Three Supermen in the Jungle (1970)

The third in the Italian film series that started with Three Fantastic Supermen (1967), Three Supermen in the Jungle (1970) pretty much adheres to the, by then, established format.  While the line up of the titular trio seemed ever changing, it always consisted of a pair of daring thieves, one handsome and cool, the other a manic mute, with suits that give them superpowers, being coerced by a law-enforcement agent - who also wears one of those suits - into carrying out some kind of official mission.  Here, the representative of the law is Brad Harris, the handsome thief is George Martin and the mute one is Sal Borgese, (these two had both been in the previous entry - where Martin had played the cop role - and Borgese was to become a pretty much constant presence in the films).  The suits themselves look like red one-piece underwear with capes and give their wearers protection against all kinds of projectiles, from arrows to bullets, (but not, in this film, bazookas).  They also allow the supermen to leap to great heights or jump down from tall buildings without injury.

This time the trio are sent to Africa to try and gain control of a uranium mine before the Soviets can.  The film's structure is very episodic, (before they can even start the mission, Harris has to break the other two out of a Middle Eastern jail, where they are facing the death penalty), encompassing just about every B-movie cliche about Africa that can be thought of - cannibals, white jungle goddesses, comically foolish natives, they're all there.  All that's missing is black face - thankfully real black actors are employed to portray the natives.  It's all played for broad comedy, with lots of slapstick - mainly provided by Borgese - and comic book fights.  Femi Benoussi, fresh from playing a similar role in Tarzana, the Jungle Girl, is on hand as the jungle queen, although here she keeps her top on.  It's all very inconsequential but, if you are in the right mood, mildly amusing in places.  It was followed up with a visit to the old west, courtesy of a time machine, in the next entry, Three Supermen of the West (1973), a trip to Hong Kong in Supermen Against the Orient (1974), before taking on the mob in Three Supermen Against the Godfather (1979), a Turkish co-production, then a final outing in South America in Three Supermen in Santa Domingo (1986).  Borgese provided the continuing thread in the series - portraying the zany mute one in all of them, (albeit with varying character names).  In addition to the seven main entries in the series, (Three Supermen in Tokyo (1968) being the second), there were also a couple of Turkish knock offs (which didn't feature Borgese).