Tarzan e i cacciatori d'avorio

For the fifth and final Tarzan film starring Lex Barker it was not only back to the RKO back lot, but back to the old days when the natives that Tarzan was helping were not even black. In fact Tarzan spends most of the time in chains because he's broken hearted because he thinks the villains have killed Jane.

Jane is played here by Joyce McKenzie and the trio of villains are Tom Conway, Raymond Burr, and Monique Van Vooren, the last being the she-devil in the title. No black magic does she use, simply some feminine wiles and an appeal to Tarzan that since Jane is dead, he can best help by making sure that her two male conspirators don't go too hard on the natives they've enslaved, especially Raymond Burr who is on a power kick.

The trio is after ivory and they've captured a whole tribe of to do their heavy work as ivory hunting legal or not requires a lot of help.

But as we know from many a Tarzan film in the past, the elephants are among his best jungle friends and they help out a lot in rescuing Jane and the natives and Tarzan later in typical elephant fashion. Of course the elephants are also acting on their own rational self interest since they have no desire to wind up piano keys.

RKO did the first film with Gordon Scott as Tarzan and then bid adieu to the Tarzan franchise. With Scott the series began to get a bit more realistic in the plots and also reflected the new Africa emerging in the Sixties. Tarzan And The She-Devil is a piece of high camp, but that's about the only way it can be enjoyed.

The hunter Vargo (Raymond Burr) comes to Dagar, joining forces with the trader Lyra (Monique Van Dooren) and announcing he wants to obtain a big haul of ivory. To round up the elephants needed, Vargo captures the men of Lacopo tribe to force them work for him. The Lacopo women flee to Tarzan and appeal for help. Tarzan goes and breaks into Vargo's compound and frees the Lacopo men.

Vargo then decides he wants to enlist Tarzan to herd the elephants. When Tarzan refuses, Vargo and his men set out to capture Jane. In doing so, they set the treehut on fire. With Jane presumed killed in the fire, Tarzan is made a prisoner until he agrees to cooperate.

Worst Tarzan? No way! That title goes to the Bo Derek one or Christopher Lambert one- Tarzan and the She-Devil is a standard Tarzan with an old trope of evil ivory poachers, but such a nasty business is quite relevant today. And talking about nasty - Raymond Burr adds some edge as the main heavy, bringing an earthy sense of danger to the proceedings. Monique Van Dooren plays the She-Devil, but she just a supporting character and isn't as evil as Vargo, and brings Jane to Tarzan when he learns from Fidel that Vargo intends to double cross them. Nice to see Tom Conway as Fidel, who is a little nervous about this operation and Vargo.

It's a slightly sluggishly-paced, but it's decent enough with a good finale where Vargo gets a crushing reception. There's a nice shot of a big cat and a python wrestling. Cheetah is amusing as ever with his antics, though he shows a caring side to Tarzan while he's heartbroken over Jane- he think she's dead but she isn't.

Director Kurt Neumann directed the horror classic "The Fly" but the dull Tarzan material here is nowhere as good as that classic. Despite a rather provocative title, this film doesn't have any She-Devils who look the Tura Satana or anything close. Instead, all you get is a lot fo stock footage of animals, jungles, and a boring story about ivory hunters needing to be stopped by Tarzan. One of the ivory hunters is played by George Sanders' sound-alike brother Tom Conway, so that's a bit fun. Its' also funny because Conway earlier played a great white hunter who tricks Tarzan into helping him find hidden gold. You'd think Tarzan would have learned his lesson the first time! Raymond Burr plays the main baddie, so that's a good thing, but there's not much besides Burr and Conway to recommend about this one. Probably a low point all the Tarzan pictures, which was also the last time Lex Barker played the role.

Lyra (Monique van Vooren) is the She-Devil. With Vargo (Raymond Burr) and Fidel (Tom Conway), the ivory poachers kidnap native men to be their slave transporters. Tarzan (Lex Barker) and Jane (Joyce Mackenzie) have to fight the cruel invaders.

Monique van Vooren may not be the best actress. She is beautiful and her non-specific European accent adds to her villainy. Burr and Conway are good heavies. Lex Barker has the look but not much in terms of charisma. In this one, Jane has a larger role. The story is too messy. Most of the animal action is from stock footage although the elephant stampede still impresses. Even stock footage can be fun. I'm in a good mood and I'll give this a passing grade.

Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953)

** (out of 4)

Lex Barker's fifth and final time playing Tarzan is a rather strange one. In the film, ivory poachers (Monique Van Vooren, Raymond Burr) are wanting Tarzan to help him but when he refuses they try a different method. Poor Tarzan thinks that Jane (Joyce McKenzie) has been burned to death so in his depressed state he doesn't fight off the poachers when they capture him. They plan on forcing him to help but what Tarzan doesn't know is that Jane's still alive. TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL has been called the very worse Tarzan from a major studio outside the Bo Derek version but I think that's a tad bit harsh. There's no question that it appears Barker was bored with the material and there's no question that we get one stupid scene after another but at the same time there are still a few decent elements here. I think the best thing going for the film is the performance by Raymond Burr. Everyone will always remember him for playing Perry Mason but he was a terrific villain and if you're unfamiliar with his bad guy roles you'd be doing yourself a favor by checking them out. He does a terrific job here playing the cool, laid back jerk who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Burr just has a certain snake-like quality about him and you can't help but see he's having a ball being as bad as he can. Van Vooren is also quite good as the leader of the poachers who isn't afraid to use a wink to get her way. McKenzie, the fifth person to play Jane in this five film series, isn't all that memorable but then again her screen time is very limited. Barker turns in his worse performance as the ape man as you can tell he's bored out of his mind and it's easy to see he's not too interested in anything that's going on. The story itself is a rather weak one and the ivory poachers thing had been done before and put to much better use. When it's all said and done, this is perhaps the worst of the Barker films but the supporting characters keep the film going. Without then I might have agreed that it's one of the worst films out there but the villains are good enough to where "B" movie fans might want to check this out (after they view the classic MGM Tarzan films of course).