Tarzan and the Trappers

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 . .

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...

TARZAN AND THE TRAPPERS (1958 B&W) features Gordon Scott as Tarzan. This is a mediocre jungle adventure edited together from two or three episodes of a TV series that never surfaced. Gordon Scott plays a great muscular Tarzan but, as another Amazon reviewer noted, the film is compressed in such a way that the images are out of proportion. For example, Gordon Scott appears almost short and stout, albeit muscular. I know this isn't true because I just saw another Scott Tarzan film ("Tarzan and the Lost Safari" from 1957) wherein Scott is tall (6'3") and his waist is incredibly lean. In any event, although this is far from the best Gordon Scott Tarzan picture (his "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" from 1959 is one of the best films in the entire series), "Tarzan and the Trappers" is well worth watching if for no other reason than to feast your eyes on the awe-inspiring voluptuousness of Eve Brent, who plays "Jane."

GRADE: C

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.

This Tarzan film was originally put together from episodes of an unsold T.V. series. This explains the films bifurcated structure. I have been told producer Sol Lesser then edited the episodes together and released it overseas as a feature in some markets. I also understand Americans did not get to see this film until 1966 when it was sold as part of a Tarzan film package to television. As a theatrical release, it looks like a third rate Tarzan film designed to fill out the second half of a double bill. But viewed as what it was intended as; a saturday morning kiddie show from the fifties, it looks better than other shows from the same era such as SHEENA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE and RAMER. I'm surprised this potential Tarzan T.V show did not sell.By the way, Eve Brent makes a sexy blonde Jane.