TARZAN'S REVENGE

Glenn Morris and pal

TARZAN'S REVENGE (1938). Director: D. Ross Lederman.

Roger Reed (George Barbier of The Man Who Came to Dinner), his daughter Eleanor (Eleanor Holm), and her fiance, Nevin (George Meeker of Omoo-Omoo The Shark God), are in Africa to capture specimens for zoos. Along the way Eleanor offends nasty potentate, Ben Alleu Bey (C. Henry Gordon of Thirteen Women), who has her kidnapped for his harem. Tarzan (Glenn Morris) isn't crazy about animals being caged up and is even less crazy that his crush, Eleanor, has been captured by natives under the direction of Bey. Then there's the fact that the jealous and creepy Nevin has his own dastardly plans for the Ape Man. Tarzan's Revenge was 20th Century-Fox's answer to MGM's Tarzan films with Johnny Weissmuller, but this film, in addition to having lower production values, is much, much less entertaining, with slow pacing and a weak story line that hardly gives our hero any action. On the plus side, there is plenty of "local" color and a surprisingly elaborate Arabic city that may have been borrowed from an earlier picture. Olympic champion Glenn Morris speaks not one word as Tarzan -- although he does give out with a credible "yell" --  but he is appealing, unconventionally handsome, and plays a child-like version of the Ape Man. Scandalous Olympic swimming star Eleanor Holm exhibits genuine acting ability as the equally appealing, feisty, and likable Eleanor -- she and Tarzan meet cute when he pulls her out of a muddy river and winds up dumping her back in. The two have a sexy underwater swim later on. Morris and Holm both got such bad reviews (as did the film) that neither ever made another movie. Others in the cast include Joe Sawyer, and Hedda Hopper, who is little more than irritating as Eleanor's ever-complaining mother. A nice upbeat ending and a pleasant score by Hugo Riesenfeld.

Verdict: Lesser Tarzan produced by Sol Lesser. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE WAX MUSEUM

Victor Sen Yung and Sidney Toler

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE WAX MUSEUM (1940). Director: Lynn Shores.

Convicted criminal Steve McBirney (Marc Lawrence of Jigsaw) manages to escape from the court room, where he makes his way to a wax museum run by crazy Dr. Cream (C. Henry Gordon). With plans to dispose of him, Cream invites Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) to participate in a radio program of unsolved cases wherein Chan and Dr. Von Brom (Michael Visaroff) will try to determine if a man named Rocke was wrongly executed years ago. Naturally the program is to be broadcast from the wax museum, where son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung), who faints more than once, keeps confusing his real father with the wax duplicate. Then someone turns up dead, killed by a poison dart. Suspects, besides McBirney and Cream, include reporter Mary Bolton (Marguerite Chapman of Man Bait); lawyer Carter Lane (Archie Twitchell); old caretaker Willie (Charles Wagenheim of Meet Boston Blackie); engineer Edwards (Harold Goodwin); radio man Agnew (Ted Osborne); Lily Lattimer (Joan Valerie); and the creepy Mrs. Rocke (Hilda Vaughn). This is an entertaining but somewhat oddball Charlie Chan movie with confusing elements that don't quite jell, and the fact that most of it takes place in one closed-in setting doesn't help much, either. Still, it's fun.

Verdict: Charlie and Jimmy among the cobwebs. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPICS

Warner Oland and C. Henry Gordon

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPICS (1937). Director: H. Bruce Humberstone.

Edwards (David S. Horsley) is piloting a plane that can also fly with a new remote control device, when he takes off for parts unknown. He is later found murdered -- the question is: who killed him, where is the device, who stole it, and who do they intend to sell it to? Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) tries to find the answers to these questions while in Berlin for the Olympics, where Number One Son Lee (Keye Luke) is entered in the swimming competition. Characters embroiled in this mystery include fellow competitor Betty (Pauline Moore); her boyfriend Richard (Allan Lane of King of the Mounties); slinky Yvonne Roland (Katherine DeMille), who sports a much-remarked-upon white fox fur and seems to have a hankering for Richard; Inspector Strasser (Frederick Vogeding), who wishes to demonstrate German efficiency; Cartwright (John Eldredge), who invented the stolen device; filibuster Arthur Hughes (C. Henry Gordon of Thirteen Women), who wants to buy said device; and Hopkins (Jonathan Hale of Strangers on a Train), who also has a vested interest in the proceedings. While not necessarily one of the better Chan films this installment especially serves as a kind of time capsule as it takes place at the historic pre-war Olympics and at one point Chan even travels on the Hindenburg. The acting is good, with Gordon being especially vivid. DeMille -- a Linda Darnell sound-alike -- was the adopted daughter of Cecil DeMille and was married to Anthony Quinn. At one point Lee Chan gets kidnapped; his younger brother, Charlie Chan Jr. [Number Two Son] also appears and is very well played by charming child actor Layne Tom Jr. (He later played both Tommy and Willie Chan.) Charlie Chan at the Olympics is interesting in that it plays around with exactly who the bad guys and good guys are throughout the movie.

Verdict: Interesting Chan entry. **1/2.