"So this is the mighty Tarzan, King of the Jungle"!
That's the reaction of Sikes (Saul Gorse) as Tarzan makes his way to the evil trapper's camp. Tarzan (Gordon Scott) had already put away Sikes' brother for foolishly encroaching on Tarzan's domain, and it would only be a matter of time before he would do the same with older brother. If you're following the story with a discerning eye, you might wonder why Sikes didn't capture Tarzan right then and there instead of going through the motions of a jungle man hunt. I guess he wanted to make it a sporting proposition.
Gordon Scott makes for a rather well proportioned Tarzan who might have had a backyard jungle gym (can't believe I came up with that one), but he doesn't come across as believable as Weissmuller, or going even further back, someone like Herman Brix. Besides his well proportioned physique, (notice the lats), Scott's hair never once seemed out of place and perfectly groomed at all times. Hard to imagine how that could be while living in the jungle, traveling by vines and wrestling crocs for sport. I'm still waiting for a picture where the jungle lord might actually bleed following one of his encounters with a wild beast, it just never happens.
There was one unique feature to the story, Tarzan actually makes a running mount on to a giraffe to gain some speed across the African veld; that's one I haven't seen before. But the real gem of this picture had to be the appearance of Chief Tyana, who I thought from time to time while watching bore a resemblance to a young Scatman Crothers. Holy cow!, the screen credits after the film listed him as Sherman Crothers! Goes to show, you have to get your start somewhere.
Not too much else to say, as others on this board have commented on how the picture was spliced together from some pilot TV episodes, and it did actually have that kind of feel to it. For example, it looked like the movie was just about over very early when Tarzan captured the first two trappers. For a Tarzan flick, I guess I would put it about the middle of the pack and that's being generous. You have to hand it to that Cheetah though (Cheta in the credits). He was twenty six years old at the time the picture was made, and didn't look a day over six!
That's the reaction of Sikes (Saul Gorse) as Tarzan makes his way to the evil trapper's camp. Tarzan (Gordon Scott) had already put away Sikes' brother for foolishly encroaching on Tarzan's domain, and it would only be a matter of time before he would do the same with older brother. If you're following the story with a discerning eye, you might wonder why Sikes didn't capture Tarzan right then and there instead of going through the motions of a jungle man hunt. I guess he wanted to make it a sporting proposition.
Gordon Scott makes for a rather well proportioned Tarzan who might have had a backyard jungle gym (can't believe I came up with that one), but he doesn't come across as believable as Weissmuller, or going even further back, someone like Herman Brix. Besides his well proportioned physique, (notice the lats), Scott's hair never once seemed out of place and perfectly groomed at all times. Hard to imagine how that could be while living in the jungle, traveling by vines and wrestling crocs for sport. I'm still waiting for a picture where the jungle lord might actually bleed following one of his encounters with a wild beast, it just never happens.
There was one unique feature to the story, Tarzan actually makes a running mount on to a giraffe to gain some speed across the African veld; that's one I haven't seen before. But the real gem of this picture had to be the appearance of Chief Tyana, who I thought from time to time while watching bore a resemblance to a young Scatman Crothers. Holy cow!, the screen credits after the film listed him as Sherman Crothers! Goes to show, you have to get your start somewhere.
Not too much else to say, as others on this board have commented on how the picture was spliced together from some pilot TV episodes, and it did actually have that kind of feel to it. For example, it looked like the movie was just about over very early when Tarzan captured the first two trappers. For a Tarzan flick, I guess I would put it about the middle of the pack and that's being generous. You have to hand it to that Cheetah though (Cheta in the credits). He was twenty six years old at the time the picture was made, and didn't look a day over six!