Mon 14 Sep 2015
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: TARZAN AND THE SLAVE GIRL (1959).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[5] Comments
TARZAN AND THE SLAVE GIRL. RKO Radio Pictures, 1950. Lex Barker, Vanessa Brown, Robert Alda, Hurd Hatfield, Arthur Shields, Tony Caruso, Denise Darcel. Based on the charcaters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Director: Lee Sholem.
After the first twenty minutes or so, I was all but ready to give up on Tarzan and the Slave Girl. There was a lot of frenetic activity in the jungle, a few tribes running amok, and what not. But it didn’t seem to be leading anywhere in particular.
But I’m glad I kept watching, because this entry into the Tarzan filmography turned into a rather enjoyable escapist adventure. Directed by Lee Sholem, Tarzan and the Slave Girl is notable for being Lex Barker’s second portrayal of our eponymous hero and actress Vanessa Brown’s sole portrayal of Jane.
The plot follows Tarzan as he seeks to rescue slave women held captive by a jungle tribe that is suffering from a mysterious health ailment. Tarzan teams up with a somewhat alcoholic game hunter named Neil (Robert Alda) to both find the aforementioned tribe’s hidden city and to rescue Jane and Neil’s would-be girlfriend, Lola (Denise Darcel). It’s a lighthearted little adventure film that, while not particularly memorable, ends up being quite fun to watch.
September 14th, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Extraordinary cast. The Barker films aren’t bad though I wish he had been allowed to play the part as a more literate version. I’m always surprised how few of these he did. It seemed like more when they were showing up on Saturday mornings.
September 14th, 2015 at 6:17 pm
Haven’t seen this one in a long time, but I remember liking it, especially Alda’s character. I was a Weissmuller fan, but Barker was probably my second favorite Tarzan when I was a kid.
September 14th, 2015 at 8:09 pm
If I saw this one, it must have been on TV. I was too young when this came out to be going to the movies alone. That didn’t happen for a couple more years, then I and my brother went once a week, sometimes twice.
To echo David in Comment #1, this was quite a cast for a low budget movie, which I assume it was.
I didn’t see any Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller until much much later. I think seeing him as Jungle Jim movies had something to do with it. The JJ movies may have been OK, but I thought they were terrible as a kid, and you might have to pay me to watch one now.
September 14th, 2015 at 10:03 pm
This is an informative review!
Lee Sholem is a little studied director.
There are some brief starter notes on a few Lee Sholem TV Westerns on my web site:
http://mikegrost.com/sholem.htm
I was always a big Hurd Hatfield fan. Perhaps the only one in creation… Arthur Shield sis a favorite too.
September 15th, 2015 at 7:38 pm
Mike,
I don’t know if I can be called a Hatfield fan or not, but I am still ticked at Robert Osborne and Sally Field for their commentary during THE PORTRAIT OF DORIAN GRAY on TCM Essentials for suggesting Peter Lawford would be better cast as Dorian.
Hatfield did a good episode of THE WILD WILD WEST with guest star William Talman that I recall vividly as well. Within his limited range he was a definite screen presence.