Tarzan the Fearless (1933)

Director:

Robert F. Hill

Writers:

Walter Anthony (screenplay)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (character)

Release Date:

11 August 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

Romance! Adventure! Thrills!

Plot:

Mary Brooks' father, who has been studying ancient tribes, falls into the hands of "the people of Zar...

Plot Keywords:

Tarzan | Cave | Jungle | Rescue | Photograph

Cast

Buster Crabbe	...	Tarzan
Julie Bishop	...	Mary Brooks (as Jaqueline Wells)
E. Alyn Warren	...	Dr. Brooks, Mary's Father
Edward Woods	...	Bob Hall (as Eddie Woods)
Philo McCullough	...	Jeff Herbert, Villainous Safari Guide
Matthew Betz	...	Nick Moran, Villainous Safari Guide
Frank Lackteen	...	Abdul, Aide to the High Priest
Mischa Auer	...	Eltar, High Priest of Zar
Carlotta Monti	...	Madi, Priestess of Zar
Symona Boniface	...	Sara, Arab Woman, Conspiring with Abdul
Darby Jones	...	Anga, the Head Bearer
Al Kikume	...	Warrior
George DeNormand	...	Guard

Also Known As:

Tarzan the Invincible (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

200 min (12 episodes) | USA:61 min (feature) | UK:86 min (feature)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Sol Lesser Productions

Trivia:

The complete, original serial version is considered to be a lost film.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: Troldspejlet Special: Bag Disneys Tarzan (#22.10)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Call of Tarzan

Has a bad Tarzan yell

The Tarzan of the movies was a sissy, compared with the blood thirsty apeman of the early Burroughs novels. The real Tarzan ate raw meat and the blood ran off his chin. Moviegoers might not have been up to this kind of realism. That aside, this is a worthwhile, albeit early, Tarzan film. Buster Crabbe was a better athlete than other actors who played the role; like Weismuller, Crabbe had an Olympic gold medal and was more muscular. He also had a skimpier costume in the pre-Hayes Office days.

The plot skips all over the place, probably because it was edited down from an episodic serial. The chimp is there, playing cute, as he did in almost all Tarzan films. The trapeze or vine swinging work is considerably better here. If Buster Crabbe didn't actually do it, he appeared to be quite high and hanging on precariously. Unfortunately the Tarzan yell, a trademark of these films, is a mild bleat compared with those that came later. I miss that in this version.

All in all, I'd give this a fair to good grade.