TARZAN ON FILM

TARZAN ON FILM. Scott Tracy Griffin. Foreword by Casper Van Dien. Titan; 2016.

Griffin, who previously authored Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration, is back with a new coffee table tome that focuses on the Tarzan motion pictures and the various actors (supporting cast as well as stars) who appeared in them. There is no actual film criticism in the book, although there are loads of pictures and background notes on each production. Tarzan On Film looks at the silent Tarzan movies, the serials such as Tarzan the Fearless and The New Adventures of Tarzan, and all of the films starring everyone from Johnny Weissmuller to Mike Henry and beyond, as well as chapters on the various TV series starring the Ape Man (as well as cartoon series and animated features). You'll learn that Acquanetta of Tarzan and the Leopard Woman was born Mildred Davenport and was black passing for white, and that Woody Strode was dubbed by a British actor for Tarzan's Three Challenges, among other tidbits.

Verdict: No critical analysis, but Tarzan movie fans will love the info and photos. ***.

TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN

TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN (1946). Director: Kurt Neumann.

Sworn to bring back Tarzan's body for fiendish jungle ritual! -- ad copy.

If only Tarzan and the Leopard Woman had delivered on the promise of its advertising tagline, even if it does, in a way, sum up the plot. High Priestess Lea (Acquanetta of Jungle Woman) of the Bogandis is working in cahoots with native-born Dr. Ameer Lazar (Edgart Barrier). The doctor feigns friendliness with the townspeople of Zambeza but is really out for vengeance. Lea and Lazar lead a group of cultists who wear leopard skins and claws to make it look as if real leopards are tearing apart their victims. Lea's young brother, Kimba (Tommy Cook), hopes to prove his manhood by stealing away someone's heart, and shows up at Tarzan's enclave pretending to be homeless and hungry. Boy (Johnny Sheffield) is suspicious about Kimba and the two have a fight, with Cheeta entering the fray. Lazar has several nubile schoolgirls kidnapped to be sacrifices, and also plans on killing Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), Boy, and Jane (Brenda Joyce). The best performance is delivered by little Tommy Cook, who previously appeared as the native boy Kimbu  in the excellent serial Jungle Girl, then grew up to amass 100 credits in such films as Missile to the Moon. Although the Tarzan series had become more kid-friendly by this time, Kimba's ultimate fate is rather grim. The other performances are pretty much what you would expect; Edgar Barrier is Edgar Barrier.

Verdict: Acceptable Tarzan flick with a not-bad finale. **1/2.

DEAD MAN'S EYES

DEAD MAN'S EYES (1944). Director: Reginald Le Borg.

This "Inner Sanctum" mystery stars, as usual, Lon Chaney Jr., as artist David Stuart. David has a girlfriend named Heather (Jean Parker of Beyond Tomorrow), whose father, Stanley (Edward Fielding) is a good friend of his. David is working on a painting of his model, Tanya (Acquanetta), when she accidentally switches a bottle of eye wash with acid, resulting in David's blindness. Tanya, who is in love with David, wants to take care of him, out of guilt, while David's buddy, Alan (Paul Kelly of The File on Thelma Jordan) wants to take care of Tanya. Stanley arranges for David to get a corneal transplant when the time comes, and ironically winds up the donor when he is murdered. Suspects include everyone from David to Tanya to Nick (George Meeker), who is hoping to marry Heather. With a very suspenseful story and some adept playing, this is one of the best in the short-lived Inner Sanctum series. Acquanetta [Captive Wild Woman] is especially effective as Tanya.

Verdict: Credible and absorbing minor mystery. ***.

LOST CONTINENT (1951)

LOST CONTINENT (1951). Director:Sam Newfield.

When a firebird rocket designed by ex-Russian scientist Michael Rostov (John Hoyt) goes awry, Major Joe Nolan (Cesar Romero) is assigned to finding it so that they can figure out what went wrong. He takes Rostov and others along with him to the South Pacific and discovers the rocket, which terrified the natives, landed at the very top of a high mountain covered by fog. Although no one else seems interested in the rocket, Nolan decides everyone has to ascend to the mountain top immediately, even though they haven't got decent climbing shoes let alone any other standard equipment. In another bit of illogic, the oldest man on the team, Rostov, looks after the least athletic, Briggs (Whit Bissell), even though there are several younger, able-bodied men in the group. The interesting thing about Lost Continent is that the climbing scenes are quite well-done, and have some suspense, which dissipates for the most part the minute the men reach the top [where everything is bathed in a greenish tint] and some crudely animated stop-motion dinosaurs appear. These include a charging brontosaurus and two triceratops who get into a bloody battle. Hugh Beaumont (Michael Shayne, Leave it to Beaver), Sid Melton, and Chick Chandler are in the cast, as are Hillary Brooke and even Acquanetta, however briefly. The acting isn't bad and neither is the movie, all told. The movie with its plateau of monsters was obviously influenced by Doyle's The Lost World, filmed in the silent era and again in 1960.

Verdict: This could have used Ray Harryhausen FX, but it's still minor-league fun. ***.

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943). Director: Edward Dmytryk.

Universal attempted a new sort of monster in this, the first of three films to deal with Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman. Borrowing a concept from H. G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau, the film has a mad scientist, Dr. Sigmund Walters (the always-reliable John Carradine), manipulating glands and using his nurse's brain to turn a female gorilla, Cheela, into a human female whom he names Paula (Acquanetta, who has no lines). Paula has an uncanny power over wild animals, and is hired by the circus to work with lion tamer Fred Mason (Milburn Stone); most of the scenes of Mason working with lions and tigers are inserts of Stone in stock footage taken from Clyde Beatty features. Unfortunately, Paula develops a lust for Stone -- which brings out her animal instincts -- and tries to get rid of his girlfriend Beth (Evelyn Ankers); Cheela/Paula is able to cut through a person's spinal cord with her fingernails. This weird but oddly likable horror flick could have used twenty more minutes' running time, some more scenes showing Carradine working with the gorilla-turned-girl, and better character development. Still, it's quite entertaining. Ray "Crash" Corrigan plays Cheela the ape, Fay Helm is the ill-fated Nurse Strand, and Lloyd Corrigan is John Whipple, who owns the circus. Followed by Jungle Woman.

Verdict: A hoot! **1/2.

JUNGLE WOMAN

JUNGLE WOMAN (1944). Director: Reginald LeBorg.

Paula the Ape Woman is back! Apparently there was a spark of life left in her at the end of Captive Wild Woman, and the kindly Dr. Fletcher (J. Carrol Naish) was able to resuscitate her. The gorilla-girl sort of spontaneously turns back into the beautiful Acquanetta and, now human, becomes a patient in Fletcher's sanitarium. The story is told mostly in flashback during a session of coroner's court; there are also flashbacks taken from the first picture. For the first time ever, Paula opens her mouth and speaks -- excitedly -- when she spots Bob (Richard David), the boyfriend of Fletcher's daughter, Joan (Lois Collier). Sure enough, her hormones have kicked in gear again and she'll kill off anyone who gets between her and her chosen mate! Uh oh! Milburn Stone and Evelyn Ankers appear in the court scene, but have nothing to do with the new storyline. According to Stone's testimony, Cheela the gorilla was rumored to be a human being who had been turned into an ape via experiments, an intriguing notion (the opposite of what occurred in Captive Wild Woman) that isn't examined any further. Acquanetta effectively lopes around with a kind of gorilla's gait, and the other performances are competent; Naish is as wonderful as ever. A night time underwater attack on a canoe is well-handled, and the picture, while utterly illogical at times, has a certain amount of suspense. Followed by The Jungle Captive.

Verdict: Fun! Paula would want you to watch it. **1/2.