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!"

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Plot Keywords:

1940s | tarzan character | man wearing a loincloth | psychotronic film | nazi | 

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Taglines:

New thrills for you... as treachery from the skies tramples Tarzan's jungle kingdom, and traps the helpless Princess of the Wild-Lands!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | War

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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

M-G-M was unwilling to let RKO use their recording of Johnny Weissmuller's signature "Tarzan yell," which had accompanied the character as he swung through the jungle clinging to vines in every Metro Tarzan film. The one heard here is a much shorter, less robust rendition, and clearly not the original version.

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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.

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Quotes

Boy: Zandra cooked dinner for you!
Tarzan: Looks good.
[eats]
Boy: How is it?
Tarzan: Tastes good.
Zandra: I'm glad you like my cooking.
[Tarzan nods approvingly and Zandra and Boy wink at each other]
Zandra: Would you like some more?
Tarzan: More!
[Zandra leaves to get more food]
[...]

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Connections

Followed by Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)

User Reviews

"Now Tarzan make war!".

After six films starring alongside Johnny Weissmuller as jungle beauty Jane, Maureen O'Sullivan decided to depart the series, leaving the writers of the next Tarzan film not only looking for a way of explaining the lovely actress's sudden absence but also having to ensure that male cinema-goers still had a reason to take their family to see the ape-man's latest adventure.

Their solution: have their script conveniently see Jane visiting friends in London, and introduce a sexy new character in the form of Zandra (Frances Gifford), princess of the hidden city of Palandria, who seeks help from Tarzan after Nazi soldiers enslave her people.

A far cry from the first two pre-Hays code Tarzan films, which were chock full of enjoyably un-PC violence and raunchiness, Tarzan Triumphs is strictly family friendly matinée material, with the added novelty of some delightfully daft WWII propaganda. Director Wilhelm Thiele packs the first half of his film with the usual vine swinging, frolicking in lagoons, stock footage of animals, and scenes of good old Cheetah providing plenty of hilarity, but he eventually delivers some decent action once the bad guys go out of their way to upset Tarzan: when the Nazis kidnap Boy and slap him about a bit, our jungle hero finally announces "Now Tarzan make war!" and it's non-stop Nazi bashing fun thereon in, with even Cheetah and Boy grabbing firearms to get in on the action!

And talking of Cheetah, the cheeky chimp also provides the film's excellent final joke, which sees stupid Nazi radio operators in Berlin mistaking the furry-faced funster for 'Der Fuhrer'. Take that, you silly Nazi nincompoops!

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.