Volume two of the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies have finally been released on
DVD, and while these final six films don’t have the divine Maureen O’Sullivan as
Jane,
they’re still a must have for fans of Edgar Rice Burrough’s classic jungle hero.
We start with Tarzan Triumphs, which was released in 1943, at the height of the
Second World War. Jane is away in England, helping the war effort there against
the Nazis, while Tarzan seems content to ignore the rest of the world and hang
out in the jungle with Boy (Johnny Sheffield). But Boy is out looking for some
adventure with Cheetah when he spots a hidden city in a valley below him.
Climbing down the side of a cliff, Boy gets into trouble when he is rescued by
Zandra (Frances Gifford), only to become trapped herself on a ledge with Boy.
Cheetah manages to get help from Tarzan, who’s back from a trip to get the mail
from Jane. Zandra turns out to be from the hidden city of Palandria.
Although Tarzan wants nothing to do with Nazis, the war hits home for him when a
unit of German paratroopers drop in and try to seize Palandria (for a "lost city"
everybody and his brother seems to know where it is!). Tarzan Triumphs never
feels like it’s really going anywhere--because, for the better part of the
film’s running time, Boy and Zandra try to convince Tarzan that the Nazis are a
major threat that he should fight. The movie lags badly because of this, and
Zandra is a pretty poor replacement for Jane. In Tarzan's Desert Mystery, Tarzan
and Boy set out on a quest for a special fever medicine that Jane requested in
one of her letters. She’s now working as a nurse for soldiers fighting in the
jungle, and the fever medicine would be a big help for the troops. Yet it can
only be found near the desert region of North Africa, where Tarzan, Boy and
Cheetah meet a hustler/magician named Connie (Nancy Kelly), whom they think
they’re rescuing, when she was simply performing her magic act for some of the
local boys.
If only they could have rescued us from this lame movie! This film basically has
the same problem as Tarzan’s New York Adventure, in that it’s not a good idea to
take the Lord Of The Jungle out of the jungle in the first place. Plus, as in
Tarzan Triumphs, it doesn’t really feel like a Tarzan film without Jane. In
Tarzan And The Amazons, Tarzan must deal with yet another lost city, Palmyria,
the home of the legendary Amazon women. Tarzan comes to the aid of an Amazonian
woman who is being stalked in the jungles and returns her to her lost
city--while still keeping it secret even from Boy--but not before Cheetah
manages to rip off the Amazon’s bracelet. Later, when they meet up with Jane,
who’s back home from the war, the bracelet catches the eye of a group of
archeologists. Uh-oh, looks like somebody’s gong to make another forbidden
expedition into the jungle! Brenda Joyce replaced Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane,
and while she lacks O’Sullivan’s charisma, Joyce was still a good choice as a
replacement. In sharp contrast to O'Sullivan's Jane, Joyce's Jane is more of a
sidekick to Tarzan, rather than being his equal. Tarzan And The Amazons returns to the
high jungle adventure that makes this series so much fun, and which also plays
to the strengths of the Jungle Lord. But it’s still not the best film in this
set. That honor belongs to Tarzan And The Leopard Woman, where Tarzan, Jane and
Boy find themselves up against a dangerous cult that worships a leopard god.
In Tarzan And The Huntress, Tarzan and the gang go visit the good King Farrod, a
close friend, on the King’s birthday. At the same time, a hunting expedition
looking to fill North American zoos with animals also arrives in the jungle. Yet
they are stymied by quotas and restrictions, imposed by King Farrod, on what
they can hunt. The expedition, one of whose leaders is the fetching Tanya
Rawlings, relies heavily on native to help them trap the animals, so they have
no choice but to play by the rules--until Paul Weir, one of Tanya’s cohorts,
cuts a shady deal with King Farrod’s nephew, and you just know trouble is
brewing. After the chills and thrills of Leopard Woman, this adventure feels a little more mundane, yet
it’s still a good, sturdy story that’s well-told. Actor Barton MacLane, who
plays Weir, also played Ballister in Tarzan And The Amazons. This would be
Johnny Sheffield’s last movie as Boy. He would star in the Bomba The Jungle Boy
series of films before retiring completely from show business.
There are no real mermaids in Tarzan And The Mermaids, Johnny Weissmuller’s last
film as Tarzan. The "mermaid" of the title refers to Mara (Linda Christian), a
woman whom Tarzan literally fishes out of the water. She’s on the run from her
people, the Aquaticans, who live on an island offshore and who worship a living
god known as Balu. When Mara is chosen to be the bride of Balu, she pulls a
runaway bride routine, searching the jungles for her true love, who had been
banished some time ago. Of course, Tarzan takes up her cause and gets to the
bottom of things. Mermaids benefits greatly from location shooting in Acapulco,
Mexico, which adds an exotic look to the production. One thing I could have done
without was Benji the singing mailman, who breaks into an annoying song every
five minutes. Although this was Weissmuller’s last film as Tarzan, Brenda Joyce
would play Jane in one more film, in Tarzan’s Magic Fountain--opposite Lex
Barker as Tarzan--before retiring from films. Often corny, the Tarzan films are
still a lot of fun to watch. And the series was not without it’s flashes of
brilliance, such as Tarzan And His Mate in the first box set, and Tarzan And The
Leopard Woman here. So if you’re looking for some fun, then grab a vine and take
a swing through the jungle.
--SF
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