Shown in 1970
CREDITS
- dir
-
Pancho Kohner
- scr
-
Pancho Kohner
- cam
-
Javier Cruz
- cast
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John Huston, Charles Robinson, Katy Jurado, Elizabeth Guadalupe Chauvet
- prod co
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Capricorn Productions S.A.
- source
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Capricorn Productions S.A.
OTHER
Not all of the new American directors are turning toward the local scene in this country for their first feature film. The world has opened its doors to young creative talents and, ironically enough, the most interesting American projects are being filmed on foreign soil. For his debut work, Pancho Kohner (who received his early film training at the University of Southern California, and subsequently worked as a staff member on overseas productions for Columbia and United Artists) has turned to the famous novel by B. Traven, the mysterious, seclusive writer who is best known for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Already familiar with Mexico (for his mother was a famous Mexican actress, Lupita Tovar), Mr. Kohner decided to make the film in its true setting, in the jungles of Chiapas. With a very young and enthusiastic crew, he set out for two months of shooting his own adaptation of Traven’s complex story. The Bridge In the Jungle is set in Mexico of 1925; Gales, a young American crocodile hunter, disregards all warnings and travels deep into the jungle toward a remote trading post. He loses his way and, after several days, is rescued by a bearded old-timer named Sleigh, an American who has obviously settled with the Mexican Indians in the jungle hinterlands. During Gales’ recuperation in the village, he occasionally suffers traumatic mental relapses, in which he reveals that he is really seeking a man who had murdered his father, years before. It soon becomes obvious that Sleigh resembles the murderer and the drama unfolds and intensifies into a tragic climax. The film is rich in folkloric detail and a touch of history lies in Pancho Kohner’s casting; the role of Sleigh is enacted by the great director John Huston and, in many ways, Sleigh recreates the character played by Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Pancho Kohner is a rare talent, a newcomer with a gift for cinematic narrative, and the ability to enrich one’s understanding of a rich, simple culture, strengthened by humanism and daily tragedy.
—Albert Johnson
FACTOID #123
San Francisco native Mervyn LeRoy, director of the Hollywood classics Little Caesar and Goldiggers of 1933, was honored with the Festival’s first tribute October 22, 1965.
