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DVD Review: TARZAN TRIUMPHS / William Thiele (1943)

November 18th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Tarzan Triumphs (1943)
Directed by William Thiele
Written by Roy Chanslor and Carroll Young based on characters by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Starring: Cheeta, Johnny Weismuller, Johnny Sheffield, Frances Gifford, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman and Phil Van Zandt
Running Time: 78 min.
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

After M.G.M. shuttered their Tarzan unit, the King of the Jungle hopped a vine and swung across town to R.K.O. Gone were the Florida location shoots (Sherwood Forest, California and reels of stock footage now replicate the Congo), the budgets shrank and Metro contract player Maureen O’Sullivan would never again play Tarzan’s mate. In truth, Ms. O’Sullivan was sick of the series and delighted to be out. So strong was Ms. O’Sullivan’s absence, the first two Tarzan outings at R.K.O. went Jane-less.

In Tarzan Triumphs, Jane’s absence is explained in a letter from London. Jane’s communiqué brings news of Tarzan’s mother-in-law’s health as well alerting her husband and Boy to the Nazi overthrow of Europe. The escarpment appears to have regular mail delivery but no daily newspaper.

The opening image brilliantly sets the film’s tone: The credits play over a freeze-frame of an elephant’s ass. A planeload of Nazis invade the neighboring Polandria (cut out: “dria”) in search of tin, rubber and, of course, oil. Jane absent from the equation doesn’t necessarily mean Tarzan has to “swim” alone. Oman (Pedro de Cordoba), ruler of Polandria, may look like a dress extra from Sign of the Cross, but he has a super hot Daughter, Zandra (Frances Gifford) who seems to share Tarzan’s knack for saving the day. She also gives excellent river.

Tarzan doesn’t want anything to do with the Nazis, but Zandra’s subtle persuasion, coupled with Hitler Youth poster child Boy getting kidnapped, changes his mind. Besides, Zandra is a good cook and the best way to get a man to kill Nazis is through his stomach.

Initially the Germans admire Juju-Man’s isolationism, but after they aim a few bullets at our hero’s loincloth and conceal Boy, Tarzan make war! The Nazis may have figured out how to exterminate millions, but they are no match for Cheeta. The pixilated primate gargles, gets pelted with fruit and cackles on cue, but as soon as Sig Ruman lays hands on Boy, the passive chimp goes bananas.

When the war broke out, Hollywood propaganda initially depicted Nazis as stock ignoramuses, not lethal killing machines. Tarzan Triumphs appears to have been made on the cusp. The vicious Colonel Von Reichart (Stanley Ridges) slaps Boy repeatedly across the face while his underlings, Philip Van Zandt and particularly Sig Ruman, provide comic relief. Now that I’m complaining. Sig Ruman’s fast motion ride on a vine marked the film’s high point.

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