Edgar Soberon Torchia
Infamous Tarzan movie because of accident suffered by Mike Henry: he was bitten on the chin by Dinky, the chimpanzee playing Cheetah, which was "destroyed" for its action. But it is not as bad as I had been told. It is a welcome and nice, wide-screen change of setting in the Amazonian jungle, where the Ape Man goes after diamond-greedy Rafer Johnson and his bunch of painted mercenaries, all belonging to the ancient Jaguar cult. But as Henry's hair and make-up are in place most of the running time, the plot that could have been resolved in 70 minutes was "spiced" with footage and more footage (quite often scratched) of wild animals, vast views of the jungle, monkey's humor, the Amazon river, more animals, and a never-ending duel between ex-linebacker Henry and decathlon champ Johnson. But in the end the movie is colorful and bearable nonetheless.
poe426
It happens: stuntmen die performing stunts they've meticulously prepared for (BEN-HUR); actors fall victim to inept direction (TWILIGHT ZONE- THE MOVIE); animals lash out at their human co-stars and are murdered (TARZAN AND THE GREAT RIVER). Granted, Mike Henry had every reason to be upset: chiseled good looks can come in handy when you're auditioning for a role as a leading man; extensive plastic surgery to replace chunks of missing tissue, on the other hand, can complicate matters. Had Jane Goodall (who probably knew more than she ever let on about the feeding habits of chimpanzees) been a bit more forthcoming, maybe the incident that resulted in the "destruction" of Senor Dinky on the set of TARZAN AND THE GREAT RIVER could've been avoided. Now that we've seen documentaries like THE DARK SIDE OF CHIMPS (which show the cute, cuddly little things mugging, murdering and masticating smaller monkeys), we know that shoving your face too close to a chimp's could have disastrous consequences. The "monkey fever" that Henry is said to have experienced sounds suspiciously like AIDS (which, as we now know, can come from eating "tainted monkey meat"). All of which makes one long for the good ol' days, when Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter (and Jane Goodall) had us all convinced that all apes were vegetarians...
dinky-4
Proof that the "Tarzan" character works best in an African setting, circa 1890s to 1930s, can be found in this mildly enjoyable but undeniably juvenile movie. It tries to "update" and "re-imagine" Tarzan by sending him on a jetliner to Brazil where he arrives wearing a suit and tie. This immediately raises questions. Where does he buy his suits? How does he pay for them? Does he have on a loincloth underneath or does he prefer Jockey-brand briefs?Tarzan soon dons his customary garb and goes off on an adventure where he's involved in the usual vine-swinging, lion-wrestling, blonde-rescuing, villain-bashing, and giving out that Tarzan yell. Much of this action is padded out with wildlife footage which carelessly confuses African with South American zoology. What limits this "Tarzan" is not the character's built-in incongruity but rather the kiddie-matinee nonsense which reverses past efforts to make this series more appealing to adults. Thus we have the cloyingly-cute kid, the chimp shenanigans, the corny dialog, the stereotyped cast members, etc.On the plus side is tall, dark, handsome Mike Henry -- perhaps the only Tarzan with hair on his pecs. Though visually he's almost ideal, with a body by Michelangelo, he has a flat personality and only a minimum of acting ability, but these faults tend to fade away whenever he swings into action.
Movie-Robot
What's with Jan Murray as a faux-Bogart from The African Queen? I can't even begin to describe how insane this movie is.And what about Olympic decathelete Rafer Johnson as the evil Barcuna? -- Incidentally, how did all of these folks end up in Brazil? Jan Murray's interplay with little Pepe is like nothing I've ever seen.
AD
