Tarzan and the Huntress (1947)

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Jerry Gruskin (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

5 April 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

Adventure Crashes To The Screen . . . Romance, Plus! Action, Plus! . . . Amid the Teeming Jungle!

Plot:

A shortage of zoo animals after World War II brings beautiful animal trainer Tanya, her financial backer and her cruel trail boss to the jungle...

Plot Keywords:

Loincloth | Africa | Assassination | Tarzan | Chimpanzee

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Brenda Joyce	...	Jane
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy
Patricia Morison	...	Tanya Rawlins
Barton MacLane	...	Paul Weir (as Barton Maclane)
John Warburton	...	Carl Marley
Charles Trowbridge	...	King Farrod
Ted Hecht	...	Prince Ozira
Wallace Scott	...	'Smitty' Smithers
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Georges Renavent	...	Man Weighing King (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson	...	Monak (uncredited)
Maurice Tauzin	...	Prince Suli (uncredited)

Directed by
Kurt Neumann

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edgar Rice Burroughs		characters
Jerry Gruskin		screenplay
Jerry Gruskin		story
Rowland Leigh		screenplay
Rowland Leigh		story

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

Original Music by
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography by
Archie Stout

Film Editing by
Merrill G. White		(as Merrill White)

Production Design by
Phil Paradise

Art Direction by
McClure Capps

Costume Design by
Harold Clandenning

Makeup Department
Irving Berns	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Clem Beauchamp	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bert Briskin	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Frank McWhorter	....	sound technician

Stunts
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)

Editorial Department
John Sheets	....	associate film editor

Other crew
Albert Antonucci	....	trainer: cheetah (uncredited)
Leslie Charteris	....	screenplay constructor (uncredited)
B. Reeves Eason	....	director of elephant stampede (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Sol Lesser Productions

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical)
• Banner Productions (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Huntress (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:

Taiwan:GP | Austria:6 | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-8 | Norway:7 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #12057)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Sol Lesser Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Tarzan's knife has the ability to appear and disappear between shots. In one scene, he throws his knife at a hunter on the ground, hitting him in the back. A moment later, he goes to attack another man, and lo and behold, the knife has returned to its sheath. A second later, when the shot changes, the knife is gone again. And, after he defeats the man in the tree and runs off to save everyone else, the knife is back in its sheath again without Tarzan going to retrieve it from the man he threw it at!

Movie Connections:

Followed by Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)

Nice entry as the Weissmuller series winds down.

This is a nice, if not unspectacular penultimate film of the Weissmuller Tarzan series. The adventure element is somewhat lacking in parts of the film, but Patricia Morison does a fine job as the central figure of the hunting expedition.

Surprisingly, this film delights in playing up the love and romance between Tarzan and Jane in a couple of scenes. Unfortunately such scenes that defined the Maureen O'Sullivan films were sadly not included for the better part of the Brenda Joyce entries as Jane as the producers chose to focus on Tarzan's interaction with other beautiful females.

Perhaps this was added because Johnny Sheffield's presence as an almost adult Boy would confuse new audiences as to whom Jane's mate actually was!! Still, there is one scene where Jane asks Boy's help as she playfully is physically subdued by Tarzan after Jane tickles Tarzan's chest in seeking an apology. When Boy attempts to interfere, he is booted off the raft by Tarzan.

And while Cheta is still overused in these films, this is still a respectable entry in the series.