Review of The Tiger Woman

One critic said of Linda Stirling, acknowledged queen of serials, and of the "The Tiger Woman", that it is by far her best serial. The photographic qualities, cinematic development and acting affirm his opinion, in my judgment. The plot involves a tantalizingly vague jungle location, which some suggest was South America. The prize is oil; and the Inter Ocean Oil Company's owners are after it, as well as men from a nefarious rival organization. The kicker in this interesting setup is the long-lost daughter of a millionaire, one who was lost very young and has become queen of the local tribe. The rivals plan to find evidence that the girl called Tiger Woman is the missing daughter, replace the girl, born Rita Arnold, with a fake who will cede them the oil rights--but first they have to sabotage their opponents, before they can claim the inheritance, and steal their other prize, the oil. The Tiger Woman (who came out of the skies to become leader of a local tribe and a near-goddess to others nearby) is opposing their attempts; all InterOcean has going for it is in this situation is Allen Saunders (Rock Lane), their ace engineer and troubleshooter. Other critics have noted that Spencer Gordon Bennett has introduced here out-of-place elements that the classic action film directors John English and William Witney would not have allowed. But the fact is that this serial is very attractively directed and the leads are very good separately and together. Stirling is gorgeous and looks good in motion; and Lane is attractive, bright and can even act (he was later in his career the important voice of "Mr. Ed" the talking horse in a TV series). The queen may be habitually overdressed, but she is dressed attractively; there is also an exotic dance during a torture rite aimed at Saunders, and the leads are obviously attracted to one another and hit it off from the first. The rest of the plot is (as usual in series) repetitive and made to halt for cliff-hanger moments resolved (the next week during original release) by near-impossible escapes. This was a late serial, and Bennett dressed his opus up with rollicking fistfights, demolished furniture and group battles. The sudden escapes here include the usual being supposedly unconscious and hurtling toward a cliff in a moving vehicle, being trapped in a mine as flaming oil approaches and many more. My favorite kitsch moment is the Tiger Woman's escape from the motorboat as it heads toward a steamboat full of explosives. But the distinguishing quality of this serial I assert is the regal quality of Stirling and the unusual charisma of Lane. The supporting cast is good as well. Six writers and another director were needed to mount this expensive-looking production, the latter Wallace Grissell. Nice guy Duncan Renaldo is Lane's partner throughout the proceedings; George J. Lewis plays a capable villain. LeRoy Mason, Crane Whitley, Robert Frazer, Rico De Montez and Nolan Leary are also featured along with very capable stunt men and women. The lucid cinematography for the piece was provided by Bud Thackeray and Ernest Miller; the art direction was the work of Fred A. Ritter with set decorations by Otto Siegel and Charles S. Thompson. I saw this serial during a 1950s re-release, and I can recall how lovely Linda Stirling was, and how excitingly different. These were the days when she was allowed to fight successfully, and be menaced thoroughly, while in most films women stood around and bit their knuckles during any time of menace. This is not a great serial, but given all the later jungle girl, lost heiress-queen spinoffs, it was the most influential by far.