This well made adventure yarn is full of action and excitement from beginning to end, making it a real treat to watch. Yes, all of the genre staples are in there, like Tarzan swinging from vine to vine repeatedly (although his famous "jungle call" is noticeably missing), but this film also has a real plot too, and complex multi-layered characters with it - something generally missing in films aimed at a juvenile audience like this one, where they usually just don't bother with having real people and instead cardboard cut-outs.
The lively script invokes good performances from the seasoned cast of performers, who bring real depth to their roles. Even the villains are not totally bad, just devoted to another cause. John Carradine steals his scenes with his hammy performance of the chief baddie, yet Jock Mahoney is the real villain of the piece, and he does the sneering bit exceptionally well. Strangely enough Mahoney would take up the gauntlet of the Tarzan role after Scott, which is strange considering his lean appearance here. Lionel Jeffries is once again very good in a kind of comedic/tragic role, as a born loser. Yet Scott dominates the film with his muscular physique and imposing manner, portraying Tarzan as a tough, serious, yet good-hearted man. There is little warmth or friendliness in his Tarzan, as he is a man more suited to getting the job done. Yet his natural charisma shines through, as it did in MACISTE AGAINST THE VAMPIRE, just one of the many entertaining peplum movies he made in Italy in later years.
Alexandra Stewart is the pretty, blonde-haired damsel in distress, and isn't required to act much. Betta St. John, who appeared in a number of adventure/horror pictures around this period, is the unlikeable female lead who goes off with the baddie and gets eaten by a lion for her sins - that'll teach her. This scene is just one of a number of surprisingly brutal moments, another occurs when a doctor is shot in cold-blood - and for no reason - by one of the brothers.
Most of the film consists of a journey through the jungle. The locations are varied, with our characters travelling through heavy undergrowth, wasteland, native villages, and waterfalls. Some of this film was shot on location in Africa so the scenery is very picturesque and nice to look at, especially one moment of back projection showing our heroes gazing out over a valley which is quite convincing. It's a fast-moving story, and one which is packed with action. There are a number of gun and arrow battles, fist fights, even some quicksand thrown in for good measure. The film may seem naïve and predictable to a modern audience (who couldn't guess that the unattached black character was going to get killed?) but the sense of adventure and fun it has makes it impossible to enjoy. The ending consists of a protracted battle between Tarzan and the remaining villain, and is quite exciting. Altogether this is a well-made, well-paced adventure yarn to be relished by fans of an era long since gone.
The lively script invokes good performances from the seasoned cast of performers, who bring real depth to their roles. Even the villains are not totally bad, just devoted to another cause. John Carradine steals his scenes with his hammy performance of the chief baddie, yet Jock Mahoney is the real villain of the piece, and he does the sneering bit exceptionally well. Strangely enough Mahoney would take up the gauntlet of the Tarzan role after Scott, which is strange considering his lean appearance here. Lionel Jeffries is once again very good in a kind of comedic/tragic role, as a born loser. Yet Scott dominates the film with his muscular physique and imposing manner, portraying Tarzan as a tough, serious, yet good-hearted man. There is little warmth or friendliness in his Tarzan, as he is a man more suited to getting the job done. Yet his natural charisma shines through, as it did in MACISTE AGAINST THE VAMPIRE, just one of the many entertaining peplum movies he made in Italy in later years.
Alexandra Stewart is the pretty, blonde-haired damsel in distress, and isn't required to act much. Betta St. John, who appeared in a number of adventure/horror pictures around this period, is the unlikeable female lead who goes off with the baddie and gets eaten by a lion for her sins - that'll teach her. This scene is just one of a number of surprisingly brutal moments, another occurs when a doctor is shot in cold-blood - and for no reason - by one of the brothers.
Most of the film consists of a journey through the jungle. The locations are varied, with our characters travelling through heavy undergrowth, wasteland, native villages, and waterfalls. Some of this film was shot on location in Africa so the scenery is very picturesque and nice to look at, especially one moment of back projection showing our heroes gazing out over a valley which is quite convincing. It's a fast-moving story, and one which is packed with action. There are a number of gun and arrow battles, fist fights, even some quicksand thrown in for good measure. The film may seem naïve and predictable to a modern audience (who couldn't guess that the unattached black character was going to get killed?) but the sense of adventure and fun it has makes it impossible to enjoy. The ending consists of a protracted battle between Tarzan and the remaining villain, and is quite exciting. Altogether this is a well-made, well-paced adventure yarn to be relished by fans of an era long since gone.