Adventure Girl

{{short description|1934 American adventure documentary directed by Herman C. Raymaker}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Adventure Girl | image = AdventureGirl.TitleCard.jpg | alt = | caption = Title card from the film | native_name = | director = Herman C. Raymaker | producer = Amadee J. Van Beuren<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai35unse_0#page/n807/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=Motion Picture Daily | title=What They're Down For: Producers | date=June 20, 1934 | page=10 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref> | writer = Ferrin Frazier | screenplay = | story = | based_on = {{based on |the novel, ''The Cradle of the Deep'' |Joan Lowell}} | starring = Joan Lowell | narrator = Joan Lowell | music = Winston Sharples | cinematography = Harry Squire | editing = Sam B. Jacobson | studio = Van Beuren Studios | distributor = RKO Radio Pictures | released = {{Film date|1934|8|17|''US''|ref1=<ref name=AFI>{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=4087 | title=Adventure Girl: Detail View | publisher=American Film Institute | accessdate= September 8, 2014 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402013132/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=4087 | archivedate=April 2, 2014}}</ref>}} | runtime = 76 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross =  }}

'''''Adventure Girl''''' is a 1934 American adventure film starring and narrated by Joan Lowell. Directed by Herman C. Raymaker in pseudo-documentary fashion, it is based on a screenplay by Ferrin Frazier, who adapted Lowell's supposed autobiography, ''The Cradle of the Deep'', later revealed to be a work of complete fiction.

==Plot== Young, single Joan Lowell leaves for a sea adventure, destination unknown, with her father, Nicholas Wagner, as the captain, and two additional crew, William Sawyer and Otto Siegler. During their voyage their ship is damaged in a hurricane. Coming upon the wrecks of other ships they find a mast that they can use to replace their broken one. As the two crewmembers begin salvaging the mast, Lowell and Wagner explore other wrecks, where Lowell comes upon an old map which supposedly reveals a precious emerald hidden in Guatemalan jungle ruins.

Repairs complete, they continue their journey, but desperately need to find a water supply to replenish their drinking water, which was lost during the hurricane. Lowell and Sawyer row a dinghy to a tiny nearby island, where they meet a solitary native, who gives them both coconuts and fresh water.

They continue on, fortuitously managing to find a village on the mainland, which Lowell realizes is the one on her map.

She begins trading with the locals, and convinces the local headman, Manola, to take her to meet the female leader of his tribe, Maya, who is the only one that can grant her permission to continue on to the interior.

Maya does so, and agrees to accompany the party as their guide to the lost city. They have the natives construct a special canoe for them, and mount an outboard motor they had brought along on it. Secretly Manola trails them up river, not trusting Lowell at all, who has lied to everyone and seeks to break tribal taboos the natives believe will bring them misfortune in her hidden pursuit of booty.

Lowell begins to search for the emerald. When Manola realizes Lowell's intention, he and his men take her prisoner, intending to burn her alive. Sawyer rescues her, and the two escape back to their dingy. As they are pursued by the native villagers in their canoes, Sawyer dumps gasoline into the waters behind them and sets it afire. The two would-be treasure thieves return successfully to their boat.

==Cast== * Joan Lowell as herself * Captain Nicholas Wagner as himself * William Sawyer as himself * Otto Siegler as himself

==Production== thumb|right|Jungle motif decorations at the Rialto Theater in New York City

The screenplay was loosely framed around a swashbuckling life described by Lowell in her 1929 book, ''Cradle of the Deep'', which at the time of its publication was advertised as an autobiography. It was chosen by the Book of the Month Club, and became a best-seller in 1929. However, within a month of publication the book was exposed as a work of complete fiction.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-mar-14-et-cradle14-story.html | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | title=Meet the grandmother of memoir fabricators | date=March 14, 2008 | last=Colby | first=Anne | access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref>

The film was released and promoted as a documentary, however, shortly afterwards it was revealed to be a work of complete fiction.

The film was shot on location in Guatemala.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyvolume666newy#page/370/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=The Film Daily | title=Short Shots from Eastern Studios | date=August 23, 1934 | last=Alicoate | first=Charles | page=8 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref> In July 1934, it was reported that production had completed, with filming done in Central America.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyvolume666newy#page/96/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=The Film Daily | title=Joan Lowell Feature Finished | date=July 1934 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref> The film began previews in early August,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyvolume666newy#page/200/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=The Film Daily | title="Adventure Girl" for Rialto | date=July 27, 1934 | page=2 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref> with one of these previews occurring aboard the S.S. Columbia on August 1, 1934.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai36unse#page/n269/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=Motion Picture Daily | title=Preview 'Adventure Girl' | date=August 2, 1934 | page=8 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref>

Shot in black and white, the climax of the film, the fire scene, was hand colored by Gustav Brock.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyvolume666newy#page/268/mode/2up | publisher=The Film Daily | title=Brock Colors "Adventure Girl" | date=August 7, 1934 | page=2 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref>

The film opened on August 17, 1934, at the Rialto Theater in New York City. Several marketing schemes were put in place to coincide with the film's opening, including a newspaper essay contest with the winner receiving a free trip to Haiti, fashion tie-ins featuring Joan Lowell, and theater lobbies decorated in jungle motifs.<ref name=MPD1>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpictureher116unse#page/n705/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=Motion Picture Herald | title=Offer Free Tropics Trip on 'Adventure' | date=August 18, 1934 | page=63 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref>

In 1935, Lowell sued Van Beuren Studios and Amedee J. Van Beuren for an accounting of the profits. Van Beuren promptly made a counter-claim for $300,000 damages allegedly sustained because of Lowell's "inexpert" performance in the picture.<ref>SUIT ON 'INEXPERT' ACTING. New York Times. August 29, 1935</ref>

==Reception== Contemporary reviews were mixed: ''Motion Picture Daily'' gave the film a good review as outdoor adventure, singling out the sea photography, and the colorization sequence by Brock.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai36unse#page/n271/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=Motion Picture Daily | title=Adventure Girl | date=August 3, 1934 | page=2 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref> ''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' gave the film a mostly negative review, mostly due to the amateur nature of the actors, but they did compliment the photography, calling it "excellent", but a wasted effort.<ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary Notes: Charles Wingate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/59866957/?terms=%22Adventure%2BGirl%22 |newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=August 9, 1934 |page=9 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 9, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> ''The Hollywood Reporter'' felt that it was a good family adventure film. The ''New York Daily News'' complimented Brock's coloring of the fire scene, and praised the cinematography in general. the ''New York Daily Mirror'' also praised the photography, while the ''New York World-Telegram'' called the film "as amusing and exciting an hour as you can imagine in the cinema."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpictureher116unse#page/n999/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=Motion Picture Herald | title=Joan Lowell "Adventure Girl" | date=September 15, 1934 | page=21 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref> ''The Film Daily'' called it an "Unusual adventure film with good exploitation values." They also praised Lowell's acting as well as the photography.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyvolume666newy#page/254/mode/2up/search/%22Adventure+Girl%22 | publisher=The Film Daily | title=Reviews: Joan Lowell in "Adventure Girl" | date=August 3, 1934 | page=8 | accessdate=August 9, 2015}}</ref>

==See also== * List of early color feature films

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0024813}} * {{TCMDb title|1085}} * {{AFI film|4087}}

Category:1934 films Category:1930s color films Category:Black-and-white documentary films Category:Films shot in Guatemala Category:Jungle adventure films Category:1934 documentary films Category:American documentary films Category:American black-and-white films Category:Van Beuren Studios Category:Films directed by Herman C. Raymaker Category:1934 American films Category:Films scored by Winston Sharples