''Tarzan's Savage Fury'' is a 1952 film directed by

Cy Endfield Cyril Raker Endfield (November 10, 1914 – April 16, 1995) was an American screenwriter, director, author, magician and inventor. Having been named as a Communist at a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing and subsequently blacklisted ...

and starring

Lex Barker Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. (May 8, 1919 – May 11, 1973), known as Lex Barker, was an American actor. He was known for playing Tarzan for RKO Pictures between 1949 and 1953, and portraying leading characters from Karl May's novels, notably as ...

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

Dorothy Hart Dorothy Hart (April 4, 1922 – July 11, 2004) was an American actress, mostly in supporting roles. She portrayed Howard Duff's fiancée in the film ''The Naked City'' (1948). Early life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Hart was the daughter of insura ...

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...

, and

Patric Knowles Reginald Lawrence Knowles (11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995), better known as Patric Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second fi ...

. While most Tarzan films of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s presented Tarzan as a very different character from the one in

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

' novels, this movie does make some allusions to the novels. It was shot in

Chatsworth, California Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

Iverson Movie Ranch Iverson may refer to: Computing * Iverson Award, an ACM honour for APL contributions * Iverson bracket, a mathematical notation * Iverson Notation, the syntactic basis of APL (programming language) Other uses * Iverson Movie Ranch, Chatsworth, Ca ...

. The film was the last to be directed by Cyril "Cy" Endfield in the US. Finding himself one of Hollywood's film-makers blacklisted by the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

he moved to Britain. The film was co-written by

Cyril Hume Cyril Hume (March 16, 1900 – March 26, 1966) was an American novelist and screenwriter. Hume was a graduate of Yale University, where he edited campus humor magazine ''The Yale Record''. He was an editor of the collection ''The Yale Record ...

, who'd contributed substantially to the "Tarzan" series back in its bigger budget

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

days. At 81 minutes, this is the longest Tarzan film since

Tarzan's Secret Treasure ''Tarzan's Secret Treasure'' is a 1941 Tarzan film directed by Richard Thorpe. Based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, it is the fifth in the MGM ''Tarzan'' series to star Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. Original print ...

in 1941.

Plot

Tarzan agrees, against his better judgement, to guide supposed British government agents Edwards and Rokov into the land of the Wazuri Tribe, to harvest uncut diamonds for national-defense purposes. It transpires the "agents" are secretly criminals who intend to use the gems for their own sinister purposes.

Cast

as Edwards, a British traitor *

Charles Korvin Charles Korvin (born Géza Kárpáthi, November 21, 1907 – June 18, 1998) was a Hungarian-American film, television and stage actor. He was also a professional still and motion picture photographer and a master chef. Korvin was born in P� ...

as Rokov, a Russian agent * Tommy Carlton as Joseph 'Joey' Martin * Wesley Bly as Native Captive (uncredited) *

Darby Jones Darby Jones (February 10, 1910 – November 30, 1986) was an American actor known for his role as the zombie-like Carrefour in the 1943 horror film ''I Walked with a Zombie''. He appeared in a similar role in the 1945 film ''Zombies on Broadway'' ...

as Witch Doctor (uncredited) *

Peter Mamakos Peter Mamakos (December 14, 1918 – April 27, 2008) was an American film and television actor. Early life Mamakos was of Greek descent. Mamakos' father owned Pilgrim restaurants in New England. Mamakos was sent to California to scout lo ...

as Pilot (uncredited) *

Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...

as Native Chief (uncredited)

Production

The film was originally known as ''Tarzan, the Hunted''.

Critical reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film was, "A series of unexciting jungle heroics are offered..."''Variety'', Review: ‘Tarzan's Savage Fury’, December 31, 1951
/ref> Recent TV guides for re-run viewers say little more. ''

The Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' wrote that "plenty of action helps the story along", and ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' wrote that the film was "uninteresting and slowly paced."

References

External links

* 1952 films 1950s fantasy adventure films American fantasy adventure films American sequel films Films shot in California Tarzan films Films directed by Cy Endfield Films produced by Sol Lesser Films scored by Paul Sawtell American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{adventure-film-stub