Tarzan et le Safari perdu

There's no safari in terms of an expedition into the African jungle per se in Tarzan And The Lost Safari. Rather the king of the jungle has to rescue five survivors of a light airplane crash and lead them out of the jungle to safety. The survivors are a cross section of upper crust Britania including married couple George Coulouris and Yolanda Donlon, newlyweds Peter Arne and Betta St. John who are already having issues and a Cholly Knickerbocker type columnist Wilfred Hyde-White. None of them really at home in the wild.

Besides Gordon Scott as Tarzan this party has another potential rescuer in white hunter Robert Beatty. But he's in league with a nasty savage tribe called the Oprahs, whoops Opars. They've got a fortune in ivory and for some white sacrifices they'll give it up, especially if one of them is the legendary Tarzan. Big medicine for the tribe there.

George Coulouris is strangely muted and not what you normally expect from a guy who plays some high powered villains on the screen. Especially when Donlon gives Tarzan the old come-on. Tarzan evinces not a whiff of an interest. Beatty has his eyes on Betta St. John in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition.

And as always that remarkable simian Cheta responding to some well placed instructions is invaluable in the rescue. And Tarzan's knowledge of native drum language also helps in the climax.

Too much silliness in this plot with a good cast making a really dumb script entertaining.

An airplane full of motley passengers (Betta St. John , Donlan , Wilfrid Hyde-White , George Coulouris) who are en route to Europe via Cairo has an accident in the jungle . The private plane is piloted by Dick Penrod (Peter Arne) , an avid flyer whose hobby is aviation . Tarzan (Gordon Scott) encounters the crashed plane and leads five passengers from the downed airplane out of the jungle . A bit later on , they also meet a professional hunter called Hawkins (Robert Beatty) who offers to escort them to the coast but he actually attempts to sell them to the Oparian chief , having already made a deal with a local tribal chief . In the ending , Tarzan again to rescue the unfortunate crew a second time.

"Tarzan and the Lost Safari" contains noisy action , sensational adventures , many angry natives , nasty white hunters , hungry Crocs and wonderful outdoors , though mostly shot in Africa and Elstree studios . Well starred by Gordon Scott , here Tarzan/Scott rescues five occupants , and Gordon brings wit and style to the classic character . Gordon starred 5 Tarzan movies : ¨Tarzan's fights for life¨ by H. Bruce Humberstone , ¨Tarzan and the trappers¨ by Sandy Howard and Charles Haas , ¨Tarzan's greatest adventure¨ produced by Sy Weintraub , directed by John Guillermin and ¨Tarzan the magnificent¨ by Robert Day . Although Gordon Scott also played all kinds of genres as Spaghetti : ¨Tramplers¨, Euro-spy : ¨Death ray¨ , Pirate movie : ¨Marauder¨ , and especially Peplum : ¨Hércules and the princess of Troy¨, ¨Coriolanus¨, ¨Conquest of Mycene¨, ¨Gladiator of Rome¨, ¨Hero of Rome¨, ¨Samson and the 7 miracles of the world¨.

Support cast is acceptable , such as Betta St John as a beautiful girl who creates a rift between his boyfriend/Peter Arne and Tarzan who falls for her . And the ordinary secondaries as Wilfrid Hyde-White , George Coulouris and the nasty Robert Beatty give nice interpretations . And of course , special mention for the likable Chimpanzee Cheeta that steals the show , giving some humorous moments with his antics , frolics and mayhem . As usual , sets and production design are visually appealing , though there are the obvious uses of stock footage and shot on location in Democratic Republic Of Congo , Tanzania , Kilimanjaro , Kenia . Including a brilliant cinematography by Pennington-Richards , being the first Tarzan film to be filmed in color . The motion picture was well produced by Sol Lesser and decently directed by H. Bruce Humberstone

First Tarzan/Johhny Weissmuller was ¨Tarzan , the ape man¨ (1932) by W.S. Van Dyke , this one being the definitive Tarzan movie , the original of the long series . Followed by ¨Tarzan and his mate¨ (1934) by Jack Conway . Richard Thorpe continued the following sequels : ¨Tarzan escapes¨(1936) , ¨Tarzan finds a son¨ (1939) with the addition of the five-year-old Johnny Sheffield as Boy , ¨Tarzan's secret Treasure¨ (1941) , and ¨Tarzan's New York adventure¨ (1942) where Boy is abducted by an evil circus owner , then Tarzan goes to rescue him and he meets N.Y. big city , being Maureen O'Sullivan's final appearance and in which Elmo Lincoln's , the screen's first Tarzan, had a cameo . These stories were lavishly produced by M.G.M. and R.K.O. Subsequently , to be appeared other Tarzans produced by independent producers as Sol Lesser ; the latter being replaced by Sy Weintraub , these movies were interpreted by Lex Barker and Gordon Scott : ¨Tarzan the Magnificent¨ and ¨The greatest adventure¨ directed by John Guillermin . Furthermore , Mike Henry starred as Tarzan in ¨Tarzan and the jungle boy ¨ , ¨ Tarzan and the great river¨ , and ¨Tarzan 66¨ directed by Robert Day . Besides , two performed by Jock Mahoney : ¨Three challenges¨ and ¨Tarzan goes to India¨ directed by John Guillermin , among others . Plus , other TV Tarzan as Ron Ely , Wolf Larsen , Joe Lara

Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

If you start from the first MGM/Johnny Weissmuller film and follow the series through its transformation to RKO and with new actors (Lex Barker, Gordon Scott) then this here would be the nineteenth film and it certainly got a face lift. Not only did the producer's send the cast and crew to Africa for real footage but they also shot the film in color and in widescreen (although most prints are the flat version). This time out Tarzan (Scott) comes across five people whose plane has crashed in the jungle. Along with the help from a hunter, Tarzan tries to get the people to safety but it turns out the hunter has a connection to a deadly tribe who scarifies white people to their Gods. TARZAN AND THE LOST SAFARI has a lot of good things in it like the before mentioned new items but in the end it's still a Tarzan movie with many of the same trappings that hurt previous movies. Once again Scott is very good in the film as he certainly didn't have any trouble fitting into the role. He certainly has the physical look but I thought he also handled the dialogue good enough and had a certain charm that really worked. Betta St. John plays a married woman who Tarzan befriends and she too is quite good. The actors have such good chemistry one wishes that they had written her as being single so that the film could have gone in a different direction. There's no doubt that the authentic shooting in Africa really helps the film because it really adds to the atmosphere. I'm all for back lots at studios but at the same time there's no denying that nothing can top the real thing. With really being in Africa we also get some terrific footage of the wildlife, which is a lot better than the stock footage that took up previous films. The print I watched was the flat version so I can't comment on how well the 2.35:1 was handled but what I saw was impressive. With that said, there's no question that the film goes on for way too long and by this time there's no doubt who will live, who will die and I'm pretty sure we all know what will happen to Tarzan. This predictable side certainly hampers the film but there's no question that this is the best the series has offered since the Weissmuller days.

Tarzan protects a group of passengers of a private plane who crash-landed on the jungle from a hostile native tribe that wants to sacrifice them to their gods. Just another day at the office. The film is technically well-made, but padded and tedious, with relatively little action. Gordon Scott is still mightily impressive as Tarzan, but the best thing in the film is the athletic, outdoorsy leading lady Betta St.John (she actually looks like she worked out regularly, long before it became "the norm" for women). ** out of 4.

Muscular jungle king Gordon Scott (as Tarzan) helps a quintet of private plane passengers who crash after a flock of birds causes mechanical failure. They get mixed up with nasty hunter Robert Beatty (as "Tusker" Hawkins) and savage Africans, who are eager to sacrifice white humans. You've seen much of this before, but this time it's in color. Color is a nice addition to the "Tarzan" franchise. There is no "Jane" or "Boy" in this one, but you get two attractive women, brunette Betta St. John (as Diana Penrod) and blonde Yolande Donlan (as Gamage Dean). They admire Mr. Scott's physique as he showers in a waterfall, and he tears up a mink coat to "help" make then some suitable shoes. As usual, "Cheta" finds the alcohol...

***** Tarzan and the Lost Safari (4/12/57) Bruce Humberstone ~ Gordon Scott, Betta St. John, Robert Beatty, Yolande Donlan