DEVIL GODDESS

Billy Griffith

DEVIL  GODDESS (1955). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennett.

In the last of the "Jungle Jim" movies -- or the last non-JJ movie, since star Johnny Weissmuller plays himself and not Jungle Jim, more or less -- our hero encounters Nora (Angela Stevens) who is accompanying her father, Professor Carl Blakely (Selmer Jackson) on a search for the missing Professor Dixon (Billy Griffith). Turns out Dixon has gone a little crazy and become the strange Fire God of the Mountain, but he is actually on a mission to get a tribe to give up the practice of human sacrifice. Sarabina (Vera Francis) is to be one of the sacrifices, and her lover Teinusi (Abel Fernandez) gets Johnny to help him save the gal. The natives are especially restless and the mountain is about to blow its top. Naturally there are bad white guys looking for treasure. One sequence is lifted straight from Savage Mutiny, the Jungle Jim feature which also starred Angela Stevens. The exciting fight between Weissmuller and a gorilla on a rope bridge was taken from Pygmy Island. The best scene in this has chimp Kimba and his simian buddies getting drunk! After this Weissmuller did Jungle Jim, the TV series, which lasted one season and twenty-six episodes. There is no actual "Devil Goddess" in the picture.

Verdict: Barely acceptable jungle adventure with familiar elements. **.

JUNGLE MOON MEN

Helene Stanton as High Priestess Oma

JUNGLE MOON MEN  (1955). Director: Charles S. Gould.

In this "Johnny Weissmuller" (formerly Jungle Jim) adventure, Johnny (Weissmuller, of course) encounters a lady anthropologist named Ellen (Jean Byron) and her boyfriend, Bob (William Henry of The Thin Man). Naturally there are bad guys afoot, personified by Myron  Healey as Mark Santo, leader of a group of men who are after some diamonds. Good guys and bad guys alike come afoul of a tribe of midget "moon men" (presumably they worship the moon) armed with poisonous blow darts. It develops that these moon men are the subjects of one Oma, (Helene Stanton), their beautiful High Priestess, who lives in a cavern with a not-so-hidden entrance -- along with diamonds and a host of ravenous lions. In the movie's best scene, Oma has virtually all of the characters tied up and left in a chamber where lions are going to be released to feed upon them. The cute chimp Kimba sort of comes to their rescue. Like something out of Lost Horizon, Oma is apparently centuries old and comes to an expected end. Helene Stanton's talent (aside from her sex appeal) is obvious even in this cheapie, and that same year she was seen to better advantage in the excellent Cornel Wilde thriller The Big Combo. Unfortunately, her movie career only lasted two more years. Unlike in the previous non-Jungle Jim film, Weissmuller's last name is used more than once.

Verdict: A variety of elements thrown together to make a fairly entertaining jungle "epic." **1/2.

JUNGLE MAN-EATERS

Karin Booth and Richard Wyler

JUNGLE MAN-EATERS (1954). Director: Lee Sholem.

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) learns that yet another new diamond field has been discovered, and he and others fear the precious gems could be smuggled out to "flood the diamond markets of the world." Jim also encounters the lady doctor, Bonnie Crandall (Karin Booth of Let's Do It Again), who's a cute trick; and Inspector Jeffrey Bernard (Richard Wyler aka Richard Stapley of The Strange Door), who's handsome -- the two do even more smooching than the romantic couple in the previous Jungle Jim picture, but again Weissmuller gets no action. Mssr. Leroux (Gregory Gaye) is a member of the diamond syndicate who hides his true, more nefarious, purposes. In a weird sequence, Prince Zuwaba (Bernie Hamilton), is told that his wife has given birth to a baby boy, but that the mother died. Everyone congratulates Zuwaba on the child, but no one expresses any condolences over the woman! (Zuwaba seems to get over it pretty fast in any case.) The pretty doctor gets along swimmingly with the Inspector, but generally finds the mischievous chimp Tamba to be too much of a pest; Tamba is typically adorable. There are burned villages, angry natives, and a climactic cliff fight between Jim and Leroux that ends as expected. Hamilton later appeared on the sixties Tarzan TV series, and had many credits, including The Devil at 4 O'clock. There are no actual man-eaters in the movie. Although three films remained in the series, this is the last picture in which Weissmuller is referred to, or actually plays, "Jungle Jim."

Verdict: Standard Jungle Jim adventure with some rather attractive players. **1/2.

CANNIBAL ATTACK

Weissmuller and Bruce in a sticky situation

CANNIBAL ATTACK (1954). Director: Lee Sholem.

"Although I've educated (my ward Luora) in European ways, there are times when her jungle blood asserts itself." -- John King.

Ostensibly the 14th entry in the "Jungle Jim" series, Cannibal Attack ushers in some changes. Johnny Weissmuller is simply referred to as "Johnny," and the big chimp Tamba has been replaced by the smaller chimp Kimba. Otherwise everything is the same, What happened is that Columbia temporarily lost the rights to the Jungle Jim character, so Weissmuller simply played" Johnny Weissmuller" for the remaining three films in the series.

In this entry, a man named John King (Steve Darrell) falls under the spell of his beautiful native, but educated, ward, Luora (Judy Walsh). Johnny (Weissmuller) and his cronies try to figure out who is behind recent attempts to steal some valuable cobalt, and he encounters a tribe called the Shendi, formerly cannibals, who wear crocodile skins on their back and skulk around like animals. At one point Johnny and King's brother, Arthur (David Bruce of Can't Help Singing) are tied to poles as a hungry crocodile advances on them with open jaws. There is no romantic couple in this entry aside from King and Luora, but the latter makes advances on Johnny, for nefarious purposes only. One exciting sequence shows several natives and white men on a boat falling into the midst of thrashing and voracious crocodiles. [This picture should have used the title of the previous film, Jungle Man-Eaters.] Judy Walsh is sexy and gives a good performance of the bad girl who wants to be Queen of the Jungle.

Verdict: Not bad "Johnny Weissmuller" adventure. **1/2.

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. ***.

VALLEY OF HEADHUNTERS

VALLEY OF HEADHUNTERS (1953). Director: William Berke.

"The jungle has boiled over into one of the ugliest messes I've ever seen." -- Lt. Barry.

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) attends the trial of nasty native M'Gono (Vince Townsend Jr.), but the latter gets off due to the skills of his lawyer, Arco (Robert Foulk). Arco has come up with a plan to turn the peaceful River Valley back into the "valley of the headhunters" by hiring men to raid villages and pretend to be headhunters. This way, Arco figures he will be free to get at the oil reserves in the valley. He also has women kidnapped to serve as slaves. Naturally, with the aid of Lt. Barry (Steven Ritch of The Werewolf) and Ellen Shaw (Christine Larson), as well as some friendly natives, Jungle Jim will rout Arco and his evil henchmen. Lots of smooching goes on in this movie between the lieutenant and Ellen, but poor Jungle Jim gets no lovin' at all, except maybe from Tamba, who in one funny sequence gets drunk on ether. Fair to middling Jungle Jim.

Verdict: Well, there's always Tamba. **.

KILLER APE

KILLER APE (1953). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.

"Fish that climb trees?"

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) and the natives have noticed that the crocodiles in the region have become strangely lethargic. Could it have something to do with experiments in secret caverns to create a drug that will enslave mankind? Evil scientists and nice natives alike are menaced by a hulking man-ape (Max Palmer) who lives in the area and keeps trying to carry off the feisty native girl, Shari (Carol Thurston), who at first has an antagonistic relationship with Jungle Jim. This film is fairly lively, and director Bennet keeps things moving. Others in the cast include Michael Fox as a medical officer, Nestor Paiva [Mr. Reckless] as the head bad guy, and Ray Corrigan [Undersea Kingdom], who for once is not playing a gorilla (after his start as a serial lead). By this time the chimp Tamba had taken over the Jungle Jim series in much the same way that Cheetah took over Weissmuller's Tarzan series. Tamba's antics are very funny, and at one point she leads a charge of dozens of maddened monkeys! At the end the chimp drives off in a car! Carol Thurston gives a good performance as Shari; she played Weissmuller's girlfriend in Swamp Fire.

Verdict: You can't beat those Man-apes! **1/2.

SAVAGE MUTINY

SAVAGE MUTINY (1953). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) is apprised of a government operation "X" that will take place on the island of Talunga. The natives of the island are to be temporarily relocated so that -- get this! -- atomic tests can be conducted to see how they affect the plant life. One supposes that the natives will be protected from dangerous radiation by inoculations given to them by the very pretty Joan Harris (Angela Stevens), who wears a tight skirt in the jungle and almost loses the serum she needs when some animals engage in warfare. Meanwhile some nefarious characters are hoping to maneuver the natives back to the island so they can be destroyed when the bomb drops and the U. S. government will be blamed. Savage Mutiny is gleefully clueless about atomic fall-out as people were back in those days, but it wouldn't be long before radiation would be blamed for everything from mutants to giant grasshoppers. The attractive and competent Angela Stevens mostly appeared in TV shows. Timba the chimp is as funny as ever, but Weissmuller is beginning to look a little weather-beaten despite his only being forty-nine.

Verdict: One of the duller Jungle Jim movies. *1/2.

VOODOO TIGER

VOODOO TIGER (1952). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) comes across a tribe of cannibals who sacrifice people to their tiger god. Phyllis Bruce (Jean Byron of Daddy-O) has come to Africa to study tigers, and meets up with Sgt. Bono (Rick Vallin) and Major Green (Robert Bray of Never Love a Stranger), the latter of whom is attracted to Phyllis and vice versa. Into their midst literally drops a plane load of chorus girls led by Shalimar (Jean Dean), whose act includes a tiger (that is also on the plane), and the ex-Nazi, Professor Schultz (Michael Fox of The Lost Planet). Then there is a gang of crooks who are hoping to find a cache of stolen paintings. But can any of them hope to get away from the hungry cannibals? Voodoo Tiger at least seems a little more involved and eventful than the average Jungle Jim entry, and this one is rather entertaining. Shalimar does a rather good and sexy dance to briefly appease the natives. Tamba the chimp has a lot to do and is wonderful.

Verdict: Fun with Jungle Jim  and Shalimar! **1/2.

TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS

Gustavo Rojo as Tico

TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS (1948). Director: Robert Florey.

Mara (Linda Christian) belongs to the race of Aquaticons, and is in love with Tico (Gustavo Rojo). Unfortunately, the high priest (George Zucco), who supposedly is the good right hand of their god Balu, has decreed that Mara must marry this masked, forbidding Balu. Mara quite sensibly dives into the ocean, and eventually makes her way to the territory where Jane (Brenda Joyce) and Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) make their home. When some of the Aquaticons forcibly carry Mara off in their canoe, Tarzan goes after her, getting involved with the island race and rescuing Mara. Tarzan and the Mermaids is the final Tarzan film to star Weissmuller -- he then moved over to the Jungle Jim series -- but he goes out on a high note. One could easily argue that the flick doesn't have the greatest plot, and that the danger and action seem reserved for the last ten minutes, but the movie is well-directed, well-paced, beautifully photographed by Jack Draper, and also boasts a flavorful score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Highlights include Tarzan's fight with a very big octopus, and a charming scene when the natives have a jousting contest with poles and boats. Linda Christian [Athena], who married Tyrone Power the following year, was "introduced" in this film, although she had had small roles in previous films. Uruguay actor Gustavo Rojo, who is still alive and still working on television in his nineties (!), later appeared in It Started with a Kiss and The Valley of Gwangi. John Laurenz plays the amiable, singing Benji, who brings mail to Tarzan and Jane from Boy, who is attending school in England. George Zucco hasn't nearly enough to do but he does it well. Director Florey invests the film with more style than the usual Tarzan feature, and it has excellent production values as well.

Verdict: A fitting farewell to Weissmuller's Ape Man. ***.

TARZAN AND THE HUNTRESS

Cheetah's pals

TARZAN AND THE HUNTRESS (1947). Director: Kurt Neumann.

"We really have to do something about Cheetah -- she's getting as vain as a peacock." -- Jane

Animal trainer Tanya Rawlins (Patricia Morison of The Fallen Sparrow) comes to Africa with boyfriend Carl Marley (Jack Warburton), and hooks up with gruff Paul Weir (Barton MacLane of Cry of the Werewolf) for help. Tanya importunes King Farrod (Charles Trowbridge of The Fatal Hour) to allow them to take many animals out of the jungle, but the king says they can only take a pair of each species. A bigger problem for the king is that his evil nephew, Ozira (Ted Hecht), is plotting against him. A bigger problem for Tanya is that Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) is mightily opposed to anyone caging his animals and takes decided action with the help of Boy (Johnny Sheffield) and Jane (Brenda Joyce). Desirous of a compact owned by Tanya, Cheetah, unfortunately, winds up playing into the hunters' hands, for shame. Boy also does the wrong thing by taking two bear cubs from their mother in exchange for a flashlight he covets. Tarzan and the Huntress is the penultimate Tarzan/Weissmuller film, and it's one of the better of the latter "B" movie entries, with plenty of, at times, bloodthirsty action and a very fast pace. Cheetah gets a large share of the screen time, and has a funny encounter with bees -- the finale with the chimp parachuting out of an airplane is priceless. As usual, we've got a lot of elephants going on the rampage. Maurice Tauzin plays Prince Suli, the son of the king. Paul Sawtell's musical score is a decided asset. This was Sheffield's last appearance as Boy.

Verdict: Exciting and amusing Tarzan adventure. ***.

JUNGLE MANHUNT

Sheila Ryan and Bob Waterfield

JUNGLE MANHUNT (1951). Director: Lew Landers.

Photojournalist Anne Lawrence (Sheila Ryan) has come to Africa to search for Bob Miller (Bob Waterfield), a former war hero and football player who vanished into the jungle 9 years before. Miller seems to enjoy playing, as Ann puts it, "Great White God" to the natives, but he seems much more benign than certain "skeleton men" -- wearing black uniforms with skeletons painted on them -- who are decimating villages and enslaving many of the natives. Dr. Heller (Lyle Talbot) has cooked up a scheme to mine radioactive igneous rock that can be turned into valuable industrial diamonds. This is one of the better Jungle Jim adventures, with our hero (Johnny Weissmuller) leading Anne and Bob into isolated territory where they encounter a 100 foot lizard that battles a "sailback" crocodile in stock footage, not all of which seems to have come from One Million B.C. Bob Waterfield was a hunky former quarterback who was married to his high school sweetheart, the famous Jane Russell, for twenty-five years. Although he has an appealing personality in this, good looks and a fine physique seemed to be his chief assets and he only appeared in three films; Jungle Manhunt is the only one in which he actually played a character -- he later became head coach for the Los Angeles Rams. Sheila Ryan [Hideout] is a welcome and perky presence in the movie, and Lyle Talbot [The Vigilante], who gets a great death scene, gives a better performance than usual. Rick Vallin, cast again as a native, spends much of his time dealing with chimp Timba. At one point he seems a bit exasperated with his or her antics but on other occasions he certainly acts like he's charmed by the scene-stealing ape, who gets a lot of footage. The shark vs octopus stock footage that we see in so many movies also reappears in this one.

Verdict: 100 foot lizards, pretty gals and football players -- all in one movie! ***.

SWAMP FIRE

SWAMP FIRE (1946). Director: William H. Pine.

The teaming of Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe as adversaries who come to blows is the chief selling point of this pot-boiler. Although Weissmuller is top-billed, probably because of his Tarzan films, the main character is actually played by Crabbe. Mike Kalavich (Crabbe) returns from  the war and back to the Louisiana bayou, where a lack of confidence interferes with his ability as a pilot to safely guide ships through the Mississippi river. People think he's lost his nerve when he makes a decision that costs him his cargo, but not human lives. Meanwhile Johnny Duval (Weissmuller) returns from combat duty to his home on the Delta and eventually comes into conflict with Mike. Mike, who joins the Coast Guard, is involved with Toni (Carol Thurston) but a spoiled heiress named Janet (Virginia Grey) has set her cap for Mike; she and Toni have a lively bitch-slap session and a hair-pulling match that is probably the highlight of the picture. Crabbe isn't bad in this, but as expected, the best performance comes from the always-vital Virginia Grey [Another Thin Man] . Pierre Watkin is also in the cast as Grey's father, but then Watkin seems to have been in virtually every other movie ever made and is competent but little else in all of them. Weissmuller and Crabbe also appeared together in the "Jungle Jim" film, Captive Girl.

Verdict: Two Tarzans and Olympic swimming champs face off but the results are less than spectacular. **1/2.

TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE

The amazing Cheetah

TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE (1942). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Hunter Buck Rand (Charles Bickford of Anna Christie) and his associates Jimmie (Paul Kelly of Zeigfeld Girl) and Manchester (Chill Wills) are in the Congo trying to capture lions for a circus. Naturally Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) objects to this, but Boy (Johnny Sheffield) is fascinated by their plane. Buck is fascinated himself when he observes how Boy can make a pack of elephants do whatever he wishes. After it appears that Tarzan and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) have been killed in a fire, Buck takes Boy back to New York with him. But when Tarzan finds out his son is gone ... Tarzan's New York Adventure is a very entertaining Tarzan film even though it goes far, far afield from Edgar Rice Burroughs' original conception. In this film Tarzan is so stupid that he takes a shower before taking off his one good suit (which dries off in miraculous time). In the novels, Tarzan had his savage side when it was called for, but he wasn't a monosyllabic and unsophisticated dummy. The stupidest moment in this movie occurs when Tarzan gives out with his famous yell and Jane says" Good heavens -- what's that?" even though she's heard it hundreds of times. Burroughs gave Tarzan and Jane a biological son who was named Jack, and later became known as "Korak" -- the boy in this movie is an orphan. Despite all this, the movie is a lot of fun. Cheetah has so much to do in the movie that it could almost be re-titled Cheetah's New York Adventure; you certainly hear her cackle that fabricated hyena laugh often enough. The chimp's special moments include her encounter with a water cooler, and her putting a trio of elephants through their paces as if she were an orchestra leader. The pachyderms are also amazing as Boy has them put on a show for the trio from New York. The actors in this are all good, with an uncredited Mantan Moreland having a couple of good moments reacting to Cheetah on the other end of the telephone. Virginia Grey is also fine as a nightclub singer who helps Tarzan and his mate find Boy. Cy Kendall, fatter than ever, plays the head of the circus. Sidney Wagner's photography, especially those striking shots of New York, is outstanding. This was O'Sullivan's last appearance as Jane, but Weissmuller and Sheffield had a few more pictures to go. Followed by Tarzan Triumphs.

Verdict: Highly improbable but also highly enjoyable Tarzan movie. ***.

TARZAN AND HIS PALS

Cheetah and girlfriend -- or is it the other way around? 

TARZAN AND HIS PALS.

This week we look at some more movies featuring not just Tarzan, but other jungle adventurers such as Bomba and Jungle Jim. We've got several Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films, as well as some with Lex Barker, Gordon Scott, and Mike Henry playing the role. When Johnny Weissmuller andd Johnny Sheffield, who played Boy, got too old for their roles, they each got their own series, Jungle Jim (with Weissmuller) for Columbia and Bomba, the Jungle Boy (with Sheffield) for Monogram. These comparatively cheap series ran concurrently with the Lex Barker and Jock Mahoney Tarzan's, and there were quite a few entries in each series.

Weissmuller's interpretation of the role did not especially match the character as originally described in Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan of the Apes. Gradually, the character began to display the intelligence and sophistication that went along with Tarzan's undeniable savagery. After awhile, the more savage aspects of the character were pretty much dropped altogether.

As for the Tarzan series, which had a great many installments, it wasn't long before Cheetah (or Cheeta or Cheta), whose sex kept changing, became the true star of the series, especially in the later Weissmuller features.

NOTE: As I've done a double-load of posts this week, Great Old Movies may take a vacation along with me next week.

TARZAN AND HIS MATE

Cheeta gives Tarzan a kiss

TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934). Director: Cedric Gibbons.

In  this first sequel to Tarzan the Ape Man, Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton), who is still in love with Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) returns to Africa to try to get her back, as well as to get some ivory. His slimy friend, Martin (Paul Cavanagh), is broke and after ivory as well, and has no moral values whatsoever. Harry wants Jane to importune Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) to take the men to the elephants' graveyard -- which Holt was trying to find in Tarzan the Ape Man - but Tarzan won't allow the place to be desecrated -- besides, Jane's father is also buried there. Then there is an angry tribe of nasty natives who go after the party and kill many of their number after first murdering two rival ivory hunters, whose corpses are left to rot, hanging from trees and covered with crawling insects. Tarzan and His Mate is essentially a retread of the first, more interesting picture, but it is also intense and violent, and has several good scenes: Tarzan battling a truly humongous crocodile; Jane taking a sensual nude swim with Tarzan (in his loincloth); and a climactic attack by a pride of hungry lions. The original Cheeta, who appears almost man-sized, dies in the film and is replaced by a new, smaller Cheeta, who at one point, in the movie's funniest scene, rides on the back of an ostrich! Considering some of his actions, Martin's death isn't nearly horrible enough. The performances are adequate, with Cavanagh [Son of Dr. Jekyll] having the edge. Cedric Gibbons was originally an Oscar-winning art director [Mad Love] and reportedly Jack Conway and others worked on this film uncredited. Gibbons only directed this one film.

Verdict: For heaven's sake -- stay away from the elephant's graveyard. Nothing good ever comes of it! **1/2.

TARZAN ESCAPES

Love story: Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan

TARZAN ESCAPES (1936). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Rita Parker (Benita Hume of Suzy) and her brother, Eric (William Henry of The Thin Man), come to Africa to see if they can importune their cousin, Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), to come back with them to London, citing a complicated will that needs her attention. Rita and Eric hire Captain Fry (John Buckler) to take them into the dangerous territory where Jane resides with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), but he turns out to be an evil character who has sinister ulterior motives. Warned to watch out for the tribe of Bogonis, the group discover that an even more savage tribe is intent on killing everyone. For much of its length Tarzan Escapes is more of a cuddly domestic romance detailing Jane's idyllic life with her lover, Tarzan, but in the final quarter there is plenty of action. Reportedly Tarzan Escapes was considered too gruesome in its original form to be released and there was lots of re-shooting. When Jane and Tarzan take a swim as they did in Tarzan and His Mate, Jane now wears clothing. Although some bat monsters have been edited out of the film, there is a disturbing scene when one poor native is tied to two trees and then drawn and quartered, which is made clear if not graphically depicted (which makes one wonder what the 1936 censors thought of as "gruesome.") Late in the picture the group must escape through a cave that is filled with lakes of lava and gator-sized lizard monsters. One of the most interesting characters is Rawlins (Herbert Mundin of Charlie Chan's Secret),  whose first sight of Tarzan has him falling in a faint, although the two eventually become buddies. Rawlins later shows his bravery in trying to save the Ape Man's life, and pays a sad price for it. Of course, all of the victims, black or white, are forgotten by the end of the movie. O'Sullivan and Weissmuller make the most of their rather sensual romantic sequences, which are quite well-acted, and the other performances are all adroit. A scene with Tarzan killing a giant crocodile is lifted almost entirely from Tarzan and His Mate. In this picture, our favorite chimp -- now spelled "Cheetah" -- is female. Cheetah mischievously -- or bitchily -- places a little doe on a log and sets the animal adrift, necessitating Tarzan's rescuing the deer from said crocodile.

I wondered why I wasn't more familiar with John Buckler, who is quite good as the nasty Captain Fry, and discovered -- as is, sadly, often the case -- that Buckler died at age thirty after finishing this picture. He and his father, Hugh Buckler, also an actor, were in a car that skidded into the water in Malibu Lake, CA. Both drowned.

Verdict: Absorbing Tarzan epic. ***.

TARZAN FINDS A SON!

John Sheffield and Johnny Weissmuller

TARZAN FINDS A SON! (1939). Director: Richard Thorpe.

A young couple (Laraine Day; Morton Lowry) are killed in a plane crash in Africa but their infant son survives, and is in essence adopted by Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), who simply call him "Boy" (John/Johnny Sheffield). Greedy relatives August Lancing (Ian Hunter of The Sisters) and his wife (Freida Inescort), along with their Uncle Thomas (Henry Stephenson of Red-Headed Woman), and guide Sande (Henry Wilcoxon of Cleopatra), come to the Dark Continent to see if they can find any trace of the family, with the Lancings, of course, hoping they don't, for reasons to do with inheritances. Meeting Boy, Thomas suspects the truth, and Jane and Tarzan argue about whether or not to let Boy go back to claim his heritage. But August Lancing's duplicitous and evil mind, as well as a deadly native tribe called the Zembeles, may make it all moot. Tarzan Finds a Son! is a very entertaining Tarzan adventure, with very good performances from all, including a charming Sheffield, and many exciting scenes. There are more wild life shots than usual, as well as some excellent underwater sequences, especially one in which Tarzan and Boy go swimming with a baby elephant. Tarzan has a struggle with a kind of boar-hippo creature that nearly tramples Boy at one point. The Zembeles, who figure in the climax, don't just shrink heads, but entire bodies, in a process that isn't clearly delineated but seems rather frightful. Jane refers to Tarzan as her husband for, I believe, the first time. The movie has hardly any music, which would have added to its already considerable appeal.

Verdict: One of the better Tarzan adventures. ***.

TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE

Weissmuller and O'Sullivan

TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (1941). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) are leading an idyllic life above their escarpment in Africa, when along comes Professor Elliott (Reginald Owen of The Letter) and party. Elliott is a scientist looking for the Van-Usi tribe, and he is accompanied by photographer O'Doul (Barry Fitzgerald of And Then There Were None), and the guides Medford (Tom Conway) and Vandemeer (Philip Dorn of Underground). Unfortunately, the latter two prove up to no good as Boy shows them a piece of gold and tells the others that Tarzan knows where there is a rich vein of it. After some melodramatic moments, everyone comes afoul of some natives intent on murder. Tarzan's Secret Treasure is a kind of schizoid movie, beginning with the silly if charming antics of Cheeta and her "friend," Buli, the elephant, as well as the childish if cute scamperings of Boy, but it veers off into something much darker in the second half. The scene when a native is torn in half in Tarzan Escapes is repeated -- one way of getting around the censors as well as of saving money -- and when a second native is similarly killed in new footage, we aren't shown the trunks heading in separate directions, possibly another sop to the censors. There are several shots of natives being chewed on by crocodiles, and the sequence wherein Tarzan battles a giant croc underwater is repeated for a second time. There isn't much that is original in the picture, aside from a little native boy named Tumbo (Cordell Hickman) who has lost his mother and becomes friends with Boy in the film's most charming sequence. Jane was to have been killed off at the end of Tarzan Finds a Son! because she was tiring of the series -- we do see her being speared in the back at the end of that film -- but the public outcry necessitated her return. Although O'Sullivan was never a great beauty per se, she has never looked more attractive than she does in this movie. She gives a very good performance, as do the others in the cast, including little Hickman.

Verdict: Still some life left in the series. **1/2.

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.