Tarzan the Fearless (1933)

Director:

Robert F. Hill

Writers:

Walter Anthony (screenplay)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (character)
(more)

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:

Animal Attack | Blonde | Banana Tree | Pit | Lost Film

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Everett Brown	...	Bearer (uncredited)
Philip Sleeman	...	Slave Trader (uncredited)
Ivory Williams	...	Unga (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert F. Hill		(as Robert Hill)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Walter Anthony		screenplay
Edgar Rice Burroughs		character
Basil Dickey		adaptation and scenario
George H. Plympton		adaptation and scenario (as George Plympton)

Produced by
Sol Lesser	....	producer

Cinematography by
Joseph Brotherton		(photographed by)
Harry Neumann		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Carl Himm

Production Management
Julian Lesser	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Theodore Joos	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Charles J. Hunt	....	sound editor

Stunts
George DeNormand	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Bert Goodrich	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Red Knight	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Nellie Walker	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Thelma Warren	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Music Department
Abe Meyer	....	music supervisor
Henry Hadley	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Hugo Riesenfeld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Milan Roder	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Oliver Wallace	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Sam Wineland	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
William Lord Wright	....	screenplay supervisor (as Wm. Lord Wright)
Walter Anthony	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
David Holt	....	human double: chimpanzee (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Sol Lesser Productions (as Principal Productions Inc.)

Distributors

• Principal Distributing Corporation (1933) (USA) (theatrical)
• Wardour Films (1933) (UK) (theatrical)
• Madacy Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• D3K Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Pop Flix (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2008) (Italy) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Balsley and Phillips  sound recording

Also Known As:

Tarzan the Invincible (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

200 min (12 episodes)

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:

In addition to the 12-chapter serial, producer Sol Lesser edited the first four chapters into a 1933 feature film, with a trailer announcing future chapters at the theater weekly. However, some theaters did not show the trailer, causing confusion about the abrupt ending of the movie.

Movie Connections:

Follows Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927)

Well, what happened to the actual serial?

This is a feature version of a 12-chapter serial, although some don't seem to know that the serial exists. As was a semi-common practice of the time, some serials were produced as both a feature and also as a serial. The reason was that some theatres would not book serials but had no qualms about booking a feature edited from a serial, and this practice allowed the serial producer to get a booking in a theatre for his condensed feature that they would not have gotten as a 12-episode serial.

This "feature version" consists of the first four chapters of the 12-chapter SERIAL that was titled "Tarzan the Fearless," , which a great many collectors have in its 12-chapter form (that some don't seem to know exists) and, some of the luckier ones, even have all of the different original one-sheets posters issued with each chapter title, and the full eight-card set of different lobby cards issued with each chapter following the showing of the feature version at theatres that did book serials; and most of those theatres that did book serials didn't bother showing this feature version, opting instead to show one chapter a week for 12 weeks.

The chapter titles for the 12 episodes of this serial (from which the "Tarzan the Fearless" feature version was chopped out of) were: 1. The Dive of Death; 2. The Storm God Strikes; 3. Thundering Death; 4. The Pit of Peril; 5. Blood Money; 6. Voodoo Vengeance; 7. Caught by Cannibals; 8. The Creeping Terror; 9. Eyes of Evil; 10. The Death Plunge; 11. Harvest of Hate and 12. Jungle Justice.

Producer Sol Lesser's plan was to make both a feature version and a serial...and he did both.