Tarzan, der Verteidiger des Dschungels

Tarzan's cousin Lord Greystoke has come to Africa on a safari. Only he's shot dead by his guide Rokov. Rokov convinces Edwards to impersonate Greystoke and trick Tarzan into finding a treasure full of diamonds. The natives have been using boys as bait for crocs. Tarazn stops the hunt and saves the boys. One of them is white American Joseph 'Joey' Martin.

The most memorable section is hunting for crocs. Jane seems to be an English colonialist. Tarzan's initial instincts are good. No guns for England. By the 50's, the franchise should be more leery of western colonization. I don't like the whole debate which makes Jane look bad. Lex Barker as Tarzan is fine. There are some animals and some stock footage of African animals. It's all a rather bland slow trek and then fight some natives.

A good Tarzan adventure film, another of the Lex Barker films that were made with decent budgets and not just cheap knock-offs. Barker does a great job as big hunk Tarzan (its definitely a role that requires more action than acting). First-class actress Dorothy Hart is lovely as Jane and does most of the real acting in this Tarzan household. She was a truly gifted actress who soon quit movies for roles in prestigious television productions and other activities that utilized her worthwhile abilities. There is also a little boy character well played by a lad named Tommy Carleton, although this character seems superfluous to me and was subsequently dropped from the Tarzan series. Former leading man Patrick Knowles does a great job as a vacuous baddie, a weak willed character whose actions are essential to the plot.

The overall story of "Tarzan's Savage Fury" is wholly inconsequential but the movie is directed at a nice crisp pace. It is definitely above average for a b-movie adventure flick. I can recommend this film for the action and physicality that Barker brings to the Tarzan role, and for Dorothy Hart's luminous presence and fine acting.

Tarzan's Savage Fury (1952)

** (out of 4)

Fourth installment in Lex Barker's turn as the legendary ape man. This time out Tarzan and Jane (Dorothy Hart) are fooled by a man pretending to be Tarzan's cousin who claims to be from the Greystoke family. It turns out that the man wants Tarzan to lead him to a valley full of priceless diamonds and the ape man goes along for the ride but soon realizes that he's been lied to. TARZAN'S SAVAGE FURY is another mildly entertaining entry in the series, which was clearly running out of ideas. The one new thing is that this film offered up Tarzan's connection to the riches, which had been left out of the previous three Baxter films as well as all twelve Weissmuller films. Who knows why they decided to bring it up at this point but it does add for some mildly entertaining scenes and especially some early stuff where Tarzan talks about how he ended up being raised by apes. The rest of the film is pretty much "B" movie material as we get your typical action scenes, poor stock footage and even some very sloppy moments here. The sloppy moments happen during a scene where Tarzan is trying to prevent a rhino from charging. Of course, Baxter is in the frame with the rhino thanks to rear projection but take a look at the footage being shown. There are a few seconds were the footage is missing some frame, which gives the rhino these weird movements. Even worse is when the scene is over and the rhino basically disappears right in front of your eyes! Whoever knew Tarzan could do magic? There are some pretty campy moments to be found here including one sequence where some natives are using young boys to lure crocs into the river so that they can be caught. This entire sequence of boys being chased by wooden crocodiles is rather silly and especially how fake the crocs look. Barker is certainly in fine form as the ape man and he manages to get a few good laughs here. The actor was clearly into character and he has some nice chemistry with Hart who was playing Jane for the first and last time. Patrick Knowles (THE WOLF MAN) adds some nice support in his role as does Charles Korvin as another one of the bad guys. Tommy Carlton plays "Joey", a kid Tarzan finds at the croc hunt and who he brings home. He was clearly meant to be a replacement for "Boy" and the actor does a nice job in terms of charm and bringing some life to the material. The action scenes are mainly cheap and there's no question that the budgets kept getting cut down but there's some nice material to be had with some of the campiness including the before mentioned fake crocodiles. TARZAN'S SAVAGE FURY certainly isn't going to make anyone forget CITIZEN KANE but at the same time there's enough cheap charm if you enjoy "B" movies or jungle adventures. At the same time, it's clear that the series was never going to return to those early MGM classics.

A cousin from the Greystoke family goes to visit jungle king Lex Barker (as Tarzan) in his African home, and is quickly killed by greedy uncut diamond-hunting Charles Korvin (as Rokov). Next, the Russian-accented villain arranges an impersonation and expedition to get Mr. Barker's help in obtaining a tribe's treasure. Meanwhile, Barker saves cute American orphan Tommy Carlton (as Joseph "Joey" Martin) from becoming alligator food, and adopts him as a new "Boy" companion. They get into the usual danger, along with pretty mate Dorothy Hart (as Jane) and pet "Cheeta" the chimpanzee.

The previous entry in the series, "Tarzan's Peril" (1951), didn't really benefit from a modest increase in location footage. Conversely, this film wisely makes full use of RKO's studio jungle, with the direction and photography by Cy Endfield and Karl Struss most outstanding. The editing (Frank Sullivan) and "trick" photography are also improved. The rotating "Jane" looks the part again; fresh-faced but familiar, she's back in long hair and dressed to arouse. The plot incorporates some elements from writer Edgar Rice Burroughs' actual "Tarzan" stories and includes the film's popular "Boy" character.

******* Tarzan's Savage Fury (3/14/52) Cyril Endfield ~ Lex Barker, Tommy Carlton, Dorothy Hart, Charles Korvin

Lex Barker`s fourth appearing as Tarzan is one of his most entertaining. He is my all-time-favorite in this role. His Co-stars are very convincing here. Dorothy Hart as Jane remembers on the good old "Maureen O´Sullivan-Days" and she is the most likeable Jane Barker ever had (Barker has a different Jane in any of his five Tarzan-movies). The performer of Rokov (Charles Korvin)is a notable villain and even young Tommy Carlton already is a good actor. The story goes straight ahead and has some quite exciting moments. With his wild jungle-tribes, cannibals, crocodiles and lions this little movie is a pleasure for all Tarzan-worshippers around the world.