Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)

A group of archaeologists asks Tarzan to help them find an ancient city in a hidden valley of women. He refuses, but Boy is tricked into doing the job. The queen of the women asks Tarzan to help them.

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

Hans Jacoby (screenplay) (as John Jacoby), Marjorie L. Pfaelzer (screenplay)

Stars:

Johnny Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce, Johnny Sheffield

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Brenda Joyce	...	Jane
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy
Henry Stephenson	...	Sir Guy Henderson
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Amazon Queen (as Mme. Maria Ouspenskaya)
Barton MacLane	...	Ballister (as Barton Maclane)
Donald Douglas	...	Andres (as Don Douglas)
Steven Geray	...	Brenner
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Splivens
Shirley O'Hara	...	Athena

Storyline

Tarzan and Boy joyfully welcome Jane back to Africa from her stay in London. On the same boat with her is Sir Guy Henderson, an archaeologist who is on an expedition to find the lost city of Amazon women. Not everyone in the expedition is there for its scientific value and some are simply in search of gold. Tarzan knows where the city is located but is a friend of the Amazons and refuses to share that with anyone. Boy, who secretly followed Tarzan during his last visit to the city, naively shows them the way leading to an inevitable clash. Tarzan comes to the rescue.

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Plot Keywords:

reunited with family | city | tribe | leopard | predator | 

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Taglines:

Wild Adventure! In The Wilds of The Jungle! (print ad - Lubbock Morning Avalanche - Plains Theatre - Lubbock, Texas - August 13, 1946)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first movie of the Tarzan series reintroducing Jane, after Maureen O'Sullivan's final run with Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942), which came out 3 years prior . Jane is now played by actress Brenda Joyce, who looks quite different from Maureen O'Sullivan. She is even blonde! However no mention whatsoever is made of her different appearance and radical change in personality. It is unclear why her hair wasn't dyed black to make the transition smoother on the audiences. Joyce would go on to play Jane a total of five times.

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Goofs

When Jane is lowering a bucket into Tarzan's well, the rope bunches up below her hand due to the bucket reaching the studio's floor.

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Quotes

Tarzan: Boy glad Jane come home?
Boy: I can hardly wait to see her again.
Tarzan: Tarzan feel just like Boy.

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Connections

Followed by Tarzan's Savage Fury (1952)

User Reviews

A Step in the Right Direction for the Series

Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Johnny Weissmuller's ninth time playing Tarzan has him and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) welcoming home Jane (Brenda Joyce) who also brings with her some archaeologists. They soon learn of a secret tribe of women (led by Maria Ouspenskaya) and ask Tarzan to take them to the ladies. He refuses but Boy agrees to take them not realizing that some of the men in the group have bad plans for them. This entry is certainly a step up from the previous, TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY but it's still a long ways off from the early films when the series was still with MGM. With that said, if you enjoy "B" movies and especially those with Tarzan, there are enough good moments here to make the film worth sitting through at least once. As you'd expect, the real highlight comes from the good-hearted performance of Weissmueller. No one would ever call him a great actor but what he lacked as an actor perfectly made him suitable to play Tarzan. If you've seen any of his future Jungle Jim movies then you know his line delivery was pretty poor but when you play Tarzan this actually helps things. Weissmuller might have played this role eight times before but it's clear he's still having fun with it and this certainly comes across and is quite apparent to the viewer. Sheffield is also pretty good in his role as Boy and shares a lot of chemistry with Weissmuller. Joyce certainly isn't going to make anyone forget Maureen O'Sullivan but she's cute enough in the part and her flirtatious ways with Tarzan were quite charming. The supporting cast includes Ouspenskaya (THE WOLF MAN) who is sadly underused, Barton MacLane and Henry Stephenson. For the majority of the running time we get the cheap thrills one had come to expect from the series. These range of lions going on the attack to the crocodiles who are constantly swimming after someone to do damage only to have Tarzan step in. These type of thrills are things we've seen before but they still work here. What doesn't work too well is that there's about 15-20 minutes where the viewer has to just sit still and listen to Tarzan refuse to help the men. There's a long stretch where nothing much happens and the film starts to drag here before finally picking up with the action packed ending. The female tribe run around in skimpy clothing for some sex appeal but I was curious how a group of all ladies were able to reproduce when none of them had ever seen a man.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Amazons

Filming Locations:

Baldwin Park Lodge, Los Angeles, California, USA

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