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.
Continue reading DVD Review: TARZAN TRIUMPHS / William Thiele (1943)
Tags: cheeta, Frances Gifford, johnny sheffield, johnny weismuller, Philip Van Zandt, Propaganda, Sig Ruman, Stanley Ridges, tarzan, tarzan johnny weismuller, tarzan triumphs, TARZAN TRIUMPHS REVIEWDVD Review: FLYING LEATHERNECKS / Nicholas Ray (1951)
November 16th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Flying Leathernecks (1951)
Directed by Nicholas Ray
Written by James Edward Grant from a story by Kenneth Gamet
Starring: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Don Taylor, Jay C. Flippen, William Harrigan and Janis Carter
Photographed by William E. Snyder in 
Running Time: 102 min.
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Rating:
World War II had come to an end and the Korean war was just ramping up, but the main motivation behind this propaganda piece was to satisfy R.K.O. studio owner Howard Hughes flying fascination. In 1949, Hughes began production on Jet Pilot, another aerial blockbuster. Hughes obsessed over the second unit shots for so long that by the time he was satisfied, aviation technology had rendered his vision obsolete. Undaunted, Hughes decided to reshoot the flying sequences and the film didn’t see a projector’s arc until 1957. By the time the cute Cold War comedy was released, topical humor and the way America viewed the growing Red menace had changed, instantly branding the picture dated and obsolete.
Other than Macao, Nick Ray and Jet Pilot director Joe Von Sternberg had one thing in common: they were working for Mr. Hughes and the checks were as good as they were steady. Ray possibly undertook the project in part as a preemptive defense against HUAC who viewed him as a left-leaning, Tinsel Town liberal. They were right, of course, but Ray never went down for them. Undoubtedly Ray and Robert Ryan, both leftist liberals, locked horns with the Duke and his favored G.O.P. co-star Jay C. Flippen. Sadly, very little of their off-screen tension found its way into the finished product.
The production was one of the studio’s first shot in Technicolor. R.K.O., a second-rate lot with first-rate talent, was unable to spend the necessary money to recreate their bleeping tower in three-strip. What follows is pretty much close-ups of actors piloting rear-screen aircraft intercut with stock footage. My staff mathematician reasoned that ten percent of the film, if not more, is comprised of archival footage. On the ground, the filmmakers don’t have a story to tell. What is the objective of the film other than once again witnessing John Wayne win the war? The plot, what little there is, goes nowhere. Wayne’s crew suits up, takes to the air, kill “Japs” and returns minus a co-star.
Cinematographer William E. Snyder was brought on board to photograph airplanes, not paint with light.The high key demands dictated by the lumbering three-strip Technicolor cameras were taken literally by Snyder and his crew: there’s barely a shadow in this thing!
Normally a picture like this is populated with dozens of familiar faces, but even the supporting cast fails to deliver. Don Taylor’s contributions to cinema are always negligible. Not being a fan of Gunsmoke, a Milburn Stone appearance meant nothing. Jay C. Flippen serves up what little comic relief there is. Only Dick Wessell and Adam Williams brought smiles to our faces. Wessell makes a pre-Chopper Kane/A Fling in the Ring cameo and Williams will always be best remembered as the “we’ll laugh about it in the car” guy from North by Northwest. This was only babyface Williams’ second role and to the best of our knowledge it afforded him about the most amount of screen time he ever had. His character is introduced, familiarized and dead before the first cue mark.
Continue reading DVD Review: FLYING LEATHERNECKS / Nicholas Ray (1951)
Tags: adam williams, Airplane, airplane fetish, aviation, aviation movie, dick wessell, flying leathernecks, flying leathernecks review, howard hughes, jay c. flippen, jet pilot, John Wayne, Nicholas Ray, Propaganda, r.k.o., robert ryan, the duke, World War II, world war ii moviekeep looking »