Fang and Claw Review: Pure 1930s Jungle Chaos

If you want to see a guy in a pith helmet wrestle a giant snake for an hour, then yes, this is absolutely worth watching. It is a wild, messy time capsule from 1935. 🐍

People who love old-school adventure films and weird film history will have a blast. But if you get upset by animals being handled roughly, you will absolutely hate it.

Frank Buck is basically the original Steve Irwin, but with way less safety gear and a lot more 1930s swagger. The guy just walks into the jungle and starts grabbing things.

In one scene, he literally pulls a massive python out of some bushes by its tail. He just pulls it like a stubborn garden hose while his helpers look slightly terrified.

This isn't a quiet documentary where people whisper about nature. It feels more like a circus sideshow that happened to be filmed in the wild.

If you wanted a calm, predictable movie night like The Sunset Trail, this is the exact opposite. This is pure, loud chaos.

The movie keeps trying to convince you everything is incredibly dangerous. Every time a tiger appears, the orchestra starts blasting brassy music.

Winston Sharples did the music, and it literally never stops playing. It sounds like a cartoon soundtrack, even when they are doing surgery on a rhino's ear.

Yes, they actually perform surgery on a rhinoceros with a bad ear. It is one of the strangest, most specific things I have ever seen in an old movie.

"The rhino is just lying there, looking very confused, while Frank Buck does his best doctor impression."

Then there is the tiger chase. A tiger chases a local guy up a tree, and it looks so obviously staged but it is still weirdly tense.

You can see the tiger is just trying to climb up, and the guy is climbing faster. You really wonder how many takes they did for that shot.

The camera work by Nicholas Cavaliere is actually pretty impressive for 1935. They had to lug those heavy, giant cameras through the mud and heat.

But sometimes the camera lingers on a monkey doing something silly for way too long. It is like the editors realized they needed to pad out the runtime and just left the camera running.

If you want a cozy, normal night, go watch Hell's Bells instead. But if you want to see a man put a burlap sack over a python's head, this is your film.

It is messy, it is loud, and it is totally unforgettable. Just don't expect it to be politically correct.

Didja notice?

• The rhino looks like it just wants to take a nap during the surgery.
• The music gets incredibly dramatic when a tiny monkey climbs a branch.
• Frank Buck's mustache stays perfectly groomed the entire time.
• Some of the sound effects for the tigers sound suspiciously like a guy growling into a microphone.