Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
John Jacoby (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 April 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

Hidden City Of Women . . . Forbidden To Men !

Plot:

A group of archaeologists asks Tarzan to help them find an ancient city in a hidden valley of women...

Plot Keywords:

Tarzan | Queen | Panther | Gun | Bird Hunting

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Brenda Joyce	...	Jane
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy
Henry Stephenson	...	Sir Guy Henderson, the Archeologist
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Amazon Queen (as Mme. Maria Ouspenskaya)
Barton MacLane	...	Ballister (as Barton Maclane)
Donald Douglas	...	Anders (as Don Douglas)
Steven Geray	...	Brenner
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Splivens
Shirley O'Hara	...	Athena
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frederic Brunn	...	LaTour (uncredited)
Frank Darien	...	Dinghy Skipper (uncredited)
Christine Forsyth	...	Amazon (uncredited)
Lionel Royce	...	Basov (uncredited)

Directed by
Kurt Neumann

Writing credits
Edgar Rice Burroughs		(characters)
John Jacoby		(writer) and
Marjorie L. Pfaelzer		(writer)

Produced by
Sol Lesser	....	producer
Kurt Neumann	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Archie Stout

Film Editing by
Robert O. Crandall		(as Robert Crandall)

Production Design by
Phil Paradise

Art Direction by
Walter Koessler

Makeup Department
Norbert Miles	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Scott R. Beal	....	assistant director

Art Department
James Altwies	....	interiors (as James E. Altwies)

Sound Department
Jean L. Speak	....	sound technician

Stunts
Babe DeFreest	....	stunt double: Shirley O'Hara (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Fleet Southcott	....	second camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Earl Moser	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Paul Sawtell	....	musical director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Sol Lesser Productions (as Champion Productions Inc.)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1945) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1950) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Banner Productions (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)

Also Known As:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Amazons (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:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:S | Germany:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #10464) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Baldwin Park Lodge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Sol Lesser Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Athena is struck in the back with the knife, she falls over but manages to survive long enough to strike the gong. The entire time she falls right up until she strikes the gong, no knife is seen in her back, nor is one seen on the ground.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950)

Tarzan's Secret City

TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS (RKO Radio, 1945), directed by Kurt Neumann, the first theatrical "Tarzan" release in two years since 1943's TARZAN TRIUMPHS and TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY, and the third installment under Sol Lesser productions for RKO starring Johnny Weissmuller, brings forth some notable changes in the series. First being Tarzan himself, as played by Johnny Weissmuller since 1932, who is now showing his age (he was then past 40), having a bigger waistline and sporting an upgraded larger sized loincloth, while Johnny Sheffield, still playing the curly haired Boy, a role he introduced when he was about 6 or 7 in TARZAN FINDS A SON (MGM, 1939, now an adolescent in the age range of 13 or 14, whose speaking voice not having reached the maturity stage yet, but no longer talking in a higher pitch of a little boy, appears close to the physical height of Weissmuller, and unlike Weissmuller, wears a darker colored but smaller sized loincloth. It is Sheffield who, for the first time since TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (MGM, 1941), to be given more screen time (and camera closeups) than the jungle lord himself, giving some indication that the studio publicity department was trying to promote young Sheffield into some sort of teenage movie idol. But most important is the return of Tarzan's mate/wife, Jane, formerly played by the redheaded Maureen O'Sullivan, now enacted by the blonde Brenda Joyce, making her first of five screen appearances in this then highly popular jungle adventure series. Her character is introduced in fashionable clothes before returning to the more familiar jungle attire that naturally excites and pleases Tarzan once she's in them. It is interesting to point out that when O'Sullivan played Jane, she was addressed as "Mother" by Boy. With Brenda Joyce taking over the part, Boy no longer calls her "Mother" but now by her first name, "Jane." As for the story, no more World War II propaganda and villainous Nazis as presented in the aforementioned 1943 releases, but the return to the old formula repeated numerous times during the more productive MGM years dealing with white men starting off on a friendly mission only to become dangerous intruders, especially when greed of gold is concerned, causing trouble for Tarzan and his family. But without villains to stir up interest and situations involved, there would be no exciting or satisfactory Tarzan story to display any interest.

TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS opens with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), his son, Boy (Johnny Sheffield) and their pet chimpanzee, Cheetah, setting out to meet with Jane, who is scheduled to return home from her trip in England. While going down the river on a raft, Tarzan sees a girl running from a lion and immediately comes to her rescue. The girl, with an injury to her ankle, turns out to be Athena (Shirley O'Hara), one of the Amazon women tribe of Palmeria. As Tarzan carries Athena back to her civilization, he orders Boy to remain behind. Curious as well as disobeying Tarzan, Boy, along with Cheetah, quietly follows Tarzan from a distance, watching him walking between the high mountains leading to an unknown paradise of women ruled by a middle-aged Queen (Maria Ouspenskaya), who reveals to her tribe that Tarzan is the only outsider to know of their kingdom, and has kept his secret well. Returning from the civilization and not wanting to discuss anything further to his son, Tarzan and Boy start to swim over to the steamboat where Jane (Brenda Joyce), the passenger, is accompanied by a group of archaeologists, Sir Guy Henderson (Henry Stephenson), Bannister (Barton MacLane), Anders (Don Douglas), Splivers (J.M. Kerrigan) and McClour (Steven Geray), whom she had met while in England. Because they were good travel companions to Jane, Tarzan invites these strangers to their habitat. Boy becomes very fascinated by these men, especially after witnessing items new to him such as looking through a microscope to get an eye-view of wandering germs, as well as listening to stories about the outside civilized world. Cheetah, who earlier had acquired an emblem accidentally dropped by Athena, presents it to Jane. Sir Guy takes an interest in this rare emblem, and after doing some research in a book, finds that it belongs to a lost Amazon tribe. Because Sir Guy has found out more than he should, Tarzan refuses to help lead him and his men to the Amazon tribe, and orders them to go. Not wanting them to leave, Boy decides to take matters into his own hands by escorting the archaeologists over to the lost civilization without the knowledge of either Tarzan or Jane. Once there they are all taken in by the women guards to stand before the Queen who finds them all intruders. To show they have come under friendly terms, Sir Guy agrees to give up their ammunitions. However, the Queen spares their lives, and deciding what to do with them, she has them confined in a cell, and never to leave the kingdom for the rest of their natural lives. Noticing the valuable possessions surrounding them, greed sets in, especially with Bannister, now wanting to leave and take back with him these priceless treasures. As a favor to Boy, Athena arranges for them to depart during the night, but instead of walking out quietly and peacefully, Bannister and his men, who have retrieved their guns, decide to help themselves to the treasure, killing Sir Guy who has tried to stop them, and forcing Boy, who now realizes his error in judgment, to help carry the supplied bags of gold. The disturbance causes one of the guards to send out a distress call, with a couple of the Amazons to get shot and killed in the process, with the bad guys managing to break away while the guards grab hold onto Boy, taking him to the throne to be faced and judged by the ever angry Queen. Because Boy happened to be the one responsible for leading these strangers into her kingdom, the Queen orders to have Boy executed by drinking a poisoned potion, in spite the fact that the youngster is the son of Tarzan.

Aside from the standard routines normally found in "Tarzan" films, such as Cheetah howling laughter and mugging into the camera; Tarzan's vine swinging from tree to tree, doing some last minute rescues such as swimming to save Boy from a crocodile attack, and standing firm that he is king of the jungle, the writers of TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS toss in some aspects of reality normally found with common every-day families. Rather than presenting Tarzan, Jane and Boy as a jungle family in Africa living their day-to-day existence climbing trees, vine swinging, hunting or underwater swimming, it goes even further by showcasing Tarzan and Boy coming to one-on-one arguments and disagreements. Sheffield's Boy, who usually looks up to Tarzan in a hero worshiping sense, as would any little boy towards his father, is given the opportunity to show signs of adolescence by acting out his frustrations, questioning authority, namely Tarzan's, when not being given any reason as to why his orders are to be obeyed. Boy, who has known no other existence except roaming around half-naked throughout the jungle (though it shouldn't be forgotten about their family outing to the Big Apple in 1942's TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE), boredom has now taken its toll, causing Boy's attitude to change towards Tarzan, especially when finding the archaeologists more interesting in comparison to Tarzan. One heated scene finds Tarzan, believing that Boy will forget about these men, inviting him to go hunting as promised earlier in the story. The upset Boy refuses, telling him that he doesn't ever want to go hunting with him again. Tarzan's hurt feelings and anger are immediately sensed when he breaks Boy's hunting bow, which he had made for him, over his knee and departing, causing Boy and Jane to stand silently completely still. While this doesn't really make as strong a statement as father and son relationships are concerned, this does prove that these two characters are just like anyone else. In typical fashion when father and son are on non-speaking terms, it is usually the mother, Jane in this case, to come to Boy's aide, and not taking sides, makes him realize that he was wrong for his actions, and to go and find Tarzan to apologize. However, Boy, showing no signs of wanting to burst out in song to "Oh, My Papa," can be just as stubborn than Tarzan. He walks about the jungle thinking things out, and decides on going against Tarzan's wishes and guide the archaeologists into the lost civilization himself. Before a heavy winded storm sets in, Jane goes out looking for Boy, but becomes injured by a falling tree in the process. Upon Tarzan's return, he finds and takes Jane back into their treehouse. Jane in a semi-conscious state, crying out for Boy. Tarzan believes Boy will eventually calm down and return home, unaware that he and the researchers are being held prisoners by the Amazons, never to be seen or heard from the outside world again.

What makes TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS worth viewing is the presence of famed Russian actress Maria Ouspenskaya playing the Amazon Queen. Ouspenskaya is best known today for her role as Meleva, the Gypsy Woman, in Universal's THE WOLF MAN (1941) and its sequel, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943), opposite Lon Chaney Jr. Short in size, slow in speech delivery, heavy accented, but no raving beauty to say the least, those familiar with her on screen personality normally feel her presence in any sort of motion picture. Henry Stephenson, who was earlier seen in TARZAN FINDS A SON, appears for the second and final time in the series, this time in a different character portrayal. Barton MacLane, most noted for his gangster roles or playing good tough guys in numerous Warner Brothers crime dramas of the 1930s, makes his first of two appearances in the "Tarzan" series.

Light on action and long on dialogue, TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS makes interesting character study and routine adventure for any juvenile crowd. Some tense moments, however, involve a couple of villains meeting their fate when engulfed into quicksand and slowing sinking, but otherwise no real violence to speak of in this acceptable 76 minute programmer.

TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS, along with the others in the series based on the characters created by Edgar Rice Burrough, at one time popular viewing on commercial television in mid-afternoon or after-midnight hours some decades ago, was resurrected on the American Movie Classics cable channel between 1997 and 2001 where it found renewed interests and new and renewed viewers, with former host Bob Dorian giving his informative view on the film(s) and the others featuring Weissmiller with much warmth and nostalgic memories, and what these "Tarzan" adventures meant to him as a kid growing up in Brooklyn when released annually in his neighborhood theater. Unlike the six entries made at MGM, to date, the RKO Radio Tarzan series have never been distributed to video cassette. Next chapter in the series: TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN (1946).