User Reviews

THE TREASURE OF BENGAL is an early Italian adventure film with Hollywood star Sabu - of THE JUNGLE BOOK fame - playing the usual heroic youth character who must stop thieves from stealing a priceless ruby which is much venerated in his Hindu village. Sabu was getting on a bit by now, no longer as youthful or athletic as he once was, but he's still an irresistable presence here. The film itself is a lively little thing, with a slim plot bolstered by plenty of action from beginning to end. There are jungle scenes, chases through gloomy underground tunnels, sudden death traps, whipping and torture, and plenty of swarthy villains just waiting to get their comeuppance. It's good fun.

Man-child Sabu was well past his Hollywood sell-by date at age 29 when he came to Italy (following in the footsteps of his recently deceased frequent co-star Maria Montez) to appear in this Indian-set jungle adventure.

Co-starring are a wide-eyed 18-year-old Luisella Boni as a native Princess, alongside genre regulars Luigi Tosi and Carla Calo, with an unfamiliar supporting cast.

The only available DVD is in German, so once again the finer plot points were lost on me, but it would appear to be your standard jungle shenanigans that Sabu's fans would expect, complete with tigers, kidnappings, belly dancers and lots of running about in the undergrowth.

Sabu looks a little bloated and is clearly wearing a thick coating of panstick to hide his maturing features, but otherwise equips himself fine in a role he could probably have played in his sleep.

Whether or not it's any good I couldn't really say without watching it in a language I can understand, but it's colourful, well shot and has enough action to keep genre fans satisfied – a climactic sword fight on a beach is a highlight.

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