Richard Chatten With a title like that I just had to see this! But the connection between the moon and the little people with blow-pipes led by Billy Curtis is only vaguely alluded to. It's actually the sun that figures more prominently in the plot, since it represents the great god Ra, from whose lethal rays wicked high priestess Oma has eternally to shelter from in the murkily lit temple over which she rules.Jean Byron cuts an impressive figure in the usual lady explorer's pith helmet and tight black britches as archaeologist Ellen Marsten - author of 'The Historical Basis of African Civilisation' - and proves remarkably bloodthirsty when let loose on the local wildlife with a bow & arrow, but is subsequently reduced to little more than an onlooker (I wonder what she called the book on which she based her adventures here?) Helen (sic) Stanton, too, as Oma Who Must Be Obeyed, has the makings of a formidable villainess, but is otherwise little used; not helped by an ugly blonde wig and boring dress which between them look as if they had both been lying about in wardrobe at Columbia since the 40's. Most of the film is set out of doors in the sunshine, which keeps the film pleasant to watch, until we enter Oma's temple, which cameraman Henry Freulich renders suitably noirishly atmospheric. However as a whole, the film felt far longer than 70 minutes.

mark.waltz And with lollipop guild leader Billy Curtis as one of the pygmy leaders, the similarities increase. This is the second to last Jungle Jim movie (minus that name because of legal issues concerning the character) and it is not an entry too late, for the plots have reached their nadir on this one. The pygmy's obviously are not either real pygmy's or moon men, just a band of little people living a jungle "Terror of Tiny Town" under the thumb of an evil high priestess searching for a high priest and using a poison with an anecdote ready to serve once she receives the package of her heart's desire. Billy Curtis, as the captured pygmy, is treated with little respect, used as entertainment and patronizing condescension by the oh too adorable chimpanzees Kimba. You know you're considered the lowest of the low when you're the prop of a monkey! Kimba is talented, but if he (or she) could be trained to roll her eyes back because of the outrageously bad story, then he (or she) would be worthy of an Oscar!

MattyGibbs This is another Jungle adventure starring Johnny Weismuller but isn't either a Tarzan or Jungle Jim adventure. Rather confusingly he plays himself in this film. Quite why that is I don't know but essentially he is the same character in all his movies. The plot is the usual greedy white bad guys seeking an ill gotten fortune in a jungle setting featuring some decidedly unrealistic natives. The Moon Men of the films title are dwarfs dressed up laughably unconvincingly to look like a jungle tribe. Almost certainly the least scary tribe ever committed to celluloid. Jungle Moon Men ticks every cliché in the Tarzan book but fails miserably to compare to the superior and much earlier Weismuller/O'Sullivan Tarzan films. The support acting is also sadly lacking.However despite it's numerous faults, I did somehow enjoy this film. Maybe it falls into the so bad it's good category, maybe it's just because I like Weismuller.

classicsoncall For all intents and purposes this is another in a string of Jungle Jim adventure movies, except that Johnny Weissmuller appears in this one using his own name. Most of the typical JJ scenarios are presented except for Weissmuller wrestling some hapless stuffed animal or underwater blow up creature. Otherwise it's pretty standard stuff, with Weissmuller guiding author Ellen Marsten (Jean Byron) into the jungle in search of book material. The moon men of the title turn out to be pygmies from the Baku country, with no connection to other worldly environs. If I didn't know better, I might have considered them as the inspiration for George Lucas's Ewoks, but with faces exposed and not as hairy. You might recognize their leader Damu as Billy Curtis who almost two full decades later appeared as Clint Eastwood's diminutive ally Mordecai in "High Plains Drifter".To give you an idea how much thought went into these flicks, consider an early scene when native Marro (Ben Chapman) is attacked by the band of pygmies in order to drug and capture him. He's struck by a poison dart on an area of his upper chest that was covered directly by his shield! Of course, there must be villains, and this time out Myron Healey does the honors as the evil Santo. He and his gang follow Johnny into the Baku country in hopes of discovering a large cache of diamonds. The trail ends at the cave of the high priestess Oma (Helen Stanton), revealed to have discovered the secret of eternal life. That gives one a pretty good idea of how Oma meets her demise - hint, she can't leave the cave into direct sunlight - Oops! In keeping with the Jungle Jim tradition, a North American mountain lion makes an appearance in the film, demonstrating that wild animals in pictures don't honor geographic boundaries. As for Johnny's sidekick, he's got a chimp named Kimba, who could have been Tamba from his earlier pictures, they all look alike you know. Or maybe not, Tamba was pretty adventurous, but in this picture, it seemed like Johnny carried the chimp around everywhere they went.