Green Mansions is a 1959 adventure and romance film directed by Mel Ferrer, written by Dorothy Kingsley and starring Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins. It is based on the 1904 novel of the same name by William Henry Hudson.
Abel (Perkins) is the son of a Venezuelan minister who's been murdered during a coup. He flees in the jungle to prepare his revenge, and there meets Rima (Hepburn), a woman who has been raised far from civilization by her grandfather Nuflo (Lee J. Cobb). Abel soon falls in love with Rima.
Green Mansions provides examples of the following tropes:
- Afraid of Blood: Rima "cannot stand the sight of blood" according to her grandfather. Which didn't prevent her from cutting in Abel's leg to Suck Out the Poison and save his life.
- Ant Assault: After fleeing the tribesmen, Abel, Rima and Nuflo find the skeleton of a man who was apparently eaten by ants.
- Blow Gun: Kua-Ko's tribe uses blow guns in addition to javelins. They shoot at Abel from the other side of the Rope Bridge notably.
- Broken Pedestal: The Reveal of Nuflo's Dark and Troubled Past about how he came to raise Rima as his "granddaughter" causes her to reject him. Though she ultimately she comes to regret it, and she still calls him "grandfather" despite the fact he isn't.
- Brownface: Henry Silva as Kua-Ko and Sessue Hayakawa as Chief Runi.
- Chased by Angry Natives: Most of the third act is Abel, Rima and Nuflo running to escape from Kua-Ko and his tribe who want them dead.
- Come with Me If You Want to Live: Upon returning from captivity, Abel warns Nuflo to flee with him and Rima because of the incoming tribesmen who are out to kill Rima.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Nuflo was actually part of a "gang of ruffians" who went on a raid on a village to steal gold (though himself swears he was the nicest one and never killed anyone). It turned into a massacre and Rape, Pillage, and Burn, and Nuflo ran away to the rocky shelter in the jungle wanting nothing more to do with this. There he found a woman who died in his arms, leaving a young child (Rima) for Nuflo to raise — he's not her real grandfather.
- Disney Death: Kua-Ko pretends to Abel that he and the other tribesmen killed Rima when they burned down the trees she was fleeing in the canopy of. After killing Kua-Ko, Abel rushes to the burned down trees and thinks Rima really died, though he remembers a flower Rima told him of, which, if it disappears in one place, blossoms in another close by. He finds the flower, and, not far, Rima herself, who's alive and extends her hand.
- Driving a Desk: Boat/canoe versions whenever characters travel on rivers.
- Fainting: Rima faints and collapses in the ruins where she feels her mother's presence.
- I Am Not Your Father: Nuflo is actually not Rima's grandfather. He raised her to honor a Last Request from her dying mother after the mother was fatally wounded during the Rape, Pillage, and Burn raid he was dragged into.
- Jungle Opera: The film is set in a lush and mysterious jungle, it has a Jungle Princess, and the protagonists end up Chased by Angry Natives.
- Jungle Princess: Rima has been raised in the jungle by her grandfather. It's definitely a more "innocent" example than most.
- Knife Fight: Abel and Kua-Ko use knives in their Duel to the Death at the end, including in the water ponds they fall into.
- Left Hanging: The film ends with Abel and Rima being reunited as it turns out she had a Disney Death, and Abel's Revenge project for the murder of his family during the coup goes unaddressed.
- Nature Lover: Rima has been raised in the jungle and she's a Friend to All Living Things.
- Pursued Protagonist: The film opens with Abel being chased by guards with dogs.
- Rope Bridge: When fleeing Kua-Ko's tribe, Abel, Rima and Nuflo walk on a rope bridge at one point. Nuflo trips on it but quickly gets up, then Abel destroys it with the machete.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: Kua-Ko's tribe has a test of courage/strength in which one must sustain a panel full of wasps against one's naked chest. Two tribesmen fail it and get stung but Kua-Ko passes it with flying colors.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The two indigenous rowers of Abel's canoe flee ashore as soon as they see a spear adorned with red feathers planted in the ground.
- Shrunken Head: Abel, Rima and Nuflo find shrunken heads on pikes when trying to escape Kua-Ko's tribe.
- Suck Out the Poison: Rima did this offscreen to save the life of Abel after he got bitten by a snake and fell unconscious when trying to warn her about the chief of the tribe wanting her dead.
- Talking in Your Sleep:
- Rima tells Abel that he talked in his sleep after she sucked the snake venom out of his leg.
- The same about Nuflo when he, Abel and Rima stop at the rocky shelter. Abel tells him he speaks in his sleep.
- Talking to the Dead: Riman spontaneously invokes her deceased mother sometimes, as if she bonded with nature after her death.
- Vile Vulture: A vulture lands on a tree and looks at the fawn at one point, and Rima immediately rushes to protect the fawn.
- You Killed My Father: Abel is driven by revenge for the murder of his family during the coup.
