Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959)

Four British villains raid a settlement to obtain explosives for use in a diamond mine. In doing so they nearly destroy the settlement, so and Tarzan pursues them to their mine.

Director:

John Guillermin

Writers:

Berne Giler (screenplay), John Guillermin (screenplay)

Stars:

Gordon Scott, Anthony Quayle, Sara Shane

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gordon Scott	...	Tarzan
Anthony Quayle	...	Slade
Sara Shane	...	Angie
Niall MacGinnis	...	Kruger (as Niall Macginnis)
Sean Connery	...	O'Bannion
Al Mulock	...	Dino
Scilla Gabel	...	Toni

Storyline

After diamond hunters kill two people while stealing explosives, Tarzan sets off after them. The group, led by a man named Slade, are off to excavate a diamond mine. Along the way, Tarzan rescue an attractive woman, Angie, whose crashes her small airplane. She finds the trek demanding but sticks with it proving her worth when the time comes. As for Slade and his group, greed and jealousy take hold leaving only a few of them for Tarzan to fight in the end.

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Plot Keywords:

manipulative female | taming of the shrew | romantic rivalry | female sexual predator | diamond mine | 

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Taglines:

Adventure's Mightiest Hero Lives His Mightiest Adventure!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 September 1959 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan's Greatest Adventure

Filming Locations:

Kikuyu, Kenya

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,180,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Solar Film Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a scene where Tarzan (Gordon Scott) is concealed from O'Bannon (Sir Sean Connery), a hairy big spider crawls up Tarzan's leg and torso. A few years later, Connery had a big hairy spider crawl up the length of his body in a scene from Dr. No (1962), his first James Bond movie.

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Goofs

Although Paramount clearly sent cameras to locations in Africa to capture wide shots, backgrounds and atmospheric material, more than 50% of this film was obviously filmed on a studio back-lot or soundstage - much of it with poorly executed use of rear projection and blue screen techniques.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. Quarles: What's wrong with you, little chap? Come on, Little Francis. I love you.

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Connections

Follows Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938)

User Reviews

Shout Out for Gordon Scott

Scar-faced Anthony Quayle (as Slade) and his cut-throat crew are in Africa looking to get rich on diamonds, which doesn't sit well with loin-clothed lord of the jungle Gordon Scott (as Tarzan). Beautiful Sara Shane (as Angie) crashes the scene, gets rescues by Mr. Scott and chased by a lion. All of this sounds like the usual fare, but there is a rub. With new producer Sy Weintraub taking over, the "Tarzan" franchise decided to become more adult in orientation. In an early scene, Scott symbolically bids farewell to his adorable chimp "Cheta" before going on to face real danger...

Parents who sat with their kids for the "Tarzan" films must have been squirming in their seats as "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" presented increasingly realistic scenes of violence. Drama teachers could be proud as Scott and his guest stars, including sexy while clothed Sean Connery (as O'Bannion), are given opportunities to do some real acting, too. The inserted animals are still a stock footage nuisance, and it's easy to over-praise this film in context, but keep watching as the exciting ending may be the series' best. Scott had good reason to give a "Tarzan" shout-out.

******* Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (7/8/59) John Guillermin ~ Gordon Scott, Anthony Quayle, Sara Shane, Sean Connery