Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)

The international criminal Vinaro enjoys sending explosive wristwatches to his enemies. Here he kidnaps ten-year-old Ramel whom he thinks can lead him to the lost city of gold. Tarzan ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Day

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters), Clair Huffaker (screenplay)

Stars:

Mike Henry, David Opatoshu, Manuel Padilla Jr.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Mike Henry	...	Tarzan
David Opatoshu	...	Augustus Vinero
Manuel Padilla Jr.	...	Ramel
Nancy Kovack	...	Sophia Renault
Don Megowan	...	Mr. Train
Enrique Lucero	...	Perez
Eduardo Noriega	...	Insp. Talmadge (as Edwardo Noriega)
John Kelly	...	Captain Voss
Francisco Riquerio	...	Mango
Frank Brandstetter	...	Ruiz
Carlos Rivas	...	Romulo
Jorge Beirute	...	Rodriguez
Oswald Olvera	...	Antonio

Storyline

The international criminal Vinaro enjoys sending explosive wristwatches to his enemies. Here he kidnaps ten-year-old Ramel whom he thinks can lead him to the lost city of gold. Tarzan fights the evil Mr. Train, six-foot-six bodyguard of Vinaro, and rescues Sophia, who has been left to die with an explosive around her neck. Various animals help Tarzan locate Vinaro's tanks and helicopters, the city and the boy.

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Plot Keywords:

tarzan | lost city | hairy chest | megalomaniac | bare chested male | 

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Taglines:

All New High Adventure!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Details

Country:

USA Switzerland

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tarzan '65

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allfin A.G., American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sharon Tate was the original casting pick for the female lead. There are photographs in existence from 1965 of her with Mike Henry along with a lion at a press conference that was held to promote the two newcomers. Martin Ransohoff who had the starlet under exclusive contract changed his mind about having this being her first film and the role was recast with Nancy Kovack.

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Quotes

Tarzan: [Challenged on wearing the loincloth he has constructed:] The outfit is casual, but practical.

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Connections

Followed by Tarzan and the Perils of Charity Jones (1971)

User Reviews

007 Tarzan

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)

* (out of 4)

Horrendously bad entry in the long-running series has former NFL lineman Mike Henry playing Tarzan. This time out Tarzan is called to Mexico where a young boy has come out of a jungle and apparently he's from a lost city where there's an endless amount of gold. The young boy is eventually kidnapped by the evil Augustus Vinero (David Opatoshu) so Tarzan must of course save the day. I'm sure there are some who are going to get a kick out of this entry in the series but every inch of this film just got under my skin. It's obvious that the producers were out of ideas in Africa so for this film and the past few they had him going around the globe doing various battles. It's also quite clear that the producer's of this film were familiar with the success of James Bond and that they wanted Tarzan to be another 007 but the end results are just embarrassing. You can see the Bond connection right during the opening credits as they're quite flashy and we get a "large" music score going with them. From this point we see Tarzan landing via helicopter in Mexico where he eventually gets into a major shoot-out and in one of the most jaw-dropping funny moments he kills a man with a large bottle of coke. From here we see our hero going around learning about the deadly wristwatches our villain sends to his enemies, the boy who came from the jungle and eventually he picks up some jungle animals do help him do battle. The entire thing with the Bond stuff is just so incredibly stupid that you can't help but get annoyed at it. I was hoping the film would at least get campy enough to where you could laugh at it but sadly this film never reaches the "so bad it's good" level. The story is just downright weak and we get way too much time where we see the villains doing their dumb things but most of it is just dialogue. Even worse is what they've done to Tarzan because he's pretty much unrecognizable. Henry doesn't make for a very good Tarzan. Yes, he has the body and can handle the action but he's just not believable as an ape man. The supporting cast isn't much better. I can understand the producer's trying to do something new and different but at the same time I think this here is just too much. It also doesn't help that it was probably best to realize that the series was simply running out of gas.