Talk about a transformation – under the stewardship of producer Sol Lesser the Tarzan films had become increasingly poor, boring and badly made. He sold the rights to a new producer, who actually put some effort into the thing, and the result is one of the best Tarzans ever. Great colour photography, top notch location work, strong story, excellent support cast, and a really good director – John Guillermin.
It’s still got Gordon Scott, star of four unremarkable Tarzan movies, but he’s allowed to speak in full sentences has a more sensible haircut, and uses his brains more instead of just going the biff and calling in an elephant stampede when things get too hard. We see him tracking the baddies, using a bow and arrow – it’s a tougher, more ruthless Tarzan. He’s motivated by anger but he’s steady and precise in his response (the whole film is really Tarzan on a hunt).
He’s given a proper female co-star too – not a Jane, but a feisty, flirty female pilot. She’s a bit of a dill (she crashes her plane and is a bit shallow and complains), but at least she’s sexually aggressive and allowed to get involved; she even saves Tarzan’s life towards the end. And they have sex (well, they kiss and fade out and in Tarzan land that’s always meant sex). Indeed, it’s actually a touching relationship – they come to admire each other but he’s a guy from the jungle and she’s a socialite and that’s the way it is.
She’s not the only tail on display – Anthony Quayle’s got this sexy European moll who at one point literally lures Quayle into the bushes, making this the most female-oriented Tarzan movies in ages.
There is a great “rogue’s gallery” of villains – admittedly, sometimes their squabbling amongst themselves seems contrived at times, but they are played by excellent actors. Sean Connery is very appealing and charismatic (as an Irishman with a Scots accent) – you know, he would have made a great Tarzan. (He and the others are blacked up for the opening sequence.)
But it’s Quayle who steals the show. He is superb as the scarred baddie with a history with Tarzan; he is intelligent, resourceful, ferocious and virile – the best Tarzan villain to date (and their fight on top of a cliff at the end is breathtaking).
The film was partly shot in Kenya, perhaps explaining why there’s a scene at the beginning where a British colonial officer brings Tarzan up to speed about what’s going on. Plenty of hard violent action – falling in a pit of sticks, crashing on rocks. Extremely well-made and enjoyable movie.
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