Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)

Overrated and overhyped

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Opinions are All Over the Map on this, the 32nd Tarzan Movie. Sometimes Sighted for not being set in Africa, Fact is, the Edgar Rice Burroughs Ape-Man, did Travel the Map from Time to Time.But the most Heavy Criticism is Morphing Tarzan into a James Bond Type Character. While initially Jarring during the First Act, that is done quite well, seeing Tarzan in a Tailored Suit carrying a briefcase and emerging from a Helicopter, once the Movie Settles in the Jungles of Mexico things Feel more Familiar.To be sure, it's an Odd and Off-Beat Entry in the Series. Mike Henry made Three Tarzan Movies, finding the Gig Overwhelming, left the Loincloth and went on to Less Grueling and Less Impressive Work.David Opatoshu as a Diabolical Villain with a Penchant for Gold, Explosives, and Chemical Killing Gadgets, makes for a Sinister Looking Megalomaniac. Nancy Kovack is a Beauty but isn't much more than Eye-Candy. Manuel Padilla Jr. is a Native "Boy" that Tarzan must Rescue, and there is a Lion, Chimp, and Jaguar...Oh My!The Climax is Filmed On Location at the Aztec "Pyramid of the Sun", an Awesome Site, and adds a bit of Class to the Proceedings. It's a Comic-Book Script with Little Wit, and the Military Action Scenes can Unsettle, but in a Good Way. The Musical Score is Unfitting and Awful.Overall, Above Average and can be Thoroughly Enjoyed by Tarzan Fans and Non-Fans alike.

American International Pictures,the studio founded in the mid-1950's by Samuel Z. Arkoff and his business partner James H. Nicholson were known for there style of "B" movie pictures,mostly the occasional genre of films that they released which were "teenage juvenile","horror and monster flicks",and the "beach movies",not to mention the movies that featured the works of Edgar Allan Poe that were produced by Roger Corman(the studio that launched the careers of unknowns Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern not to mention reinvented Annette Funicello's career after her stint with Disney,and made Vincent Price its top box office star,and also launched the careers of Pam Grier and Fred Williamson too).By 1966,American International Pictures took on a new venture..this time around the first-ever "Tarzan" motion picture that was filmed on location and brought with it a new style of high adventure and excitement. That picture was titled "Tarzan And The Valley of Gold",the 34th entry into the "Tarzan" franchise,and the first to star former NFL-great Mike Henry(who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Rams)in his theatrical debut as the "Lord Of The Jungle". Mike Henry replaces Jock Mahoney in the series. Mike Henry gets to do more things as Tarzan in "The Valley of Gold" than any other Tarzan that came before or after him. Not to mention this version is the more exciting of the series,and not since Johnny Weissmuller or Gordon Scott you have never seen "Tarzan" like this before,and more,all at a running time of 92 minutes tops. The movie begins with Tarzan(Mike Henry)arriving in Mexico wearing a custom-made suit and tie and carrying a briefcase as he is ambush in a stadium by assassins out to kill him in the style of the "James Bond" films. Second in the most exciting and incredible scenes in the film Mike Henry's character hurls a gigantic Coca-Cola bottle onto a sniper that is trying to kill him. Later on after he disses the suit and tie for loincloth accompanied by a chimp and a his pet lion,our hero goes into the hostile jungle where he slings a rope with two hand grenades attached to that land onto the rotor blades of a helicopter(in one of the most astounding action scenes ever filmed),and later on Tarzan gets behind the wheel of a tank and blasts away the villains.Tarzan must also rescue a little boy named Ramel(Manuel Padilla, Jr.,who would also appear as Jai in the "Tarzan" television series starring Ron Ely during the mid-1960's and was a versatile child actor throughout) from a thoroughly evil but sadistic wealthy international criminal,Augustus Vinero(David Opatoshu),who likes to surprise his adversaries by installing small explosive charges into wristwatches,rings,and necklaces to blow up people. Not to mention has to rescue that damsel in distress(Nancy Kovack) from the evil villain and not to mention Tarzan has a dual to the death with a fight against the villain's hencemen,an Odd-Job type character. The death scene of the hencemen and the villain is fitting,but Mike Henry makes a great Tarzan character in a franchise that desperately needed to shot in the arm after the last Tarzan venture came out some three years before with Jock Mahoney in the title role."Tarzan And The Valley of Gold" was action-packed with non stop excitement and high adventure,and director Robert Day along with producer Sy Weintraub kept the action sequences at a good pace. The locations where the movie was filmed included were not far from scenic Acapulco,at Plaza de Toros in Mexico City,and at the Chapultepec Castle,and the Teotihuacan ruins,and the in the caves at Guerro. The screenplay by Clair Huffaker was an above-average and a change of pace for the franchise not to mention the film was given the full widescreen "Panavision" treatment. Despite mixed reviews when this movie came out on July 8,1966, "Tarzan And The Valley of Gold" did tremendous business at the box office,becoming American International's first and only attempt at a "Tarzan" movie and their highest grossing picture in the history of the studio. Robert Day would direct the next two to the last "Tarzan" films in the franchise both starring Mike Henry. Those would include "Tarzan And The Great River"(1967),and the last "Tarzan" theatrical feature "Tarzan And The Jungle Boy" (1968),both would be released by Paramount Pictures.

"Tarzan and the Valley of Gold" is one of the most bizarre and entertaining movies I have seen in quite a while. A number of questions come to mind, not the least of which was When exactly did Tarzan learn how to operate a tank in battle?The answer is rooted in the objective of the film, which was to update Tarzan to compete with James Bond. Since 007 is naturally familiar with all methods of transport and can successfully employ any firearm ever made, it should go without saying that Tarzan would be just as handy with whatever means are at his disposal. He could probably disarm a nuke and target missiles to blast each other in midair too if the plot depended on it.Some have questioned why Tarzan would travel to Mexico dressed in a suit, and I challenge that with basic knowledge of Edgar Rice Borroughs' novels where Tarzan at one point travels to America to find Jane and then settles down with her at the Greystoke Estate in England -- do people think he went all that distance in a loincloth?Mike Henry is great as Tarzan. In the first six minutes of the movie he shoots a guy in the face during a botched assassination attempt, then crushes another guy under a giant Coca-Cola bottle in what has to be the most clever product placement I've seen in a movie since James Bond back-flipped an opponent into a stack of empty Red Stripe Lager boxes.The film is exceedingly violent. I would put a rough estimate of the body count at about fifty, including the innocent peasants gunned down by the evil crime syndicate's henchmen. Tarzan himself wipes out about forty guys including three goons in a helicopter he takes out in a wonderful ripoff of "From Russia With Love"'s famous helicopter duel. Instead of just shooting the pilot Tarzan rigs a bolo using a couple of grenades and hooks it around the engine block. Those jungle skills pay off in the most unusual ways.Tarzan is of course dispatched to Mexico to get into a game of wits with an evil crime syndicate boss whose forces have kidnapped a young boy to give young boys in the audience someone to identify with -- this is a family adventure film, we remind ourselves, as Tarzan uses a Browning Automatic Rifle to machine gun down a bunch of thugs in a cave, blows up a truck full of men, and then asphyxiates the big evil goon character in the film's showdown by half-Nelsoning the guy to death. He is the perfect Vietnam War era action hero, so de-sensitized to carnage & suffering that all he can manage to come up with to console the young boy with is "Hey, what's all this now? " when the kid starts crying out of concern that his people will be massacred by the guys in the tanks. Some of them are but nobody really seems to care about it that much, and in the concluding wrapping it all up speech the tribal leader admits that sometimes you need to resort to violence after all.The Mike Henry Tarzan films are apparently a body of work that were so dangerous for the performers to make that Henry very understandably declined to work on the Ron Ely Tarzan television show of the same era after Dinky the Chimp bit Henry in the jaw on the set of the next adventure, requiring twenty stitches to sew up and giving Henry a case of "Chimp Fever" that took him out of the production for three weeks while he recovered. Just what Chimp Fever is I have no idea and even less interest to learn.The issue of unsafe work conditions is even further underscored by Ron Ely's string of injuries incurred while he worked on the TV show, and looking at the hands on approach to the stunt work evident in this movie it's a miracle that nobody was killed making these films. This is one of those movies that make you wonder just what the HELL people were thinking when they cooked it up: Out of control helicopters, live ammunition, explosions going off right next to the star performers, you name it.I will agree that Mike Henry does make a fabulous Tarzan, and to remind us of just who the hero was they even let him swing on a couple of vines, though I was disappointed that he never gave that famous Tarzan yell ... though then again since there are no elephants native to Mexico to stampede the effect would have been gratuitous.And yet there is something hypnotically watchable about the film, including a marvelous sequence where a jaguar sets off in search of the boy & Tarzan trots along behind with a wonderful little jazz music score twittering in the background. The makers of this movie were definitely onto something and it's too bad the franchise sort of petered out, leaving it up to the Italians to continue with their own unofficial series with names like Tarzak, Zambo, and Zan, which are no more silly, improbable, or entertaining than this movie. And had more women. There is only one in this whole film and while she is a comely little lass Tarzan seems about as fascinated by her as he is by that Coke bottle he pushes over on the assassin in the beginning of the movie. Is he so smitten by Jane that the thought of intimately interacting with another woman never enters his mind? As the credits roll they walk off into the sunset, and something tells me he never busted a move on her. In any event it's immensely entertaining and Tarzan saves the day with just a good rope, a hunting knife, and a soft piece of leather. Sounds kinky.7/10

The movie is enjoyable in a Saturday-matinee sort of way. What makes it notable, however, is the appearance of Mike Henry in his first Tarzan role. Henry's personality is hardly charismatic and his acting ability is, at best, limited, but in terms of sheer physicality, he's probably the best Tarzan the movies have ever seen. (And what "Jane" wouldn't love to run barefoot over those pecs!).