The Lion Man

Well what did I expect? I keep on watching these old Poverty Row productions so I should really know the score by now. This adventure film is more or less business as usual down in the Poverty Row back-lot. It's a film full of promise but little delivery. Much like most of these old programme filling B-movies from the 30's. This one has an American boy being left to be brought up by a lion keeping shaman after his dad has been murdered by a villainous sheik. He grows up to be a noble saviour of downtrodden folks in Arabia - the Lion Man of the title, so if you expected this to be a film about a half-man half-lion monster (i.e. me) then prepare to be sadly underwhelmed. It's sort of Tarzan in the desert if you like. Except the film-makers kind of forget to load the thing with much action, instead there's a lot of chat and not too much in the way of excitement. Which is a shame really because The Lion Man had a passable chance at becoming relatively entertaining. But, unfortunately, for the most part it's a little tedious.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this hidden treasure that I thought was long gone. I am so thankful that someone rescued it from the vault it was hidden in! My father was the little "Lion Man" - and I thought he did a FANTASTIC job. He told me that they filmed the entire movie in 3 weeks - and in that time he had to learn all his lines (several which were cut in this version, probably due to the condition of the original film), learn how to ride (and fall off of) a camel, and deal with the Arizona desert. His father was also an extra in the movie - one of the "Arabs" on camel back. Amazingly, I think this movie seems more raw and real than some other more current "Tarzan" like adaptations - because the fight scenes are hand-to-hand in the sand, the tents are more like what was really used at the time, and because my Dad did such a good job!

A rich British Lord goes into the desert with his son on a secret mission. Tricked by desert bandits the Lord is killed and his son is spirited away to live with a holy man who raises lions. Growing up to be a brave warrior the son ("Lion Man" of the title) aids travelers who are set upon by various bandits.

A very good looking, if somewhat talky and at time static adventure occurs. Very Much of a time this low budget desert tale looks good. It looks much less opulent than say films like Lawrence of Arabia and so seems much closer to reality. The tale is essentially a Tarzan retread which is okay. The problem with the film is that the film is very talky and static. People are posed in tableaux and talk and talk and talk. Its good but it makes the movie seem more draggy and creaky than it really is.

A good, but not great little adventure film.

I came across this on DVD and had long been a fan of Jon Hall from my youth. "Lion Man" comes from a story by E.R. Borroughs of Tarzan fame, and has many of the same plot lines, i.e., an English boy, the son of an industrialist is orphaned by desert bandits and raised by a desert mystic who pals with lions. The boy is initially rescued by a Englishwoman who has been enslaved by the devilish bandit and earns a reputation as a fierce fighter protecting travelers from the bandits. There is a beautiful desert Princess whom he rescues and eventually he gains revenge on the wrongdoers.

This film is typical of the escapist romances filmed during the latter years of the great depression and is romantic to the max. The hero, "El Lion," comes riding in, on a white horse, fights the bad guys hand to hand-- no sword play, mind you-- and saves the day. Purist may cringe at the sight of Bactrian camels and clumsy attempts to portray Arab life but when viewed in the context of when and for whom this film was made, it has a great charm. See it. It's worth it.

I was the seven-year-old boy, Bobby Fairy, who played Lord Chatham's son in early life. With admitted bias, I see the movie for its time, genre and budget, as a pretty good adventure film. There are a few places where the film itself has deteriorated since 1936.

The picture has a strong Edgar Rice Burroughs plot and the lead actors are believable. Jon Hall's athletic training shows in fight scenes.

The movie's exterior scenes were all shot on a vacant desert area near Yuma, Arizona. The cast and crew stayed in a hotel in Yuma and rode by bus into the desert area each day in the very early morning to take advantage of the first light. The bus was followed by trucks carrying camels, horses and equipment.

Acting in this adventure movie was very exciting for a little boy. In preparing for one scene I fell from a camel. With difficulty, the director finally persuaded me to be remounted with my actor father.

I was accompanied to the Arizona location by an adult escort (my real father) and a tutor required by California law.

My agent had given me a stage name (Bobby Fairy) only slightly different from my real name, Bobby Fairey, when I was 7. I am now (2012) 83, a semi-retired lawyer and may be the only surviving member of the cast. Robert A. (Bob) Fairey