Tarzan et les trappeurs

Gordon Scott made some good Tarzan movies, but this is not one of them.

As I watched it, wincing at the bad, obviously interior sets and the hollow wooden "clonking" sounds as they walked across supposedly dirt trails, and cringing at the bad dialog and worse acting among the supporting cast, I kept thinking, "Sheesh! This is TV show level!" Then I find out it was, indeed, three TV show pilot episodes woven seam-fully into one.

It's nice to see Scott get outside (alone), away from the lame sets, in a few of the scenes; and the fights do have some pretty nice moves... but oh, ow, and ouch as to the dialog. And did I mention the acting? Heck, Cheetah (or "Cheta," in this version) was a better actor than most of the humans.

And that's not saying much.

It is kind of a stitch to see a younger Sherman (i.e. Scatman) Carothers acting as a native. But probably not worth the overall time-investment.

The Tarzan you grow up is likely to always be "your" Tarzan, so for the generation which came of age in the 1950s, that means Gordon Scott. He might not have been the best Tarzan, (that's always a matter of debate), but he was certainly a good one. His "Tarzan and the Trappers" is a minor work, apparently stitched together from some TV episodes, but it demonstrates how the Tarzan character reflects the changing moods of the times.

In this case, the times are the Eisenhower Years and so Tarzan, Jane, and Boy come across here as a typical suburban family not that far removed from, say, "Ozzie and Harriet." Of course, the father in this particular family seems to speak with a third-grade education and he must spend an awful lot of time in the gym, but these are minor points.

"Tarzan and the Trappers" also reflects the prudish morality of the 1950s. Tarzan and Jane, for example, seem to have two side-by-side but separate treehouses which allows for "proper" sleeping arrangements. Care has also been taken to downplay Tarzan's sexuality, moving him away from his powerful masculinity toward a tamer, almost neutered status. Gordon Scott's loincloth, for instance, rides high enough on his torso to completely hide his navel, which must have caused some problems during filming. ("Sorry, Gordon, you'll have to do it again. We saw your belly button.") And in that inevitable scene in which Tarzan is captured and put into bondage, his arms stretched up and tied high above his head, we see that Gordon Scott's armpits have been carefully shaved. Apparently male body hair, either on the chest or in the armpits, was a "no no" because it emphasized the actor's sexual nature. Despite these efforts to "housebreak" and "domesticate" Tarzan, however, Gordon Scott still manages to exude an undeniable appeal and for us Eisenhower kids, he'll always be "our" Tarzan.

Of the countless actors who have portrayed Tarzan since Elmo Lincoln first appeared in 1918's `Tarzan of the Apes,' Gordon Scott remains the best to ever don a loincloth. So it's no surprise that `Tarzan and the Trappers' is one of the better Tarzan films of the past 80 years. The 1958 film was actually intended to comprise the first three episodes of a television series, but instead was made into a better-than-average Sol Lesser production that runs 74 minutes. The film's story remains contemporary, with Tarzan forced to fight for his own life while stopping greedy traders from illegally trapping and removing wildlife from the jungle.

With the future of much of the world's wildlife in question, the story is as compelling now as it was 45 years ago...

After dispatching a nasty hunter who is illegally collecting wildlife for menageries , Tarzan has to confront his brother who seeks vengeance by means a violent hunting for human game . Along the way , Tarzan arranges to free all of the captured animals as an elephant baby . While a safari of mean hunters attempt to discover a lost city full of treasures.

Tarzan and the Trappers is an adventurous film dubiously faithful to Edgar Rice Borroughs , it packs perilous feats , fights , betrayals , angry natives , wildlife , starving animals , stock footage and gorgeous exteriors. However, being spoiled by a black and white cinematography , resulting to be Gordon Scott's first Tarzan and only with no color . In fact , Scott starred 5 Tarzan films , his Tarzan movies ranged from rather cheap re-edited television pilots to larger scale epics . These are the following ones : Tarzan fights for life by H Bruce Humberstone , Tarzan's greatest adventure produced by Sy Weintraub directed by John Guillermin , Tarzan the Magnificent by John Guillermin and Tarzan and the lost Safari . Although Gordon Scott also played other kinds of genres as Spaghetti Western : Tramplers , Buffalo Bill Hero of the West , Euro-spy : Death Ray, Secretissimo , Pirate movie : Marauder and especially Peplum : Hercules and the Princess of Troy , Romulus and Remo, Coriolanus , Maciste in court of the Great Khan , A Queen for Caesar, Ercole versus Moloch, Goliath and the Vampires , Conquest of Mycene , Gladiator of Rome , Hero of Rome , Samson and the seven miracles of the World . In Tarzan and the Trappers 1950 Gordon Scott brings wit and style to the classic role . His handsome features , imposing height , muscular physique made him a magnificent choice to replace Lex Barker as Tarzan , and he won out over 200 candidaters for the character. It was producer Sol Lesser who changed his name from Werschkul to Scott . Here Gordon Scott is accompanied by the beautiful Eve Brent as Jane and Ricky Serenson as their child . And nice secondaries as Maurice Marsac , Scatman Crothers , Leslie Bradley and Bruce Lester . Of course , special mention for the sympathetic chimpanzee Cheeta , giving some hilarious moments with leaps , frolics, mayhem and antics.

The classic Tarzan movies starred by Johnny Weissmuller were financed by MGM , subsequently took the production some independient producers , as this Tarzan and the Trappers was produced in medium budget by Sol Lesser , subsequently replaced by Sy Weintraub . However , this one seems to be a re-edition from three three episodes of a never shown television series that was rejected by three general networks . The motion picture was uneven but professionally directed by Charles Haas , Sandy Howard and uncredited H Bruce Humberstone, the latter to direct other Tarzan movies . .

This Tarzan feature from the Gordon Scott series has just enough to make it watchable if you like the series in general. Scott definitely looks like Tarzan, and he has enough of a screen presence to be believable, but his wooden acting style takes the energy out of some of the scenes. The story has a few good moments, but at other times the characters and situations are just too unimaginative not to be noticeable.

The story does have a fair amount of action, as Tarzan must first battle a greedy but rather foolish trapper, and then face the trapper's more malicious brother plus a treacherous jungle trader. Plenty of outdoor footage and scenes of African animals are worked in with the studio shots, and most of the time this helps to mask the low production values. 'Cheta', in fact, gets some of the best moments of the movie.

So many Tarzan movies had been made before this one that it must have been hard to come up with new ideas. This one does at least have a worthwhile idea behind the plot, but it is otherwise rather uninspired in the way that it tells the story.