Tarzan's Peril (1951)

good back-story, and good acting

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

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

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This is a good Tarzan action movie. Featuring such notable supporting actors as Alan Napier and Walter Kingsford, you get the impression that the studio wanted to make a quality film here- its not just another b-movie throw away. Talented director Byron Haskins (who directed many notable movies of the 40's, 50's and 60's as well as a career in cinematography) is in charge with a sure and steady hand. Lex Barker is a big strong hunk and he does a fine job as Tarzan, who faces some serious perils. Bad tribal chief King Bulam very nearly kills Tarzan with his bare hands and a knife in an exciting fight sequence. George Macready is at his meanest as he murders several people and almost kills everybody else. Macready is really a nasty baddie in this one. Virginia Huston is an athletic and poised Jane who contributes her usual lovely and capable movie effort in an underwritten role.Dorothy Dandridge steals this movie with terrific screen presence. She is ravishing as Good Queen Melmendi. The director wisely showcases Ms. Dandridge, who ignites every scene she is in and makes it special. She is a powerhouse obviously destined for future star potential."Tarzan's Peril" is a worthwhile, vigorous and fast-moving adventure movie. You will be satisfied if this is what you are expecting from a film outing with a classic adventure hero.

Third Tarzan film starring Lex Barker is still good, directed by Byron Haskin, who had made "I Walk Alone" and "Treasure Island" and who would go on to make the science-fiction classic "The War of the Worlds" and the adventure films "The Naked Jungle" and "Captain Sindbad". Labeled as the first Tarzan film made in Africa, the material mostly consists of establishment shots and good sequences of dances and tribe life, aptly directed by Philip Brandon and photographed by cinematographer Jack Whitehead. It matches only moderately well with the studio shooting, but still gives add some distinction to the product. As it happened before with Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto and Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan is affected by the United States foreign policy, so he is part of a Cold War intrigue. Thankfully it is not openly exposed, but suggested: the villain (George Macready) is called Radijek, he probably comes from Poland or any other country behind the Iron Curtain, and he is providing guns to the Africans, although not under the Soviet aegis: he is a ruthless, egotistical, murderous dealer, who wants to sell his weapons and collect . His first opponent is a retiring British commissioner (Alan Napier), who defends the colonialist regime of the Crown, and wants to leave the natives under control and evangelized by Protestant missionaries, a work that took him 30 years. But things get violent soon in this entry, quickly increasing the body count and including women abuse, as Queen Melmendi (Dorothy Dandridge) is subject to the whims of the feisty but mean ruler of another tribe, King Bulam (Frederick O'Neal). As usual Cheetah keeps stealing things and getting scared even by rubber snakes.

It helps to be in the right mood to enjoy this rather typical nonsense about Tarzan (Lex Barker) foiling a plan by a villain with a Polish name (George MacReady) to arm one band of African natives with rifles and Tommy guns so they can conquer another tribe and sell them into slavery or concubinage or something. The name of MacReady's character is Radijek. It SOUNDS villainous, doesn't it? And in 1951, Slavic names served nicely as labels for the bad guys although, to be sure, Hollywood must have been experiencing some conflict over whether to give their heavies the names of Commies or Nazis. At the moment the moguls must be in turmoil, what with the Arabs.I don't really think the plot is worth going on about. MacReady sneers constantly and murders his partners in the scurrilous plan one by one in order to steal their share of the loot. Jane wears necklaces by Tiffany and a wrap-around sarong out of Christian Dior. Tarzan comes home from the jungle and Jane says, "Sit down and have some supper," just like Dagwood and Blondie or Ricky and Lucy. Their tree house has several rooms, one of them with a comfortable table and chairs, suitable for wedding receptions and bar mitzvah celebrations. I think I spotted a framed poster of a Marc Chagall on one of the bamboo walls. The bathroom probably has a framed poster too -- a yellow rose over the slogan "Tomorrow Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life." You can probably read it while on the throne.Of course, if you're NOT in a receptive mood, the movie sucks. There was some second-unit shooting in Africa. You can watch the stilt-legged water birds gobble down newly hatched baby crocodiles while a jaunty tune plays in the background. Dorothy Dandridge is in here somewhere, in a minor part, and we don't get to see nearly enough of her. Tarzan not real man. If Tarzan red blooded, then Tarzan shed domestic tranquility, fling Dandridge over shoulder, and swing through tree to someplace else. Company of Cheetah optional.

Tarzan's Peril (1951)** (out of 4) Third film in RKO's Lex Barker-Tarzan series has the ape man trying to stop a bunch of gunrunners who are selling weapons to a tribe planning to use them by attacking other tribes. With the jungle at such an unrest, it's up to Tarzan to try and rescue one of the main tribe's leaders (Dorothy Dandridge). Quite a few reviews called this the best of the Barker Tarzan movies and while it's certainly an improvement over the last entry I'd say it still falls a little short of the first one. There's quite a bit of stuff to enjoy here but sadly we're once again treated with a familiar story that just becomes more and more cliché as it goes along. I will admit that I thought the film started off with an interesting idea as Tarzan doesn't appear for the first fifteen-minutes. Instead of the ape man getting all the screen time the film tries to shine the spotlight on the bad guys who are obviously more interesting the more you can hate them. For the most part I thought the villains were quite evil enough but the screenplay never really made them very fun, which was a letdown. The supporting tribes are finally being played by black actors, which is a plus but sadly the screenplay doesn't given them too much to do. Once Tarzan, Jane (Virginia Huston) and Cheetah enter the picture it's pretty much all action from this point. Once again Barker is good in the role and I think it's fair to say that he finally gotten comfortable in it. Huston makes for an interesting Jane as she's certainly got the sex appeal but her chemistry with Barker isn't the greatest. George MacReady, Douglas Fowley and Glenn Anders all do a nice job in their villain roles. Dandridge is the one who easily steals the film though. Her beauty, charm and charisma jump right off the screen but sadly she isn't given too much to do. She certainly makes the most of the part and she makes it more memorable than any other actress would have but at the same time it's pretty sad to see her having to do a film like this. People always want to put THE BIRTH OF A NATION down but that was 1915 and here this film is 1951 and Hollywood still wasn't doing anything for one of the brightest black stars. The other highlight in the film happens when Tarzan must battle a man-eating plant. The scene actually manages a few nice, tense sequences. The lowlight of the film has to be a hilarious scene where Cheetah is about to be attacked by a huge snake but thankfully Tarzan comes to the rescue. What's so funny is the fake snake that they use and just wait until you get a look at its funny face!