Tarzans Triumph

'Now...Tarzan Make Propaganda!'

A lot of people seem to have a bias against the RKO Tarzan films, but in truth, it was MGM which gradually morphed the Tarzan franchise from A-picture status to B-picture status, gradually reducing the budget and running time of each picture. And MGM had a bad habit of recycling footage from previous entries in the series...how many times did audiences have to watch the trapeze-vine and the crocodile-wrestling scenes?

In fact, it was probably a good thing that the franchise migrated from MGM to RKO, because RKO made some of the best B-pictures of all time, including many classy ones like the Val Lewton horror series, whereas MGM treated their B-pictures like red-headed step-children. Here we get a brand-new plot and a good script, and we get to see Tarzan fighting a bunch of WW2 Jerries. Thanks to Indiana Jones, it turns out that Nazis are timeless villains, which likely would have surprised the creators of this film, who clearly were content to make a fun propaganda piece.

Above all other considerations, we get Weissmuller and his distinctive portrayal of Tarzan. Maureen O'Sullivan, who was wonderful in her own right and who brought out the best in Weissmuller, is absent here, but we find that Our Hero delivers a good-to-excellent performance throughout, being strangely moving in the scene where Boy reads Jane's letter and his righteous fury is very effective when he utters this famous line: 'Now...Tarzan make war!'

Frances Gifford was an excellent choice as the beautiful and brave princess Zandra, who besides being eye-candy for the adolescents and adults in the audience, has very good chemistry with Weissmuller. Perhaps the chemistry is a little too good...Zandra attempts to persuade Tarzan to help by engaging in some enjoyable flirtation...if Jane had seen the two swimming and sunbathing together, if she had seen Zandra leaning her head on Tarzan's bare chest in a moment of despair, she might not have come back from London in 'Tarzan and the Amazons.'

The MGM Tarzan films were marred by blatantly racist depictions of African tribes. For some reason, the RKO Tarzans seem to have few dark- skinned African tribes, but numerous groups of hidden pale-skinned cities. I don't know why RKO's fictional Africa was populated this way, but I will speculate that it may be due to the fact that in WW2, the US govt. made certain efforts to squelch racism in the media, due to the fact that excessive racial oppression was deemed bad for the war effort. DC Comics, who published the Justice Society of America, did some anti-racism comics during the war, at the behest of the War Department.

Whatever the reason, we are spared the usual bad African stereotypes, but at the same time, it is odd to think of an Africa inhabited mostly by pale-skinned people.

The action and violence in this film are, by the standards of B-movies and Weissmuller Tarzans, very good and satisfying, particularly the sequence where Tarzan tracks and taunts the lead Nazi. Sig Ruman, who played Sgt. Shultz in my favorite Christmas movie, 'Stalag 17,' plays a comedy-relief Nazi here, to good effect.

The Nazis go to Africa seeking oil and strategic mineral wealth, and they use military domination to secure their holdings...the Jerries' troops were called 'Africakorps.' Today, the USA and other military powers are still active in many African nations, perpetrating intrigue, fomenting violence, allying themselves with unsavory characters and regimes, so as to secure petroleum and strategic minerals, such as coltan, which is vital for cell phones and personal electronics. The USA has 'Africom.' Now more than ever, the world needs a Tarzan. Barring that possibility, at least we can watch and contemplate this fun adventure.

The seventh Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film and the first from RKO. It's also the first without Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane. The role would eventually be recast but here we are told that Jane is visiting in England, where she keeps Tarzan and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) abreast of world events through a letter. Since this one features a topical WW2 backdrop, it has one of the more artfully crafted scripts of the later Tarzan sequels. Tarzan here is an isolationist and, like America at the outset of the war, he has no interest in meddling in the affairs of outsiders. The outsiders in this case being the people of the jungle city Palandrya who ask for help when Nazis parachute in and take over, as they were wont to do. But when the Nazis kidnap Boy, Tarzan declares "Now Tarzan make war!" and rallies his animal allies to fight the invaders. And boy, do they fight! This is one of the more violent Tarzan entries. Didn't bother me in the slightest watching Tarzan kill Nazis but it will likely scar politically sensitive types.

Weismuller and Sheffield both make the transition from MGM to RKO, where they are given more lines than in the MGM films. Also carrying over from the MGM series is the ever-lovable Cheeta, fun as always and more than a match for the evil Nazis. There has to be a pretty female in the movie, even without Jane. So enter lovely Frances Gifford playing Zandra, the princess of Palandrya who comes to Tarzan looking for help. She has good chemistry with Weissmuller and even gets a swimming scene with him. Sig Ruman, Stanley Ridges, and Philip Van Zandt play some of the baddies.

As for the WW2 elements, how you feel about most American films made during this period will tell you how you'll feel about this. Unfortunately, if you look around IMDb, you'll find a lot of people who seem to really hate movies that were supportive of the Allies. They spit the word 'propaganda' at these films with such contempt it makes you wonder if these people, most of whom claim to be American, would rather the Axis had won. It's pretty gross. Anyway, if you're one of these types you won't like this movie. But chances are, if you're that way, you don't like Tarzan to begin with and believe yourself to be above these movies. I guess you watched them ironically or something, right? Whatever. For the rest of you, this is a fun start to the RKO series. It's solid escapist fare. Not as good as the MGM films but I'm never bored by them. Love that end scene.

This Tarzan adventure has the hero fighting Nazis as they invade the jungle searching for ore and minerals to bolster their war effort. The visitors also abuse the hospitality of a peaceful native tribe and enslave them while they search for radio parts to maintain contact with the Fatherland. Tarzan doesn't get involved during this Nazi occupation until they snatch Boy and make off with the lad. Johnny Weissmuller is in top form as he battles the invaders alone as he attempts to get Boy back from his captors. Frances Gifford is good as a native girl who is coveted by Nazi boss Stanley Ridges. The film is one of the best of the Tarzan series.

Two things elevate this Tarzan film above all the other latter Weismuller efforts. One, is the amusing tie-in to WWII flag-waving by pitting Tarzan against the Nazis. The other is Frances Gifford (who had excelled in as the star of the serial "Jungle Girl") as the breathtakingly beautiful Princess Zandra (wearing the first abbreviated costume since Maureen O'Sullivan in "Tarzan And His Mate"). You wonder in the end why Tarzan just didn't throw the absent Jane over and run off with her.

Breaking into the second volume of WB's Weismuller Tarzan movies, all of which were made at RKO, and which previously had been produced at MGM. Maureen O'Sullivan finally got her way and was able to leave the series when it left MGM, while Weismuller and Johnny Sheffield, who plays Boy, not to mention Cheetah, stayed on. Tarzan Triumphs isn't a great film (I don't have high expectations for any of the remainder of this series, honestly), but it is historically interesting, and amusing in the way all Tarzan movies are. In the thick of WWII, Nazis invade Tarzan's jungle looking to enslave the lost city of Palandra. The princess of Palandra, Zandra (Frances Gifford), begs Tarzan for help. Tarzan refuses, claiming that the Nazis have done nothing to him. But when they actually do do harm to him, by kidnapping Boy, he vows revenge. Strange this one wasn't made in 1941 instead of 1943. Or perhaps by '43 people were already getting tired of war and this is "stay the course" propaganda. Don't know, but it is fascinating as propaganda. It gets very violent, more violent than the other Tarzan movies as far as I can remember. Well, some black people get wasted in nasty ways in the early Tarzan movies, of course. But Tarzan mercilessly slaughters the Nazis. Cheetah pushes one off a cliff, and then pushes a boulder over after him! Even Boy gets to shoot a guy! And the final living Nazi suffers one of the most entertainingly horrible, Roman-style deaths ever. The film ends on a joke worth of Looney Tunes.