Tarzan Triumphs (1943)

As WWII rages on, a group of Nazi paratroopers land on the secret city of Palandria to exploit its wealth, and they start taking hostages. Can the powerful King of the Jungle and his trusted companions--Cheeta, and Buli--save them?

Director:

Wilhelm Thiele (as William Thiele)

Writers:

Roy Chanslor (screenplay), Carroll Young (screenplay)

Stars:

Johnny Weissmuller, Frances Gifford, Johnny Sheffield

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Frances Gifford	...	Zandra
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy
Stanley Ridges	...	Col. von Reichart
Sig Ruman	...	German Sergeant (as Sig Rumann)
Philip Van Zandt	...	Capt. Bausch
Rex Williams	...	Lt. Reinhardt Schmidt
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Patriarch

Storyline

Zandra, white princess of a lost civilization, comes to Tarzan for help when Nazis invade the jungle with plans to conquer her people and take their wealth. Tarzan, the isolationist, becomes involved after the Nazis shoot at him and capture Boy: "Now Tarzan make war!"

---

Plot Keywords:

1940s | tarzan character | man wearing a loincloth | nazi | jungle | 

---

Taglines:

Trapped by brutal Beast-Men! Tarzan's courage and cunning face their most desperate test against the ruthless treachery of killers from the sky!

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | War

---

Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan Triumphs

Filming Locations:

Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,270,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sol Lesser Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sig Ruman (this film's bumbling German Sergeant) experienced a career resurgence during World War II, frequently cast as a "comic relief Nazi" like the one he plays here.

---

Goofs

When Tarzan is fighting the Nazis, he rips the magazine off a machine gun and tosses it to the ground. A moment later, one of the Nazis starts climbing to the top of the building to use the gun, and you can see the magazine still there. Yet when the Nazi arrives at the gun, the magazine is missing again.

---

Quotes

German Officer in Berlin: General Hoffman! We have contacted them!
Gen. Hoffman in Berlin: I'll talk to them myself!
[speaks into radio]
Gen. Hoffman in Berlin: Come in, Colonel von Reichart. It's General Hoffman.
[Cheeta "talk" into radio receiver, while Tarzan, Zandra and Boy laugh]
Gen. Hoffman in Berlin: [to the German officer] Idiot! This is not von Reichart! It is the Führer!
Gen. Hoffman in Berlin, German Officer in Berlin: [gives Nazi salute] Heil Hitler!

---

Connections

Followed by Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958)

User Reviews

Weissmuller's Tarzan RKO debut; Less Pretentious, Great Fun!

While Tarzan was a popular moneymaker at MGM, with the outset of WWII, the studio felt Johnny Weissmuller was getting too old, Maureen O'Sullivan wanted out of the series, and the overseas market was lost, so the series was dropped...but RKO would prove the Ape Man had a LOT of life left in him!

Veteran producer Sol Lesser, 53, loved the character, and snapped up the rights for the studio, wisely keeping Weissmuller, 39, and 'Boy' Johnny Sheffield, now nearly 12, in their signature roles. O'Sullivan, no longer interested in 'Jane', was written out (caring for her ailing mother in London), and the elements that fans loved best (nearly superhuman heroics, comedy from chimp co-star, Cheetah, wild animal footage) were 'beefed up', dropping the romantic interludes, the large number of black 'extras', that provided authenticity (but were expensive for a smaller studio to maintain, for a single series), and, indeed, most of the 'glossiness' that marked the MGM entries. Even the signature Tarzan 'yell' had to be replaced (as the manufactured howl, part Weismuller, part studio magic), was the property of the studio; Weismuller created a 'new' one, that would become so popular that it would be kept, long after he finally retired from the role.

The first RKO entry was perhaps the best of their series; TARZAN TRIUMPHS brought the Nazis into the jungle to tap the mineral resources of a 'lost' city, eventually kidnapping Boy, and leading the previously isolationist Ape Man to utter the famous tag line, "Now Tarzan make war!" With lovely Frances Gifford as a native princess, providing sex appeal (and a really weird scene of Boy trying to 'hook up' the princess and lonely Ape Man, to enlist his help against the Nazis), and Sig Ruman, who went from Marx Brothers' foil to one of Hollywood's busiest 'Nazis', as one of the villains, the action adventure is very entertaining (if extremely violent...Tarzan actually encourages the locals to grab a gun and kill, Boy shoots one Nazi soldier with a pistol, and even CHEETA machine guns one!), and the film was a huge hit for the studio.

Tarzan, at a new home, was back in the 'swing' of things!