Sat 5 Dec 2015
A Western Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT (1960).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[7] Comments
TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT. Paramount, US/UK, 1960. Gordon Scott, Jock Mahoney, Betta St. John, John Carradine, Lionel Jeffries. Written by Berne Giler and Robert Day, based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs Director: Robert Day.
Basically a Western transposed to Africa, with Gordon Scott instead of Randolph, but fun in its way.
The Tarzan of Magnificent isn’t the solipsistic jungle man of the early Tarzan films, but more like a Lone Ranger of the bush, going about rescuing folks and catching evildoers, and the plot gets moving when Tarzan (Gordon Scott) captures killer Coy Banton (Jock Mahoney) of the notorious Banton Gang, and tries to bring him to justice, as they say. The Lord of the Apes gets his prisoner to a smallish village, but it seems everyone there has seen High Noon and refuses to help him for fear of reprisal from the Banton Gang, which is headed by patriarch John Carradine, in the manner of Lee J. Cobb in Man of the West.
Nothing daunted, Tarzan decides to escort his prisoner across the prairie –er— I mean through the jungle, knowing the gang will be dogging his heels and accompanied by a disparate group of hangers-on: shades of Ride Lonesome, or maybe The Naked Spur. There’s some interesting cross-cutting between the good guys and the baddies as the characters try to work out their personal issues along the way, sundry encounters with the local fauna, and a would-be dramatic bit where one of Tarzan’s party turns out to be an ex-doctor who rallies himself to save a life — Stagecoach, anyone?
All this of course is just filler leading up to the final confrontation between Tarzan and Coy Banton, and when that moment finally arrives, it doesn’t disappoint; we get a lengthy, brutal and highly entertaining hand-to-hand battle between the protagonists across jungle, rocks, waterfalls and what-have-you, and while the outcome is never in doubt, the players and their stuntmen make it well worth your time.
By and large however, Tarzan the Magnificent isn’t in the same league as any classic western; it’s a nice try and something a bit different, but the writing and directing just ain’t there. And as for the acting…. Well one doesn’t go to Tarzan movies for the acting, but Lionel Jeffries does well in an unrewarding role, Jock Mahoney projects a virile menace, and John Carradine is his reliable self. I just couldn’t help wishing Gordon Scott had a little less dialogue.
December 6th, 2015 at 12:06 am
I’m sorry I missed this one. I think I might have enjoyed back in 1960, but I was away at college at the time, and my movie watching dropped off dramatically. I see Warner Archives has it out on DVD. I might even enjoy it now.
December 6th, 2015 at 1:05 am
Steve,
It is handsomely shot in color, well directed, and mostly well acted, and Mahoney is a great villain with something of the snake like charm of Robert Ryan in THE NAKED SPUR. It is not as good as TARZAN’S GREATEST ADVENTURE which pits Scott against Anthony Quayle and Sean Connery, but only slightly less so. I agree with Dan it can’t compare to the Westerns it most closely resembles, but it is fine jungle adventure and a Tarzan you had not seen on screen before.
Scott is no great shakes as an actor, but he isn’t embarrassing either.
That fight is a doozy filmed against a spectacular water fall, and would be impressive in any film. In fact I wonder if it and the one from the Quayle film inspired the similar fight in DARK OF THE SUN, which itself is in many ways a western set in Africa.
This is the second of two adult Tarzan films, something that came too late in the film series to really change much but still inspired two good Mahoney entries and the Mike Henry TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD.
Since a new Tarzan film is coming set in the turn of the century Belgian Congo in 2016 with Alexander Skarsgard, Samuel Jackson, and Christopher Waltz from INGLORIOUS BASTARDS and DJANGO UNCHAINED the grown up Tarzan may be back.
December 6th, 2015 at 1:22 am
David
When you talk about “adult Tarzan films,” does that mean no monkeys or chimps?
PS. I hadn’t heard about the new Tarzan film. With those stars it might be worth waiting for.
December 6th, 2015 at 1:26 am
I just checked to see if SkarsgÃ¥rd is the one playing Tarzan, and it is. If I’d found out that it was Samuel L. Jackson, forget it, as much as I love Samuel L. Jackson films.
December 6th, 2015 at 4:47 am
Scott’s “Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure” may actually be truth in advertising. Scott was then replaced by the older, rangier Mahoney. His second film had him catch the local diseases for real. He finished the film, but you can see him wasting away on screen. But these films present the character as ERB’s savage nobleman. Mike Henry even arrives in one of his films by helicopter, wearing a three piece suit, carrying a briefcase.
December 7th, 2015 at 4:13 pm
Skarsgard was Eric on TRUE BLOOD for anyone who doesn’t know him. The plot of this one has Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, ensconced in his life in England as a nobleman and asked by the government to go on a mission in the pre WWI Belgian Congo where he encounters a Kurtz like villain (Christpher Waltz) ala HEART OF DARKNESS and must call on his half forgotten skills as the lord of the jungle. Jackson plays a sort of African mentor of Tarzan’s I think.
As far as I know neither Cheetah nor Nkima, Tarzan’s pet monkey, have major roles, and if his son is in it, it is as Jack and not Boy. I seriously doubt there is any treehouse or comedy relief animals from the description of the series.
There have been some reports of trouble with the film, but it does at least sound like a grown up version of Burroughs Tarzan and is billed as a big action adventure film and not yet another rehash of Tarzan’s origin although that plays a role in the film too.
It is at least an attempt to do a serious grown up Tarzan adventure, something that hasn’t happened since the Mike Henry films.
December 8th, 2015 at 1:02 am
I’ve always thought ‘Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure’ is really good. With its location shooting and all. One must remember with these pictures, the lead actor is running around the jungle barefoot. So, deserves some slack for just surviving the production.
Also, the movie ‘Greystoke’ wasn’t that bad. And there was a ‘Tarzan and the Lost City’ that came out in 1998 that was good, too. At least it had a Tarzan and Jane, Casper Van Dien and Jane March, who knew how to handle themselves in the brush. Unfortunately its budget seem to run low for the later part of the movie. But, worth checking out.