La furia di Tarzan

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.

By the fourth Lex Barker entry into the Tarzan series things were more or less established, and though the new adventures had become almost routine, the efficiency evidenced in the previous films was still maintained. The new additions here are a surrogate for Boy called Joey, played very well by a kid whose only film this was; and a fourth actress playing Jane, pretty Dorothy Hart. The Cold War shadow is still present in this production, with a Russian villain named Rokov (Austrian-born actor Charles Korvin), who wants to get hold of the diamonds of an African tribe. As in "Tarzan's Peril" a murder happens in the first minutes, leading to the impersonation of Lord Greystoke, Tarzan's cousin, by the villain's weak colleague (Patrick Knowles), and Jane convincing Tarzan to help them. Here Cheetah's compulsive stealing is also a main ingredient of the plot, and little Joey also plays a key role in the proceedings. Considered by some specialists as one of the best Tarzan movies, it was directed by Cy Endfield, an American left-wing filmmaker who had a promising career but when blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, he went to England in 1951, where he made television, advertisement and a few good films as "Mysterious Island", "Sands of the Kalahari" and "Zulu" before retiring and inventing the Microwriter. Possibly it was Endfield who introduced several "sleight-of-hand routines", performed on screen by Rokov, who uses them to trick gullible natives. Known as a "master of the art of micro magic", Endfield had worked in Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. Last but not least, this is probably the only Tarzan movie to include two black-listed film professionals: Endfield and Korvin.

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

Tarzan's Savage Fury was one of the only Tarzan films to make reference Tarzan's noble background. At least since the Johnny Weissmuller films started I don't recall another movie mentioning Tarzan being the Earl of Greystoke.

But it's a false Greystoke played by Patric Knowles who with his guide Charles Korvin comes calling on Lex Barker and Dorothy Hart as Jane. What is family for, but to call on them for aid. The real Greystoke was killed at the beginning of the film and Knowles takes his place. The object is to get to a tribe which has a fortune in diamonds and uses them in their animist religious rites.

Although it's never said, Korvin's accent is a broad hint that there is a foreign power behind these proceedings. The Cold War at last comes to the Tarzan series. With RKO under the control of Howard Hughes would you expect nothing less?

The cast acquits themselves well and now it seemed that finally black people were playing the African natives in the series for good and all time now.

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.