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| BACKGROUND |
| • Following Tarzan
and the Leopard Woman (1946) Weissmuller was finally
given a chance to broaden his acting career but only managed
to produce the mediocre Swamp
Fire (1946), which is mostly memorable for combining
two ex-Tarzans. It also featured Buster Crabbe (Tarzan
the Fearless - 1933). Weissmuller resigned himself
to doing what he did best and for what he was most loved for,
got himself back into shape and went back to the loincloth.
His next Tarzan picture was to be the best of the six
that he made at RKO. It used the time-tested formula of
greedy white hunters plundering the jungle and capturing animals
for zoos, which allowed the use of abundant stock wildlife footage,
a big hit with audiences at the time. It was filmed at
the usual RKO locales - the Arboretum for the jungle scenes
and the RKO Encino Ranch for the city scenes - and proved to
be a box office success. The high returns on the picture
only increased Weissmuller's discontent over his inability to
claim a cut of the overall receipts and he would retire from
the role after his film. (Essoe, Fury & St Andrews) Read
the full story at Geoff St Andrews' Tarzan
the Huntress page. |
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APE CRY
• To hear the ape cry used in this
film click on the image at right |
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| PLOT -
Note: Spoiler warning |
| • A group of animal trappers,
led by the attractive Tanya Rawlins (second from right in photo),
visit the jungles of Teronga and attempt to persuade King Farrod
to rescind the quotas he has placed on them. The kind
old king limits the visitors to catching only two of each species
so Farrod's corrupt nephew, Prince Ozira, conspires with
them and offers to lift the quota in return for a bounty. Ozira
arranges for an "accident" that results in the death
of the Farrod and leaves the king's son, Prince Suli (second
from left in photo), unconscious, believed to be dead. When
the trappers begin catching animals Tarzan frustrates them by
calling all of the animals to his protected side of the river.
Paul Weir, Tanya's surly head hunter (far left in photo),
ignores Tarzan's threats and crosses the river with his men
to begin trapping. Tarzan and Boy discover the injured
prince and decide it is time to tell the people of Terongo the
truth about their king's death. Tarzan tracks and kills
three of the hunters and calls his elephants to trample the
main camp. Weir is torn apart when he falls into a lion
pit but Tanya manages to escape in her plane. Prince Suli
takes his rightful place on the throne and the kingdom is restored
to peace. |
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| LOBBY
CARDS |
| Click on the image below
to see a complete set of lobby cards for this film: |
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SOURCES
• Tarzan of the Movies by Gabe Essoe, 1968, The Citadel Press
• Kings
of the Jungle by David Fury, 1994, McFarland Classics
• Johnny Weissmuller
(1904-1984) web site, by Geoff St Andrews
PHOTOS
• Both photos were donated by Geoff St Andrews. Thanks a million,
Geoff!
LYNX
• Read a review and rating of this film at At-A-Glance-Film-Reviews
CAPTURE
• Bag yourself a copy of this film on
DVD at Amazon.com
or eBay
- it is part of the The Tarzan Collection, Vol. 2 |
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TARZAN®
is the property of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Tarzana CA.
This independent, fan-based analysis of the Tarzan material is copyright
© 2002-2007 Paul Wickham
This page was updated October 2007
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