Darlings, You Have Got To See 'Curucu'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                "Ku ru ru frog
                                 On the river bank.
                                 When he sits there croaking,
                                  Bayana says that he feels cold.
                                  Playing with a sling shot is good
                                    for those who like it.
                                  I don't like it, I don't care."
                                       ----Old Childhood Rhyme

                      Back in those ever distancing days of when I was in grade school, we used to sing this.
I wanted to share it with you loves, to show there is a big difference between Ku ru ru, and Curucu.

                       Darlings, in the world of "The Sopranos," which so many loved to watch, and some of us who lived in Jersey knew more about than one might think, the rules wee clear--Friday night was for the wives, while Saturday night was for the girlfriends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                        And what better way to spend a romantic Saturday date night than to cuddle close, and enjoy a cheesy 50's horror flick???????  Well, let me tell you, few are cheesier than "Curucu, Beast Of The Amazon."

                          You know you are in for something special, for starters, because it stars one of the era's B-movie Scream Queens, Beverly Garland, who, less than twenty years later, would turn up, remarried to Fred Macmurray, as Steve Douglas, on, of all things, "My Three Sons."

                            Now, this film has its moments, but nothing that can top Beverly's big moment in "It Conquered The World," where she physically attacks the paper mache Cucumbo, the Cucumber Monster from Venus, whom Beverly not only towers over, but looks as though it could be knocked down by a child.
Pounding her fists on it furiously, as she screams, "I'll see you in Hell, first!" at it, I wonder how Beverly failed to get an Oscar nomination for this stellar moment.  It cannot be beat, girls; you have to see it!!!!!

                            But...back to 'Curucu'.  This one is a hoot, as a group of explorers venture into the darkest jungles of Brazil, where they are threatened by voodoo practicing natives, who shrink heads and throw poisoned darts.  The NAACP probably ruled them racist back in 1956; think what they would say now!!!!  Which may be one reason why you don't see 'Curucu' (pronounced "Ku-roo-cue") being shown much these days!!!  Too bad, because it is a hoot!!!!  The monster is supposed to be a native legend, that lives up the river, where no white man has gone before, but is more of a ruse to keep the natives in their place.  When the fabricated monster does surface, it looks like a cross, as one sage put it, "between a toucan and a wart hog!!!!!"  Personally, I think it was just a big old puppet, cooked up, uncredited, by a then little girl named Julie Taymor!!!!  Yes, girls, I am convinced 'Curucu' is where old Jules got her start!!!!!!   Like an outtake from "Juan Darien"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  He ( referred to as "Beast Of The Amazon," and always going after women, you know the monster not only has to be a He, but is also heterosexual; who ever heard of a gay monster, anyway????) has to be seen, to be believed!!!!!!!

                       And Beverly has a great moment here, where a boa constrictor  wraps itself around her, and she struggles with it.  For real!!!!!  When the scene was done, she was told that if the boa had fastened on to her, they would not have been able to save her life!!!!!!!!!!  But the boa (I pet one in New Orleans, darlings, and they are really sweet!!!!) was probably just as scared, wondering what the hell this crazy woman was doing, anyway!!!!!  It probably fled from Beverly faster than she did, once the scene was finished!!!!!

                      They don't make 'em like this, anymore.....and there is a reason!!!!!!   But there is plenty of
reason to curl up and watch "Curucu, Beast Of The Amazon."  You can be each other's boa, loves!!!!!!!!!!!

                        And I don't mean feather boa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!