TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL - 1953
NEXT
Director Kurt Neumann
Producer Sol Lesser
Associate Producer Lloyd Richards
Screenplay Karl Kamb & Carroll Young
MAIN CAST
Tarzan Lex Barker
Jane Joyce MacKenzie
Vargo Raymond Burr
Lyra Monique Van Vooren
Fidel Tom Conway
M'Tara Henry Gordon
Lavar Michael Grainger
Maka Robert Brice
BACKGROUND
• In the fifteen months since Tarzan's Savage Fury Sol Lesser had cemented a deal with ERB Inc which stated that he would pay Burroughs ten percent of the box office instead of the flat fee of $100,000 per year for film rights.  In return Lesser's film rights were extended for another 20 years.  The other significant occurrence was Lex Barker's notification of his intention to quit the role after the next picture.  Barker, keen to expand his career, told Lesser he was only prepared to sign one picture contracts.  The producer's numerous commitments prevented him from taking one-picture risks and Barker was released.  Barker's fifth Jane in five pictures (he also changed wives as many times in real life) was 29-year-old Joyce MacKenzie who was given some rough and tumble scenes for a change.  The "she-devil" of the title was a cold-blooded ivory poaching profiteer named Lyra, played by Monique Van Vooren, a Belgian actress who appeared in Andy Warhol's Flesh for Frankenstein in 1973.  Her menacing associate, Vargo, was played by Raymond Burr, most famous as TV's Perry Mason and Ironside in the 1960s. (Essoe & Fury)
APE CRY
• Click on the image at right to hear the ape cry used in this film
PLOT - Note: Spoiler warning
• Tarzan takes on a band of greedy ivory hunters who have enslaved the men of the Lykopo tribe to round up a huge herd of 100 bull elephants.  The female employer of the poachers, Lyra, sends her men to kidnap Jane as insurance against Tarzan's interference but the job is bungled and the tree house is burned down.  Tarzan, believing Jane dead becomes deeply despondent and is easily captured by Lyra's brutal henchman, Vargo, and his cronies.  Jane has escaped the fire and Lyra and her men find her wandering in the jungle searching for Tarzan.  When they take Jane to see Tarzan he throws off his despair and is ecstatic to find his beloved alive and safe.  The joy is short-lived when Lyra threatens to kill Jane if Tarzan refuses to help herd the elephants into the stockade the Lykopos have built.  Tarzan calls the elephants with his ape-cry but at the last minute he and the Lykopos close the gates of the stockade from within forcing the elephants to trample the camp.  Lyra, Vargo and their men are trampled to death, the elephants are safe again, the Lykopos are liberated, and Tarzan and Jane are together again.
 
MOVING PICTURES
Click on the image below to see the trailer for this film:
 
LOBBY CARDS
Click on the image below to see a complete set of lobby cards for this film:
 
SOURCES
• Tarzan of the Movies by Gabe Essoe, 1968, The Citadel Press
• Kings of the Jungle by David Fury, 1994, McFarland Classics
IMAGES
• The poster for this film, and both photos, were pilfered from eBay auction items
• The video clip of the trailer for this film was uploaded to Youtube by me specifically to embed in this page
LYNX
• Read a review and rating of this film at At-A-Glance Film Reviews
CAPTURE
• This film has never been released commercially but collectors sometimes offer it on DVD on eBay
TARZAN® is the property of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Tarzana CA.
This independent, nonprofit, fan-based analysis of the Tarzan material is copyright © 2002-2008 Paul Wickham
This page was updated January 2008