Directed by
Arthur Lubin.
This frothy fantasy adventure centers upon the exotic romance between a shark fisherman (the sharks he captured are used for the manufacture of vitamin A) and the beautiful princess of Temple Island. They meet when the fisherman asks a young boy with royal connections to introduce him to the princess so he can ask for permission to fish the teeming waters near the island. The boy introduces the hunter to the girl and love immediately blossoms until he makes his request. She believes that he is really only looking for a way to steal the treasure located in the temple pool, and she banishes him. The boy has other plans for them though. At the same time, a crooked treasure-seeking trader conspires to get the booty for himself.. A major confrontation between good guys and bad eventually ensues with wild accusations flying like palm fronds in a hurricane. The shark hunter is accused of murder and imprisoned. Once again, the brave boy comes to his rescue and together they set out to prove his innocence. The story reaches its climax at the great temple that gave the island its name. A terrible earthquake ensures that the villains get their due. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
lost interest.
The shrewd folks at Universal fully understood a war-weary audience's craving for colorful escapism and obligingly created
Arabian Nights (1942), which brought together contract actors
Maria Montez,
Jon Hall, and
Sabu. None of them could act worth a penny, but they looked good in Technicolor and a follow-up was quickly ordered. Happily for the company's coffers, White Savage was equally popular and for good reasons. This, simply, is the epitome of garish acting, directing, writing, and set design, and remains one of the greatest guilty pleasures of all time. Montez, who simply looks stunning, purrs, whines a bit, and offers poses worthy of a cover girl; Hall is strikingly handsome and at all times as artificial as the setting; and
Sabu, the erstwhile elephant boy, well, what more is there to say? Add to that
Thomas Gomez as the hissable Teutonic villain as well as
Turhan Bey, Universal's Austrian-born Turkish Delight, who could play good or bad as the occasion demanded but always with the exact same expression. No Hollywood potboiler ever came more gloriously wrapped than this. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide