Tarzan's Greatest Adventure

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure
Directed by John Guillermin
Produced by Sy Weintraub
Harvey Hayutin
Written by Les Crutchfield
Based on Characters created
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Starring Gordon Scott
Anthony Quayle
Sara Shane
Sean Connery
Al Mulock
Scilla Gabel
Niall MacGinnis
Music by Douglas Gamley
Cinematography Ted Scaife
Edited by Bert Rule
Production
company
Solar Films
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • July 8, 1959 (1959-07-08) (New York City)
Running time
 88 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1 million (est. US/Canada rentals)[1]

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure is a 1959 Eastmancolor adventure film directed by John Guillermin, produced by Sy Weintraub and Harvey Hayutin, and written by Les Crutchfield, based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. With a strong supporting cast that included Anthony Quayle and Sean Connery, and a focus on action and suspense, the film won critical praise as a Tarzan film that appealed to adults as well as children.

The film features a literate Tarzan portrayed by Gordon Scott. The character of Jane, Tarzan's wife, does not appear and is not mentioned. At one point, Tarzan briefly romances a female character, suggesting that he is a loner, not a family man. Cheeta, Tarzan's chimp companion in many films, appears only a few times near the start of the film, and the kind of comic relief that Cheeta represents is generally absent from the film.[2]

Plot

During the night, the village Mantu is raided for its supply of dynamite by what appear to be black Africans. The village doctor and radio operator interrupt the robbery and are fatally shot. Before dying, the radio operator gasps, "Slade" over the shortwave radio.

The next morning, Tarzan is awakened by African drums that alert him to something wrong. He arrives at Mantu, where a funeral is held for the fallen villagers. British police inspector Colonel Sundley informs Tarzan of the previous raid and that root dye was found. This leads Tarzan to believe that the robbers were "white men painted black" (rather than black Africans). Tarzan then meets Angie: A self-absorbed American model and pilot. Tarzan knows her manager, "Sanchez", and immediately dislikes her similar cavalier manner. But, Angie does tell him that she overheard the name "Slade" on her airplane radio. Tarzan remembers "Slade" as "a man with a passion to kill": A ruthless criminal who once sacrificed three men rather than lose the hunt for a prized rogue elephant.

After dropping off pet chimpanzee Cheeta at his tree-house, Tarzan heads up river by canoe to catch Slade and his gang. Along the way, Tarzan sees Angie's plane. She taunts him with low flyovers. But, her Cesna engine stalls, and Angie crashes into the river. Tarzan saves her from a crocodile, but can't leave her stranded. So, he continues the hunt (with Angie alongside).

Meanwhile, Slade and his quartet of thieves (consisting of the sullen ex-con Dino, drunkard O'Bannion, implied ex-Nazi Kruger, and Slade's Italian girlfriend Toni) continue by riverboat towards what is revealed to be a secret diamond mine. The dynamite was stolen for excavating the gems. But as their riverboat malfunctions, the thieves begin to quarrel among themselves, allowing Tarzan and Angie to catch up. O'Bannion's teases Dino to the point of Dino trying to kill him. But during the chase, Dino stumbles into quicksand and drowns. The criminals suddenly find their boat riddled with arrows, a signal that Tarzan has tracked them down. Slade and O'Bannion disembark, while Kruger hurls a dynamite counterattack that injures Tarzan. Tarzan manages to kill O'Bannion, but Slade closes in. With Slade gone, Kruger believes he can coerce Toni into telling him where the diamond mine is and tries to eliminate Slade. Slade survives Kruger's attempt, pummels him into submission, and continues with Toni towards the mine.

Tarzan's injuries require Angie to mature, as she comforts him and then risks her life to steal medical supplies from Slade's anchored boat. Angie is captured by Slade and quickly recognized as Tarzan's ally. Slade hopes to use her to lure Tarzan into a trap and twines an elaborate wire noose and lays a trap door pit for him to fall into. With Slade absent, Kruger sees another chance for betrayal. He frees Angie and tells her to inform Tarzan where they are. Toni overhears Kruger and flees to warn Slade. But in the process, she accidentally falls through the trap door pit (meant for Tarzan) to her death. Kruger convinces Slade that Toni was frightened by a passing lion; so, the men continue toward the diamond mine. Once inside, Kruger confirms that it is a mother lode. But, Slade is more interested in killing Tarzan than in diamonds. Fearing that he will lose the fortune, Kruger builds the courage to fight Slade. But, he is no match and is kicked into one of the mine shafts and his death, leaving Slade and a showdown with Tarzan.

Tarzan is nursed back to health by Angie, and changes his attitude towards her. So much so that the two engage in off-screen romance. But afterwards, Tarzan returns to his obsession with capturing Slade, much to the displeasure of Angie. "Why don't you just leave him to the jungle?" she argues. But Tarzan explains, "this is where I belong", and that to allow Slade to escape would endanger everyone. He thanks Angie for her help, then grabs a vine, and swings into the final confrontation with Slade.

Perched high atop a river bluff, Slade fires rifle shots that intentionally miss Tarzan, allowing his enemy to scale the sheer bluff instead (for the melee both men long for). Once there, Slade gets the upper hand, by lassoing Tarzan with his wire noose. But, Tarzan's superior strength and endurance overpower Slade. Tarzan finally pushes him over the edge of the cliff and to his death on shallow river rocks below.

Tarzan bellows his famous yell, runs to a pool, and gazes upon his reflection triumphantly. The sound of Slade's riverboat distracts Tarzan. He hurries to the cliff again, only this time to see Angie below, steering the boat back to Mantu. Tarzan hesitates, thinking of joining her. But he looks back at the jungle, realizing that it's where he belongs, and returns instead to his tree-house and Cheeta.

Cast

Production notes

"Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" presented a grittier, more realistic Tarzan. A loner who could be as savage as his opponents, but could also speak eloquently and politely to allies. Tarzan was also made vulnerable and not as invincible as previous incarnations. And although shot on location in Africa, stock safari footage was used to particularly portray wild animal attacks.

This vision of Tarzan, by Producer Sy Weintraub, hearalded a new direction for the character and the series. He became more like the original Edgar Rice Burroughs creation (that is, articulate and intuitive) and even occasionally traveled abroad to make other wilderness regions safe (as in Tarzan Goes to India and Tarzan and the valley of gold).

Gordon Scott, star of "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure", stayed for one more film, Tarzan the Magnificent, before being replaced by Jock Mahoney and ex-football player Mike Henry.

References

  1. ↑ "1959: Probable Domestic Take", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
  2. ↑ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:..Tarzan's Greatest Adventure Retrieved March 13, 2016
  • Essoe, Gabe, Tarzan of the Movies, 1968, The Citadel Press
  • Fury, David, Kings of the jungle : an illustrated reference to "Tarzan" on screen and television, 1994, McFarland & Co.
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