Tarzan and the Lost Safari

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.

Released in 1957, "Tarzan and the Lost Safari" stars Gordon Scott as the ape man who assists five survivors of a plane crash near the Opar tribe, savage Africans known for sacrificing white people. A "great white hunter" enters the picture and seems to want to help the survivors, but Tarzan smells something fishy. This incidentally was the first Tarzan film in color.

The plot's great and the movie features many positives. For one, Scott's one of the best actors to play Tarzan and went on to star in a couple of the best Tarzan films, 1959's "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" and 1960's "Tarzan the Magnificent." The African locations are meshed well with the studio work and the studio sets look great, considering the time period. It's sometimes hard to distinguish between authentic Africa and studio "Africa." There's quite a bit of action, numerous shots of animals and I enjoy the scenes where Tarzan interacts with the wildlife, like the lion (which isn't faked).

Unfortunately, there are some bad elements. For instance, the eye-rolling way a vine is always conveniently nearby for Tarzan to easily swing/climb to where he needs to go. Why sure! Then there's this kiddie vibe that's hard to explain, like the producers were trying to appeal to five year-olds, which is strange because there are quite a few adult-oriented elements. What could've been a quality Tarzan flick is sunk for these two reasons.

While Scott's interpretation of the ape man is good the writers have him speaking limited English in the manner of Weissmuller, which is in contrast to Burroughs' book version where Tarzan can speak several languages fluently. I can live with this, however, as it's a movie interpretation of the character. This changed with Scott's two last films as the ape man, noted above, where his portrayal was more faithful to Burroughs.

The film runs 86 minutes and was shot in the Congo, Africa, as well as Iverson Ranch, CA, and studio sets in England; plus stock African footage.

GRADE: C+

WITH THIS BEING the second Tarzan romp starring Gordon Scott, the improvement that was evident in the initial Scott feature, TARZAN'S HIDDEN JUNGLE, was continuing to come to fruition. The speech pattern displayed by Mr. Edgar Rice Burroughs' creation was going much more toward that of an educated person and away from the "Me Tarzan, you Jane" routine.

PRODUCED BY THE combined forces of America's Sol Lesser and Britain's Solar Productions, this was filmed mostly in the United Kingdom, with some great deal of footage being filmed in Africa. The making of movies was becoming less a regular thing for Mr. Lesser, who would turn over his screen rights to the character to producer, Sy Weintraub.

AFTER TAKING OVER the Tarzan series from MGM, Mr. Lesser first used the reigning apeman, Olympic swimmer, Johnny Weismueller, who in turn gave way to Lex Barker and then to Gordon Scott. The pictures were his productions, but they were released by RKO Radio Pictures. Their association lasted up to the first Scott feature and then various other distributors were employed.

THIS FEATURE MARKED the return of MGM to the Tarzan stories as the prestigious 'Tiffany Studio' was retained as the films' booker in the U.S.A. Reviving their interest in the Jungle epic, MGM would soon do its own production of TARZAN THE APEMAN (remake,1959) with Denny Miller in the loincloth this tome.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY, BOTH in studio and on location, was well integrated into what appeared to be seemless; kudos to the photography guys. All of the animals you'd suspect showed up and to the first time (at least to our recollection), they were all of the species Loxodonta africana or in our vernacular, African Bush Elephant. In just about every prior picture, the Pachyderms were of the Elephas maximus persuasion (Indian Elephant). Some sported "falsies" on screen; those being add-on larger false ears to render heir appearance to look African.

THIS PICTURE MARKED the first time that Tarzan was seen in color, a habit that he wouldn't shake for a long time. (Although at least one other movie, the patch quilt TARZAN AND THE TRAPPERS-a combination of 3 episodes from the failed and unsold Tarzan TV series, reverted to B & W. )

AS FOR THE story, we have nothing out of the ordinary; just another day at the (Jungle) office. Lost expedition from crashed airplane is saved from hostile natives who are being employed by evil White Hunter/Ivory poacher, Tusker Hawkins (Robert Beatty. Lovely ladies Yolanda Donlan and Betta St. John are present to make an absent Jane potentially jealous. The rest of the featured cast is rounded out by Wilfred Hyde-White, Peter Arne, Nigerian born Orlando Martins and former Orson Welles associate, George Coulouris. Veteran character actor, Don Beddoe, makes an uncredited appearance as a partner in the illicit Ivory trade.

WE FOUND THE picture to be a worthwhile Jungle tale and what was most important about a Tarzan movie, it was fun.

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

This is the 3rd movie that starred Gordon Scott as the celebrated Ape Man. Besides the excellent production values, location scenes, and music by Lou Levy with real performances by an authentic African dance troupe, the acting is good all round. Gordon brings this version of Tarzan way up from the previous portrayals of the screen incarnations. Tarzan is clever and more intelligent than seen before. The fact that he is a loner and therefore not hampered by a romantic interest turns him into even a more serious action hero. The movie does have the same racial failings as in past Tarzan movies. The sets and lighting give the dark suspenseful mood and the music increases the dangerous atmosphere. Gordon and Bette St. John swim just as well as the pair in Tarzan and His Mate. In fact the script allows more dialog with better articulation from Tarzan and the men of Opar. I hope all of the Gordon Scott movies finally see the light of DVD day. Post script 6/26/2010.... all of the Sy Weintraub produced Tarzan films are now available through WARNER BROS HOME VIDEO ARCHIVE section. My wishes have been fulfilled