Tarzan and the Huntress (1947)

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Jerome Gruskin (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

5 April 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

Adventure Crashes To The Screen . . . Romance, Plus! Action, Plus! . . . Amid the Teeming Jungle!

Plot:

A shortage of zoo animals after World War II brings beautiful animal trainer Tanya, her financial backer and her cruel trail boss to the jungle...

Plot Keywords:

King | Jungle | Animal Trainer | Waterfall | Glider

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Brenda Joyce	...	Jane
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy
Patricia Morison	...	Tanya Rawlins
Barton MacLane	...	Paul Weir (as Barton Maclane)
John Warburton	...	Carl Marley
Charles Trowbridge	...	King Farrod
Ted Hecht	...	Prince Ozira
Wallace Scott	...	'Smitty' Smithers
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Georges Renavent	...	Man Weighing King (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson	...	Monak (uncredited)
Maurice Tauzin	...	Prince Suli (uncredited)

Directed by
Kurt Neumann

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edgar Rice Burroughs		characters
Jerome Gruskin		screenplay (as Jerry Gruskin)
Jerome Gruskin		story (as Jerry Gruskin)
Rowland Leigh		screenplay
Rowland Leigh		story

Produced by
Sol Lesser	....	producer
Kurt Neumann	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography by
Archie Stout

Film Editing by
Merrill G. White		(as Merrill White)

Production Design by
Phil Paradise

Art Direction by
McClure Capps

Costume Design by
Harold Clandenning

Makeup Department
Irving Berns	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Clem Beauchamp	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bert Briskin	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Frank McWhorter	....	sound technician

Stunts
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)

Editorial Department
John Sheets	....	associate film editor

Other crew
Albert Antonucci	....	trainer: cheetah (uncredited)
Leslie Charteris	....	screenplay constructor (uncredited)
B. Reeves Eason	....	director of elephant stampede (uncredited)
Bob Larson	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Sol Lesser Productions

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical)
• Banner Productions (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Films (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Films (1949) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1988) (1997) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1968) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

"Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Huntress" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

72 min | West Germany:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-8 | Norway:7 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #12057) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Austria:6 | Taiwan:GP

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Sol Lesser Productions

Trivia:

Johnny Sheffield's last movie as Boy.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Tarzan's knife has the ability to appear and disappear between shots. In one scene, he throws his knife at a hunter on the ground, hitting him in the back. A moment later, he goes to attack another man, and lo and behold, the knife has returned to its sheath. A second later, when the shot changes, the knife is gone again. And, after he defeats the man in the tree and runs off to save everyone else, the knife is back in its sheath again without Tarzan going to retrieve it from the man he threw it at!

Movie Connections:

Follows Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946)

Neat blend of Tarzan mythology and old-fashioned fun

In 1942, America's biggest film studio MGM scrapped its legendary Tarzan series, with the option being snapped up by the smaller RKO. There, Johnny Weissmuller was to strap on the surprisingly-revealing Hays Code-approved loincloth a further six times. The first couple saw him scrapping with Nazis, with the second - Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943) - being as good a piece of nonsensical fluff as you're ever likely to find. I was a bit down on films three and four, as they're tired and largely gloomy affairs, but the penultimate entry - Huntress - is a partial return to form. Its major strength is an understanding of the series' in-built mythology and a welcome sense of fun. Like Superman Returns, then, only not as good. As with the first two MGM entries - the patchy Tarzan, The Ape Man and the superb Tarzan and His Mate - Tarzan's jungle paradise is invaded by hunters, a more sensible plot line than we've come to expect from these Sol Lesser yarns. The villainous gang includes former Warner heavy Barton MacLane and the eponymous huntress - Patricia Morison. Though the film is a touch confused about the morality of stealing animals from the jungle (presumably that was how the bulk of its supporting players came to Hollywood), Tarz does ultimately get pretty narked about the whole thing, leading to a series of lively showdowns. He's accompanied once more by Brenda Joyce and Johnny Sheffield, whose Boy is now a man, with a deep, booming voice. Where the film really scores is in its embracing of the Tarzan legend as our hero lets rip not once, but twice, with his famous yell. The first - so unexpected after four films without it - is a euphoric moment that seems to strip away 15 years of typecasting and weight gain from its wonderful star - if only for a few seconds. For all the film's deficiencies, like a messy, jumbled narrative and comedy scenes shoehorned in at apparently indiscriminate junctures, those two scenes are jolts of pure joy.