UP UNIL A FEW hours ago, we had not seen anything of this movie, except for some still photos that appeared in various periodicals and movie oriented books. And, although we had purchased a new DVD of it some 2 or 2 years ago, it has been sitting on our "to do" viewing back-burner ever since.
WE MUST ADMIT that we entered into this viewing session with some negative, preconceived notions about the film. It should not have been that way; for we weren't brought up that way and were taught not to "judge a book by its cover."
WELL IT WAS about an hour later that we emerged from our private screening room following an epiphany of sorts. Seeing is still, after all, believing; and what we saw is a highly underrated and unfairly panned TARZAN entry. When all is said and done in this world and the films of the great Ape-man of Edgar Rice Burroughs' fertile mind and prolific pen, TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION will get its proper due.
WHAT WE FOUND was a concise, tightly constructed adventure film story. In its opening sequence, all of the familiar Tarzan elements and characters are quickly established and paraded before the camera's lens. Tarzan is in the Jungle with his pet Lion (Duh! The title!) and climbing on and swinging from vines in the trees. Lady Greystoke (Jane Porter) is introduced as is her sister-in-law, Tarz's sister; so naturally we also meet one Jack Bradley, Lord Greystoke's partner in adventuring in Jungles and love interest for the sister.
WE NEXT ENCOUNTER a band of riff-raff cast off renegade marauders; who are hell bent on plundering the Greystoke's considerable holdings at the family digs, the plantation. The gang of sub equatorial Jungle thugs are truly a democratic crew; drawing their membership from a great cross section of humanity, be they whites, blacks or what have you.
THIS THE OBVIOUS enemy of Tarzan has break away hostile warriors from the local tribe; including the traitorous Chieftain, portrayed by a virtual unknown of an actor, one William Henry Pratt (better known as Boris Karloff). The head honcho is named Esteban Miranda. Do you think he could be a Spaniard?
ALL THIS PLOT needs is another, much more hostile tribe to counterbalance the friendly, peaceful local tribesman; who are happy and willing allies of Tarzan. And well, magically we have this mountain people tribe; who are ignorant, superstitious and are ruled by highly unscrupulous and extremely exploitative white thugs.
JUST FOR GOOD measure, we have the additional element of having these mountain people's sitting on a diamond mine of the highest order.
FOR ANYONE WHO was brought up on the MGM/RKO TARZAN Pictures done in the mode of Johnny Weissmueller's monosyllabic dialog (and that's a "Lion's Share" of our readership) will find this a trifle un-Tarzanlike. But, in many respects it is much closer to the stories of ERB and serves us well in broadening our perception of what a Tarzan story could be.
IN WHAT CAN only be described as a no-name cast today, we have James Pierce (mentioned above) supported by: Dorothy Dunbar (Lady Greystoke, Jane), Frederick Peters (Miranda), Edna Murphy (Betty Greystoke, Tarz's sister), Harold Goodwin (Jack), the previously mentioned Boris Karloff and others.
THE PORTRAYAL OF the Lord of the Jungle by Mr. Pierce is really quite credible. His climbing and swinging stunts are done well; even though some more difficult were doubtless augmented with the benefit of professional stunt-men. The greatest drawback to Jim Pierce's portrayal is neither his acting nor his considerable physical presence. It is that Fred Flintstone-style Caveman costume. Instead of the loincloth style that was used over the years, the "animal hide" covers half of the chest in a singlet over his left shoulder.
PERHAPS THE MOST surprising aspect of the movie's cast membership is the absence of any pachyderms. Elephants and lots of them are an absolute essential to a Tarzan picture and as indispensable as a box of popcorn.
NOTE: * James Pierce's experience as TARZAN proved to be a proverbial mixed bag of an experience. On one hand, its lukewarm reception did little for his acting career, with the role of Prince Thun of the Lion Men in the FLASH GORDON Serial (Universal, 1936). But on the other hand, he did meet and marry the Boss' daughter, Joan Burroughs on the movie set. The pair did the voices for Jane and Tarzan on the syndicated TARZAN Radio Show.
