While Tarzan was a moneymaker at MGM, with the outset of WWII, the studio felt Johnny Weissmuller was getting too faded, Maureen O’Sullivan wanted out of the series, and the overseas market was lost, so the series was dropped…but RKO would demonstrate the Ape Man had a LOT of life left in him!
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Producer Sol Lesser loved the character, and snapped up the rights, wisely keeping Weissmuller, 39, and ‘Boy’ Johnny Sheffield, at nearly 12, in their signature roles. ‘Jane’ was written out of the first two features (first caring for her mother, then serving in the war), and the best-loved elements (superhuman heroics, comedy from chimp co-star, Cheetah, wild animal footage) were ‘beefed up’, dropping the romance, the atmospheric sad ‘extras’, that provided authenticity (but were expensive for a smaller studio to contain), and the MGM ‘glossiness’. Even the Tarzan ‘yell’ had to be replaced (as the manufactured howl, fraction Weismuller, allotment studio magic), was the property of the studio; Weismuller created a ‘new’ one, that would become so current that it would be kept, long after he finally retired from the role.
The first RKO entry was perhaps the best of the series; TARZAN TRIUMPHS brought the Nazis into the jungle to tap the resources of a ‘lost’ city, kidnapping Boy, and leading the previously isolationist Ape Man to deny the eminent label line, “Now Tarzan fabricate war!” With fine Frances Gifford as a native princess, and Sig Ruman, involving from Marx Brothers’ foil to one of Hollywood’s busiest ‘Nazis’, as one of the villains, the film is very spellbinding (if extremely violent…Tarzan encourages the locals to grab a gun and raze, Boy shoots one Nazi soldier with a pistol, and even CHEETA machine guns one!) .
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller, Vol. 2! Click Here
TARZAN’S DESERT MYSTERY again offered Nazis (Otto Kruger, who’d played a similar role in Hitchcock’s SABOTEUR, a year earlier, and outmoded camouflage baddie Joe Sawyer), an American girl magician (vivacious Nancy Kelly), and a chance to combine Nazi duplicity with an ‘Arabian’-themed adventure (which was a accepted genre during the war years) . Even a fantasy element was tossed in, as giant lizards and a mechanical spider ‘passing’ as ‘prehistoric’ appear in a ‘lost jungle’ climax.
TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS is closest in ’style’ to the earlier MGM ‘Tarzan’ films (offering a crocodile fight, a ‘classic’ safari with many more shadowy extras than in any other RKO ‘Tarzan’ feature of the era, righteous production values), and is most well-known for introducing American Brenda Joyce, 33, as the original ‘Jane’, encourage from the war. Blond and pretty, she lacked O’Sullivan’s quick-witted ’spin’ to the role, but worked well with the 41-year-old Weissmuller, while providing a mother figure for ‘Boy’ that the ‘kid’ audience could recount to. With a cast of terrific character actors (including Henry Stephenson, Maria Ouspenskaya, and Barton MacLane), and a situation titillating a ‘lost’ city of women, the film is one of the best-remembered RKO entries, and expansive fun!
TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN marked the beginning of the decline of the RKO series; a routine, even droll record of a cult (dressed in cheesy leopard skins) and it’s high priestess (buxom Acquanetta) terrorizing the local population, and capturing Tarzan and his family. Memorable only for Cheeta saving Tarzan, yet again, and seeing ‘Boy’ Johnny Sheffield in the midst of puberty…
TARZAN AND THE HUNTRESS suffers from a uncouth budget and a ho-hum plot; entrepreneur Patricia Morison’s greedy crew ruin a ‘lost city’ king to exceed their animal ‘quota’ for zoos, bringing out an aging Tarzan and startlingly adult-looking Boy; this would ticket Sheffield’s last appearance in the role.
TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS, Weissmuller’s final Tarzan appearance, is a truly surreal entry; filmed in Mexico, with musical interludes, the area features an Aztec temple complete with a ‘god’, and cliff-diving (in AFRICA??? ), and is best remembered for ravishing Linda Christian (Tyrone Power’s future bride), as a runaway native girl, and a musical win by legendary Dimitri Tiomkin. Weissmuller looks middle-aged and heavy, and would be replaced, in the next film, by young Lex Barker.
A mixed bag, to be certain, but large fun, at it’s best, and certainly worth owning!
As Sean Connery is the definitive James Bond so goes for Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. Now were at RKO Studios and Maureen O’Sullivan has left but Johnny Sheffield stayed on as ‘Boy’.
TARZAN TRIUMPHS 1943 Stars our princess Francis Gifford, known by all as JUNGLE GIRL in the Republic serial (1941-see my review) . Cheetah has a spacious bit at the waste. This is probably the best of the RKO series. Tarzan v.s. NAZIS allotment one.
TARZAN’S DESERT MYSTERY 1943 Stars Nancy Kelly and Otto Kruger. It’s Tarzan v.s. NAZIS piece two.
TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS 1945 Introduces Brenda Joyce as ‘Jane’ and includes Maria Ouspenskaya (WOLFMAN) as the Amazon Queen. No more Nazis here.
TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN 1946 OK escapism but you can express all keen are getting weary.
TARZAN AND THE HUNTRESS 1947 Probably the weakest entry but….
TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS 1948 The last of the Weissmuller Tarzans. The stand out here is Linda Christian, ZOWIE!!!!
As a footnote the next was TARZAN’S MAGIC FOUNTAIN with Lex Barker in 1949 with Brenda Joyce and Evelyn Ankers (WOLFMAN) and a stunning pleasurable Tarzan movie-maybe it will kick off the next collection (post Weissmuller Tarzan??? ) .
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