Both Julie London and Bobby Troup appeared in the television show “Emergency !”. Julie and Bobby were married from 1959 until his death in 1999.