Sheena Queen of the Jungle

Sheena Queen of the Jungle - Episode 1
Forbidden Cargo

SHEENA TV INTRO

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PRODUCTION CREDITS

Director

Arthur Pierson

Producer

Edward Nassour

Screenplay

Ken Field

Story Supervision

Joel Murcott

STARRING

Sheena

Irish McCalla

Bob Rayburn

Christian Drake

Chim

Neal

COSTARS

Gunther

Robert Foulk

Tinkler

Ted Heath

Dr Carr

Nelson Leigh

Tanyika

Milton Wood

PLOT - NOTE: Spoiler warning
Two gun runners, Gunther and Tinkler, are providing rifles to Tanyika, the Asian leader of the Murani tribe so that he can fulfil his aspirations of becoming leader of all of the Masai lands. Sheena discovers a sick Murani warrior who has escaped from their camp and she sends Chim to summon Dr Carr and Bob. The doctor diagnoses typhoid and leaves to work on a vaccine while Sheena and Bob track the source of the infection. When Bob and Sheena question Gunther he claims to be a trader. They become suspicious when Chim discovers boxes of rifles while Gunther is checking on Tinkler, who has become ill. Bob and Sheena observe the camp from a nearby tree but Bob sprains an ankle when a branch breaks. They are captured and put into a tent with Tinkler, who frees them in exchange for a promise of medical aid. Tinkler lures Gunther into the tent and he is captured by Bob and Sheena (below). Bob shoots Tanyika with Gunther's pistol and the Murani disperse without a leader. Dr Carr vaccinates Bob and Sheena and peace is restored to the jungle.

COMMENTS
This episode is one of the three pilots filmed in California, probably in late-1953 or early 1954. The evidence for this lies in the fact that it has recognisable Hollywood costars and it looks like it was filmed in Bronson Canyon (see Page 3: The Pilot Episodes in the Filming In Mexico section). It was obviously compiled before the production unit went to Mexico because it does not have the Raul Gaona vine swinging sequence underneath the episode title. Stock footage shot by Micki Carter in Africa was used instead (see above) (see Page 10: Other Sheena Anecdotes in the Filming In Mexico section) . The costar who played Gunther, Robert Foulk (left), was a Hollywood stalwart who had been appearing in films since 1948. His most notable film roles were in Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953), which starred Marilyn Monroe, Blackboard Jungle (1955), with Glenn Ford, and Rebel Without a Cause (1955), with James Dean. His lengthy television career ranged from everything from I Love Lucy to The Twilight Zone. Irish is quite physical in this episode - throwing a spear, fighting natives, and crawling on her belly with a knife between her teeth.

MOVING PICTURES

Click on the images below to see two short scenes from this episode:

FRENCH TÉLÉ ROMANS (Photo Novels)

Click on the image below to see the complete episode illustrated with photographs, and with French captions:

SHEENA TV INTRO

EPISODE GUIDE

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SOURCES
• The production credits and plot were taken from my DVD of this episode
IMAGES
• All of the photos used on this page are screenshots from my DVD of this episode
• The two video clips were uploaded to Youtube by me to use on this web page
• The montage of Télé Romans covers are from my personal collection
LYNX
• See a very extensive Robert Foulk filmography at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
CAPTURE
• Bag yourself a copy of this episode on VHS from Moviecraft; beware the high contrast and heavily cropped versions of these episodes currently available on DVD

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