Tarzan chez les Soukoulous

I just caught this on TCM Saturday run of Tarzan films. No doubt I must have seen this during a Saturday matinee because I loved Tarzan books and movies when I was a kid but this is a rather slow moving Tarzan and in retrospect it seems the film was aimed at a more sophisticated audience and not just eight year olds. Real fans knew that Tarzan was the well educated Lord Greystoke who constantly yielded to his need to return to the jungle but this Tarzan is still monosyllabic The action here is minimal; not the Tarzan a kid wants to imitate in their backyard play.

6 ft. 4 inch Gordon Scott made this film for RKO on a very meager budget as the story goes....not much to get worked up about in this tale of rogue and con artist hunters who lie and try to trap animals to sell to the zoos. About the only redeeming quality to this film is Scott's bulging muscle physique......Scott by far the biggest muscleman Tarzan ever....Scott handles his role rudimentary and a little off center....he seems more perplexed with Vera Miles more than the animals....in real life Scott and Miles married......Scott is not given much to say that makes much sense...just grumbling and Me Tarzan, you Jane schuck!!!! Peter Van Eyck as a jungle doctor trying to save natives and animals alike.....this was very weak Tarzan film and rumor had it that Scott only made $50000 for the whole film.... His other Tarzan adventures turned into classics, such as "Tarzan and the Lost Safari", "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" and "Tarzan the Magnificent"....in those films Scott's role as Tarzan reached new heights as an intelligent thinker......Greatest Adventure the best Tarzan ever in my mind....

Aka The Jungle Book, not that Jungle Book. Tarzan (Gordon Scott) is in his jungle paradise when he's interrupted by white poachers. He saves an elephant and makes their hunt difficult. One of them suggests crossing the river, but the local guide tells them that it's the Sukulu tribe known for killing white hunters. UN doctor Celliers (Peter van Eyck) and his assistant Jill Hardy (Vera Miles) have gained a good reputation for treating the locals. The hunters intend to use them to infiltrate the good hunting grounds.

It's not bad. It is an old Tarzan movie. One has to expect the B-movie quality. There isn't much to this Gordon Scott Tarzan. He doesn't say much. He's a white bodybuilder. Don't expect too much and it'll be fine.

While "Tarzan's Hidden Jungle" isn't the worst Tarzan movie I have seen, it is all the same one of the dullest. To begin with, take how Tarzan is portrayed in this particular cinematic telling. Gordon Scott shows both no charisma and no enthusiasm in the role. In fairness to Scott, the movie doesn't exactly give him a lot to do - there is no Jane character here to interact with, and he gets very little opportunity to throw himself into action. He doesn't even do a Tarzan yell until the final few minutes of the movie (and it sounds pretty half-hearted.) The script isn't just bad with Tarzan, but also the central story - if you can call it a story, that is. It takes forever for the movie to set up what little plot there is, and what story there is doesn't feel the least bit interesting or exciting. The movie also looks pretty cheap at times. Even if you are a fan of Tarzan movies, this adventure can safely be skipped.

Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Tarzan (Gordon Scott) must help a good doctor and his assistant (Vera Miles) when they're fooled by some "cameramen" who are actually hunters. The hunters trick the doctor into taking them across the river, which is a place guarded by a tribe who worship the jungle animals. This was Scott's first film as Tarzan and it's easy to see why fans originally went so crazy for the actor as he certainly fit the bill and turned in a fine performance. The story itself really isn't all that original and especially when you consider how many of the previous films dealt with Tarzan having to do battle against hunters coming to harm animals. The screenplay offers up the most basic story as Tarzan and Cheta are living happily in the jungle when animals begin to show up with gunshot wounds. Tarzan of course starts to investigate and this here leads up to him going after the bad guys. The story itself is pretty routine and it actually doesn't offer up too much excitement but thankfully the cast is good enough to where you can overlook some of the weak story points. Scott is pretty good as Tarzan as he certainly has the body for it and I thought the performance was fitting as well. Legend has it that Scott was noticed at a pool, brought to Hollywood and this newbie beat out some who had been acting for quite a period. Scott doesn't perfectly nail the dialogue but I thought he was believable as the ape man. Miles, a few years from Hitchcock, isn't the greatest female lead in the series but I found her to be quite entertaining. Scott and Miles would marry shortly after the filming of this film and the two certainly share some chemistry in front of the cameras. Peter van Eyck is fairly bland as the doctor but Jack Elam offers up a fun villain performance. As you'd expect, we get a few jungle animals in good form but there's also quite a bit of stock footage used as naturally it doesn't mix in too well with the real footage. Also on hard is a pretty good sequence where Miles is stranded in the jungle alone and faces a lion, a large snake and then quicksand. This sequence comes towards the end of the film but it has some nice drama to it. TARZAN'S HIDDEN JUNGLE isn't a masterpiece but fans of the series should be entertained with the cast doing such a fine job.