Tarzan and the Great River

Last updated
Tarzan and the Great River
Tarzan and the Great River (movie poster).jpg
Directed by Robert Day
Written byBob Barbash
story by Bob Barbash and Lewis Reed
Based onCharacters created
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Produced by Sy Weintraub
Steve Shagan
Starring Mike Henry
Jan Murray
Manuel Padilla Jr.
Rafer Johnson
Diana Millay
Cinematography Irving Lippman
Edited byAnthony Carras
Edward Mann
James Nelson
Music by William Loose
Production
companies
Banner Productions
Allfin A.G.
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • September 1, 1967 (1967-09-01)
Running time
88 mins.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tarzan and the Great River is a 1967 adventure film starring Mike Henry in his second of three film appearances as Tarzan. [1] The twenty-seventh and penultimate film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man , the film was produced by Sy Weintraub and Steve Shagan, written by Bob Barbash (from a story by Barbash and Lewis Reed), and directed by Robert Day. Released on September 1, 1967, [2] it was followed by Tarzan and the Jungle Boy in 1968.

Contents

Plot

Tarzan is called to Brazil by an old friend, The Professor (Paulo Gracindo) to help stop the Jaguar Cult, led by Barcuma (Rafer Johnson), from destroying native villages and enslaving the survivors in his search for diamonds. Tarzan is assisted by Captain Sam Bishop (Jan Murray), a riverboat pilot, and Bishop's young ward, Pepe (Manuel Padilla Jr.), as well as Baron (a lion) and Cheeta (a chimpanzee). On their way they encounter Dr. Ann Philips (Diana Millay), who has witnessed the destruction of a village, and wants to continue fighting a plague by giving much-needed inoculations to natives who live along the Amazon River.

Cast

Production notes

The movie was filmed entirely on location in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro Zoo, Parque Lage and Tijuca Forest).

Dinky, the chimp portraying Cheeta, bit Mike Henry on the jaw during filming, requiring twenty stitches. The chimpanzee was destroyed, and Henry later sued the producers for this accident and other unsafe working conditions on all three of his Tarzan films. The parties settled out of court. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheeta</span> Fictional character

Cheeta is a chimpanzee character that appeared in numerous Hollywood Tarzan films of the 1930s–1960s, as well as the 1966–1968 television series, as the ape sidekick of the title character, Tarzan. Cheeta has usually been characterized as male, but sometimes as female, and has been portrayed by chimpanzees of both sexes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafer Johnson</span> American decathlete and actor (1934–2020)

Rafer Lewis Johnson was an American decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan American Games. He was the USA team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.

Michael Dennis Henry was an American football linebacker and actor. He was best known for his role as Tarzan in the 1960s trilogy and as Junior in the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy.

<i>Tarzan the Ape Man</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Tarzan the Ape Man is a 1932 pre-Code American action adventure film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith and Maureen O'Sullivan. It was Weissmuller's first of 12 Tarzan films. O'Sullivan played Jane in six features between 1932 and 1942. The film is loosely based on Burroughs' 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, with the dialogue written by Ivor Novello. The film was directed by W.S. Van Dyke. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released two remakes of Tarzan, the Ape Man in 1959 and in 1981, but each was a different adaptation of Rice Burroughs' novel. It is also the first appearance of Tarzan's famous yell.

<i>Tarzans New York Adventure</i> 1942 film by Richard Thorpe

Tarzan's New York Adventure is a 1942 black-and-white adventure film from Metro Goldwyn Mayer, produced by Frederick Stephani, directed by Richard Thorpe, that stars Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. This was the sixth and final film in MGM's Tarzan series and was the studio's last Tarzan feature until 1957's Tarzan and the Lost Safari. Although Tarzan's New York Adventure includes scenes set in New York, as well as the customary jungle sequences, it is yet another Tarzan production primarily shot on MGM's back lots.

<i>Tarzan and His Mate</i> 1934 film by Jack Conway, Cedric Gibbons

Tarzan and His Mate is a 1934 American pre-Code action adventure film based on the Tarzan character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Directed by Cedric Gibbons, it was the second in the Tarzan film series and starred Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan.

<i>Tarzan Escapes</i> 1936 film by William A. Wellman, George B. Seitz, John Farrow, Richard Thorpe

Tarzan Escapes is a 1936 Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the third in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Tarzan series to feature Johnny Weissmuller as the "King of the Apes". Previous films were Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (1934), with Jane's bikini-like attire and the famous skinny-dipping sequence. Weissmuller and O'Sullivan starred together in three more Tarzan films, Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939), Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) and Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942).

<i>Tarzans Greatest Adventure</i> 1959 film by John Guillermin

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure is a 1959 American Eastmancolor adventure film directed by John Guillermin, produced by Sy Weintraub and Harvey Hayutin, and written by Les Crutchfield, based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs as the twenty-second film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man. With a strong supporting cast that included Anthony Quayle and Sean Connery, and a focus on action and suspense, the film won critical praise as a Tarzan film that appealed to adults as well as children.

<i>Tarzan Finds a Son!</i> 1939 film by Richard Thorpe

Tarzan Finds a Son! is a 1939 Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the fourth in the MGM Tarzan series to feature Johnny Weissmuller as the "King of the Apes" and the fourth of six films in which he stars with Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane; following this pairing was Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) and Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942).

Sy Weintraub was an American film and television producer best known for his series of Tarzan films and television episodes between 1959 and 1968. Weintraub broke with the Johnny Weissmuller formula of portraying Tarzan as a pidgin-speaking noble savage who lives in a treehouse with Jane and Boy. Instead, his Tarzan was an educated depressed loner, much closer to Edgar Rice Burroughs's original conception of the character and Boy is replaced by a young orphan named Jai. Weintraub also produced two Sherlock Holmes films for television and was an owner of Panavision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarzan in film, television and other non-print media</span>

Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in twenty-four sequels by Burroughs and numerous more by other authors. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, first and most notably to comics and film.

<i>Tarzan and the She-Devil</i> 1953 film by Kurt Neumann

Tarzan and the She-Devil is a 1953 American film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Lex Barker as Tarzan and Joyce MacKenzie as Jane. The seventeenth film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man, it also features Raymond Burr, Tom Conway and Monique van Vooren, who plays the "She-Devil."

<i>Tarzan Triumphs</i> 1943 film by Wilhelm Thiele

Tarzan Triumphs is a 1943 adventure film in which Tarzan fights the Germans during World War II. Johnny Weissmuller had portrayed the Edgar Rice Burroughs character in six films with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but this was his first with the producer Sol Lesser at RKO Pictures. Lesser had previously produced Tarzan the Fearless and Tarzan's Revenge. Weissmuller was reunited with two of his three co-stars from several of the earlier films; Johnny Sheffield and Cheeta, but Maureen O'Sullivan was unable to reprise her role as Jane because the franchise switched from MGM to RKO, and O'Sullivan was an MGM contract player. Instead, Frances Gifford played the princess of the lost city of Palandrya, which is conquered by Germans.

<i>Tarzan and the Valley of Gold</i> 1966 film by Robert Day

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold is a 1966 Eastmancolor adventure film starring Mike Henry in his debut as Tarzan. The Panavision film, the twenty-sixth film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man, produced by Sy Weintraub, written by Clair Huffaker, and directed by Robert Day, is remembered for its very James Bond-like portrayal of a tropical-suited, globetrotting Tarzan. Released on July 1, 1966, it was followed by Tarzan and the Great River in 1967.

<i>Tarzan and the Jungle Boy</i> 1968 film by Robert Gordon

Tarzan and the Jungle Boy is a 1968 adventure film starring Mike Henry in his third and final appearance as Tarzan. Rafer Johnson and Aliza Gur co-star. The film was produced by Sy Weintraub and Robert Day, written by Stephen Lord and directed by Robert Gordon. Released on May 1, 1968, it is the twenty-eighth and final film in the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man, and was followed by a self-titled remake film in 1981.

<i>Tarzan and the Lost Safari</i> 1957 film by H. Bruce Humberstone

Tarzan and the Lost Safari is a 1957 action adventure film featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Gordon Scott, Robert Beatty, Yolande Donlan and Betta St. John. Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, it was the first Tarzan film released in color, Eastman Color. The nineteenth film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man and the first produced by MGM since 1942, it was filmed in Nairobi, British East Africa. The character of Jane does not appear in this motion picture. Released April 12, 1957, it was followed by Tarzan and the Trappers in 1958.

<i>Tarzan the Fearless</i> 1933 American film

Tarzan the Fearless is a 12 chapter American Pre-Code film serial starring Buster Crabbe in his only appearance as Tarzan. It was also released as a 61-minute feature film which consisted of the first four chapters edited together, and which was intended to be followed on a weekly basis by the last eight chapters in individual episode format, but which was often exhibited instead as a stand-alone feature film. Actress Jacqueline Wells co-starred; she later changed her name to Julie Bishop. The serial was produced by Sol Lesser, written by Basil Dickey, George Plympton and Walter Anthony, and directed by Robert F. Hill. The film was released in both formats on August 11, 1933.

<i>Tarzans Fight for Life</i> 1958 film by H. Bruce Humberstone

Tarzan's Fight for Life is a 1958 American Metrocolor action adventure film featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Gordon Scott, Eve Brent, Rickie Sorensen, Jil Jarmyn, and Cheeta the chimpanzee. The film was directed by H. Bruce Humberstone. The twenty-first film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man, the picture was the second Tarzan film released in color, and the last to portray the ape man speaking broken English until Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981). The filming locations were in Africa and Hollywood, California. It was also the only film in the Scott series to feature the character of Jane. It was followed by Tarzan's Greatest Adventure in 1959.

<i>Tarzan and the Amazons</i> 1945 film by Kurt Neumann

Tarzan and the Amazons a 1945 American adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller in his ninth outing as Tarzan. Brenda Joyce plays Jane, in the first of her five appearances in the role, and Johnny Sheffield makes his sixth appearance as Boy. Henry Stephenson and Maria Ouspenskaya co-star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulo Gracindo</span> Brazilian actor (1911–1995)

Pelópidas Guimarães Brandão Gracindo, known as Paulo Gracindo, was a Brazilian actor.

References

  1. Fury, David (1994). Kings of the Jungle: An Illustrated Reference to Tarzan on Screen and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 195–198. ISBN   0-89950-771-9 . Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  2. "ERBzine 1962: Tarzan and the Great River".
  3. "Tarzan and the Great River (1967) - IMDb".
  4. "Tarzan and the Great River (1967) - IMDb".
  5. "Tarzan and the Great River (1967) - IMDb".
  6. Essoe, Gabe. Tarzan of The Movies, New York: Citadel Press,1968.