Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Carroll Young (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

January 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

An Exotic Beauty Rules The Jungle !

Plot:

An African tribe devoted to the leopard cult is dedicated to preventing civilization from moving further into Africa...

Plot Keywords:

Tarzan | Leopard | Cult | Caravan | Africa

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Brenda Joyce	...	Jane
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy
Acquanetta	...	Lea, the High Priestess
Edgar Barrier	...	Dr. Ameer Lazar
Dennis Hoey	...	Commissioner
Tommy Cook	...	Kimba
Anthony Caruso	...	Mongo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Barron	...	Caravaneer (uncredited)
Ted Billings	...	Native Passerby (uncredited)
Ray Dolciame	...	Leopard Boy (uncredited)
Iris Flores	...	Zambesi Maiden (uncredited)
Bobby Frasco	...	Leopard Boy (uncredited)
Helen Gerald	...	Zambesi Maiden (uncredited)
'King Kong' Kashey	...	Tongolo the Terrible (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	Corporal (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Miss Wetherby, School Superintendent (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	Snake Charmer (uncredited)
Lillian Molieri	...	Zambesi Maiden (uncredited)
Neyle Morrow	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Charles Regan	...	Leopard Man (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	Ivory Merchant (uncredited)
John Roth	...	Leopard Man (uncredited)
Bobby Samrich	...	Leopard Boy (uncredited)
Cy Schindell	...	Leopard Man (uncredited)
John Shay	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Kay Solinas	...	Zambesi Maiden (uncredited)
Robert Strong	...	Leopard Man (uncredited)
Ken Terrell	...	Leopard Man (uncredited)
Marek Windheim	...	Silk Merchant (uncredited)

Directed by
Kurt Neumann

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edgar Rice Burroughs		characters
Carroll Young		screenplay
Carroll Young		story

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

Original Music by
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography by
Karl Struss

Film Editing by
Robert O. Crandall

Production Design by
Phil Paradise

Art Direction by
Lewis H. Creber		(as Lewis Creber)

Makeup Department
Irving Berns	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Clem Beauchamp	....	unit manager

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

Sound Department
John R. Carter	....	sound technician

Stunts
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert Martien	....	wardrober

Other crew
Lester Horton	....	dance director
Olga Celeste	....	leopard trainer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Sol Lesser Productions

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1950) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1951) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Banner Productions (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)

Also Known As:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #11099)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Sol Lesser Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When Cheetah sneaks up on the Commissioner and Doctor Lazar, he sprays the Commissioner with the soda water from the bottle on the ground. You see him hit squarely in the face with the water, yet right after he gets up from his chair, his face and clothes are dry.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949)

Tarzan saves Jane, Boy and "the Zambezi maidens" from freaky leopard-worshiping cult

MY favorite of the Johnny Weisemuller Tarzan movies, contains great B-movie over-the-top performances and classic lines.

The Tarzan family's shopping trip to Zambezi is cut short by the arrival of a bloodied,dying man, the only survivor of a caravan apparently attacked by leopards. But the Jungle Man knows something is not quite right. "Man not killed by Leopard" he declares, pointing out that leopards use not just their claws but their teeth to kill. Challenged by skeptics to give an alternative explanation, he responds with the classic line "Something Leopard that isn't Leopard".

That something is this freakish cult of Leopard people,who enjoy dressing up in animal skins, attacking people, and ripping out their hearts to sacrifice to their god. They are led by Lea (Aquanetta) (based loosely on the character of the high priestess "La" in the Tarzan novels) and her lover, Lazar, a proto-environmentalist?- who is obsessed with stamping out civilization - a great "over-the-top performance by Edgar Barrier.("Away with them! Down with them!")

But the character to watch is "Kimba" Lea's brother, deliciously portrayed by Tommy Cook - as a conniving, sadistic little creep, who despises Lazar and harbors a not-so-secret lust for his sister and for Jane, the "lady with golden hair".

Taunted by his friends for his pretentiousness,Kimba boasts "When I come back,I will show you a heart". Kimba ingratiates himself into the Tarzan family, then turns on the unsuspecting Jane and Boy declaring "Now I take back TWO hearts". It stretches credulity when the bumbling Boy temporarily overpowers the clever and calculating Kimba.

Tarzan knows more about the ways of the jungle and its inhabitants than anyone, so of course NO ONE in the movie takes his warnings seriously until another caravan is attacked, and the "Zambezi maidens" (student teachers who have been hired to civilize the natives)are captured, along with the entire Tarzan family, and all are bound and prepared for sacrifice to the leopard god. Following classic adventure movie logic, the leopard folks bind Tarzan to the main support beam of their temple, providing him (with the aid of the ever-helpful Cheetah)not only with the opportunity to escape but to literally bring down the house. In a final moment of dramatic retribution, the dying Kimba finally gets his coveted heart - Lazar's heart.

As a kid, I just loved this movie, and I wish it were available on video or DVD. Does anyone know if it is going to be released?