Tarzan Triumphs (1943)

Director:

Wilhelm Thiele

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Carroll Young (story)

Release Date:

19 February 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Action | War | Adventure

Plot:

Zandra, white princess of a lost civilization, comes to Tarzan for help when Nazis invade the jungle...

Plot Keywords:

Tarzan | Nazi | Jungle | Forced Labor | Airplane Accident

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy
Frances Gifford	...	Zandra
Stanley Ridges	...	Colonel Von Reichart
Sig Ruman	...	Sergeant
Philip Van Zandt	...	Captain Bausch
Rex Williams	...	Lt. Reinhardt Schmidt
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Oman

Also Known As:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan Triumphs (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:7 (1972) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8892)

Filming Locations:

Sherwood Forest, California, USA

Company:

Sol Lesser Productions

Trivia:

Jane's absence was explained in a letter saying that she's visiting relatives in England. Maureen O'Sullivan was sick of playing Jane, but her absence probably had more to do with the fact that the franchise had switched from MGM to RKO, and O'Sullivan was a Metro contract player.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Tarzan is fighting the Nazis, he rips the magazine off a machine gun and tosses it to the ground. A moment later, one of the Nazis starts climbing to the top of the building to use the gun, and you can see the magazine still there. Yet when the Nazi arrives at the gun, the magazine is missing again.

Quotes:

Tarzan: Nazi hyena dead now.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)

Wonderful entry with a beautiful Frances Gifford

This film fantastically carries on the series without Jane, who is away during World War II at the film's time. As such, the lovely Frances Gifford of Jungle Girl plays the beautiful lead as Zandra, whose people are being overrun by the Nazis.

Her chemistry with both Johnny Weissmuller and Johnny Sheffield's Tarzan and Boy respectively is thoroughly engaging, and you believe at times in the film that both Tarzan and Boy were developing crushes on Zandra. Tarzan even shares in the delights of all male viewers at the pleasure of seeing Zandra in Jane's jungle mini-dress and even shares a playfully cozy jungle swim with her.

Such a propaganda film would never fly today, as it was well warranted back then for film and media during the war to rally round the flag against the Nazis. Likewise, the conclusion of this picture includes a satirical poke which Mel Brooks would make in many of his productions as he felt it was better to comically make fun of the Nazis rather than take them seriously.