Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959)
*** (out of 4)
Gordon Scott's fifth attempt at playing Tarzan is certainly a step above the previous four. In this outing he must try and track down four British diamond smugglers who are blowing up African villages trying to gather supplies for when they reach this diamond cave. Along the way Tarzan rescues a woman (Sara Shane) and she joins him for the adventure. TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE was clearly meant to try and take the series to a higher quality level and I think it's fair to say that this is the most lavished film in the long running series since the early MGM/Johnny Weissmuller films. I think there's a lot of good here and this is clearly one of the best films in the series. You can start off with Scott who by this time was perfectly comfortable in the role and you must admit that he's probably the best Tarzan since Weissmuller. The actor certainly has the physical appearance to pull the part off but he also works well when it comes to delivering the dialogue. The earlier films always had Tarzan speaking in this weird broken English but this wasn't how the character was originally written so it's nice to see a different approach and Scott does a very good job with it. The supporting cast is equally great here including Shane who makes for a terrific love interest. The actress is very strong in the part and her and Scott share some real chemistry. The bad guys are all terrific with Anthony Quayle doing a remarkable job as the main guy. Niall MacGinnis is perfect as the snake diamond expert and a young Sean Connery plays the loud-mouth tough guy. Another major plus is that the majority of this was actually filmed in a jungle and this really adds some nice atmosphere. The cinematography really picks up everything quite nicely and adds an added dimension. The story itself is another winner as it clearly tries to break away from a lot of the comedy and silliness that a lot of the series had. Instead of comedy we pretty much get one action scene after another and most of them are quite fun and a few even has some nice suspense. There's a chilling scene involving quicksand and of course you have to have Tarzan battling a crocodile. With that said, if you're looking for high art you're certainly not going to find it here but there's no question that this is an entertaining little film with some strong performances and nice action.
*** (out of 4)
Gordon Scott's fifth attempt at playing Tarzan is certainly a step above the previous four. In this outing he must try and track down four British diamond smugglers who are blowing up African villages trying to gather supplies for when they reach this diamond cave. Along the way Tarzan rescues a woman (Sara Shane) and she joins him for the adventure. TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE was clearly meant to try and take the series to a higher quality level and I think it's fair to say that this is the most lavished film in the long running series since the early MGM/Johnny Weissmuller films. I think there's a lot of good here and this is clearly one of the best films in the series. You can start off with Scott who by this time was perfectly comfortable in the role and you must admit that he's probably the best Tarzan since Weissmuller. The actor certainly has the physical appearance to pull the part off but he also works well when it comes to delivering the dialogue. The earlier films always had Tarzan speaking in this weird broken English but this wasn't how the character was originally written so it's nice to see a different approach and Scott does a very good job with it. The supporting cast is equally great here including Shane who makes for a terrific love interest. The actress is very strong in the part and her and Scott share some real chemistry. The bad guys are all terrific with Anthony Quayle doing a remarkable job as the main guy. Niall MacGinnis is perfect as the snake diamond expert and a young Sean Connery plays the loud-mouth tough guy. Another major plus is that the majority of this was actually filmed in a jungle and this really adds some nice atmosphere. The cinematography really picks up everything quite nicely and adds an added dimension. The story itself is another winner as it clearly tries to break away from a lot of the comedy and silliness that a lot of the series had. Instead of comedy we pretty much get one action scene after another and most of them are quite fun and a few even has some nice suspense. There's a chilling scene involving quicksand and of course you have to have Tarzan battling a crocodile. With that said, if you're looking for high art you're certainly not going to find it here but there's no question that this is an entertaining little film with some strong performances and nice action.