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| Mike Henry as Tarzan |
"A couple of animals and a half-naked wild man against Vinero?"
This widescreen, technicolor Tarzan adventure starts out like a Eurospy movie with Tarzan (Mike Henry) in suit and tie attacked by a sniper in an empty stadium -- it's actually an excellent sequence. Tarzan then strips down to his loincloth -- giving even Gordon Scott a run for his money in the body department -- to take on the evil Augustus Vinero (David Opatoshu), who hopes to loot a hidden city of its treasure of gold. Vinero is a thoroughly nasty character who affixes a medallion with a bomb on it to his ex-girlfriend (Nancy Kovack of Diary of a Madman) and tells her if she moves just an inch she'll explode! Tarzan goes to the city with his pals, a chimp named Dinky, a trained lion named Major, and a little boy from this "lost" city named Ramel (Manuel Padilla Jr.). The villain gets a very ironic and satisfying comeuppance. Arguably the sexiest of all the Tarzans, Henry plays the strong, silent type and is perfectly okay in that mode. This appears to take place in South America and not in Africa, as the later Tarzan films often placed the ape man in other countries. Val Alexander's jazzy musical theme is completely inappropriate, as this really isn't a Eurospy film. Aside from the lead players, the film is dubbed, primarily by the busy Paul Frees [The War of the Worlds]. Robert Day also directed She with Ursula Andress.
Verdict: Entertaining sixties Tarzan adventure. ***.
I vividly remember that opening sequence, mainly because of the startling way the sniper bites it--crushed by a giant Coca-Cola bottle! I recall squirming at most of the Tarzan/Dinky/little kid scenes though, and being disappointed at how childish it all was (as if they'd have aimed a movie like this at adults--but apparently that's what I'd have preferred). I remember not liking Mike Henry at all as Tarzan, and thought he was a stiff, unconvincing actor. That said, when it got released by Warner Archives on DVD a few years ago, I thought enough of it to buy it and--what do you know? It was a lot better than I remembered--and very entertaining. Mike Henry's not that bad (I still don't buy him as Tarzan though) and some of the location photography is downright stunning. But, yeah-- that music--Arg! It's so distracting it's a major flaw.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
--Mark
Mike Henry was physically suited for Tarzan but no one could claim that he was a great actor!
ReplyDeleteI think they put out virtually all of the Tarzan films on DVD in a big set a while ago and there are still some that I haven't gotten around to watching!
Even when I was a kid I didn't like to see little kids in action movies -- they always got in the way and made things worse for the hero!