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Some sources quote Tarzan the Tiger as the first sound-Tarzan-film
as well as the film (or serial more accurately) where Tarzan's war cry
could just be heard. Both this claims are true only in part: Essentially, Tarzan
the Tiger was filmed as a silent, but to meet up with audience
expectations a sound track was hastily added, consisting of a musical
score, some incidental jungle sounds and Tarzan's war cry, but all
the dialogue is - in best silent movie manner - delivered by title cards
only. About the war cry: Tarzan's yell here only consists of shouting a
rather unimpressive "Yaah, yaah !" every now and again that is a
far cry (excuse the pun) from what we have become accustomed to from the Johnny
Weissmuller Tarzans onwards.
But first the story ...
Lord Greystoke (Frank Merrill), formerly known as Tarzan, lord of the
jungle, and his wife Lady Jane (Natalie Kingston) live on a plantation on
the edge of the jungle. But financial difficulties force Greystoke/Tarzan
back into the jungle again, to get the jewels of Opar - a perilious
endeavour, as not only is La, the High Priestess of Opar (Kithnou) madly
in love with him and will stop at nothing, not even killing Lady Jane, to
get him, but there's also soldier of fortune Albert Werper (Al Ferguson),
who poses as Tarzan's friend to get the jewels himself. And then there's
Achmet Zek (Sheldon Lewis), who would like nothing more than to kidnap
Jane and sell her into slavery - and kidnapping her, he eventually does ...
Tarzan evenutally finds the Jewels of Opar, but gts caught in a
landslide which makes him forget everything, especially his being Lord
Greystoke, and the actual worth of the jewels he now refers to as pretty
pebbles ...
Jane meanwhile has managed to escape Achmet Zek - an escape that for
some reason made her put on a skimpy fur dress - but she soon becomes
captive by the High Priestess of La ... but is saved by Tarzan, who
doesn't even remember her but somehow feels drawn to her - he even gives
her his pretty pebbles.
But soon enough, she is recaptured by Achmet Zek, who is now working
together with Albert Werper - that is until Werper kills Zek and puts the
blame on Tarzan ...
At first, Tarzan is mad at Jane and even wants to have his revenge on
her because he believes she has stolen his pretty pebbles, but he
frees her from Werper nevertheless and eventually she can convince him
that she hasn't taken his pebbles (and neither has Werper taken them) but
hidden them in Tarzan's hut.
Reconciled, Tarzan agrees to go to Opar with Jane, who thinks something
in Opar might trigger tarzan's lost memory ... not too good an idea
actually, since Werper has since realized he hasn't got the real jewels
and has now teamed up with High Priestess La to get them from Tarzan. A
series of ambushes and fights follow, but in the end, Tarzan regains his
memory and in exchange for his and Lady Jane's freedom he shows La and her
followers where the jewels of Opar, their long lost treasure, are hidden
... and once again Werper finds himself without his most important ally -
but he doesn't give up yet but hurries back to Tarzan's estate, where
meets up with Annersley (Clive Morgan), Tarzan's cousin who is hell-bent
on taking over his title and possessions, at any cost possible, even if it
means Tarzan's death. And to that end, he has even hired Werper in the
first place.
The two of them soon find a way to overcome Tarzan and take Jane their
prisoner, but instead of killing Tarzan right away, they tie him to
a tree and let nature do the rest ... bad idea, since the jungle animals,
especially the elephant Tantor the Terror, are Tarzan's friends,
and they not only free Tarzan from his ropes but also track down and kill
Annersley and Werper for him.
And in the end, thanks to the pretty pebbles that Werper had on
him, Tarzan and Jane are able to overcome their financial difficulties.
As a whole, Tarzan the Tiger is an entertaining if not terribly
original jungle adventure, with Frank Merrill's performance as the lord of
the jungle being mediocre at best, and his outfit - something I would call
a leopard leotard and a headband to match - might look unintentionally
funny from today's point of view. And Kithnou, as La the High Priestess,
just fails to project any of the exotic eroticism the role would demand
(quite the opposite, she looks like a bland old-virgin-style English
school teacher), while her temple-dancers seem a bit ridiculous.
That said though, the serial is on the other hand reasonably fast
paced, with plenty of action, and diverting stock footage to pad out the
proceedings and give the jungle locale some authencity (which never works)
is kept to a minimum.
In all, it's not great, but it's entertaining nevertheless.
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amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Tarzan the Tiger at adultvideouniverse.com
