This was the last of the RKO Tarzan series featuring Johnny Weissmuller as Edgar Rice Burroughs' jungle hero. Although the film is mildly entertaining and certainly not the worst of the series it is easy to see why the end was in sight. Weissmuller is too old for the part and is obviously overweight. Boy (usually played by Johnny Sheffield) is away being educated in England, there's a new smaller Cheetah and Tarzan is wearing sandals. The famous tree house is only seen in a couple of stock shots from earlier films with Jane and Tarzan's home being limited to a cramped soundstage set. Worst of all is the comedy relief provided by John Laurenz who bursts into song several times during the movie. Like most of the series during the 40's the African jungle is totally devoid of black natives and Tarzan's home seems to be situated a few miles upstream from a Mexican coastal village. The plot is a cast off from an old Republic serial with wicked whites masquerading as a talking idol to control the simple natives. On the plus side the main villain is George Zucco in High Priest mode who veers between looking as though he is enjoying himself and looking distinctly embarassed by the crown of seashells he has to wear in some scenes - but mostly the old Zucco twinkle is still there. The film benefits from an interesting location and some impressive sets. But it was obviously time for Weissmuller to put on his clothes again and become JUNGLE JIM for rival studio, Columbia. Rating ***
Showing posts with label Robert Florey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Florey. Show all posts
Monday, 14 June 2010
TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS (1948)
This was the last of the RKO Tarzan series featuring Johnny Weissmuller as Edgar Rice Burroughs' jungle hero. Although the film is mildly entertaining and certainly not the worst of the series it is easy to see why the end was in sight. Weissmuller is too old for the part and is obviously overweight. Boy (usually played by Johnny Sheffield) is away being educated in England, there's a new smaller Cheetah and Tarzan is wearing sandals. The famous tree house is only seen in a couple of stock shots from earlier films with Jane and Tarzan's home being limited to a cramped soundstage set. Worst of all is the comedy relief provided by John Laurenz who bursts into song several times during the movie. Like most of the series during the 40's the African jungle is totally devoid of black natives and Tarzan's home seems to be situated a few miles upstream from a Mexican coastal village. The plot is a cast off from an old Republic serial with wicked whites masquerading as a talking idol to control the simple natives. On the plus side the main villain is George Zucco in High Priest mode who veers between looking as though he is enjoying himself and looking distinctly embarassed by the crown of seashells he has to wear in some scenes - but mostly the old Zucco twinkle is still there. The film benefits from an interesting location and some impressive sets. But it was obviously time for Weissmuller to put on his clothes again and become JUNGLE JIM for rival studio, Columbia. Rating ***
Friday, 30 April 2010
THE CROOKED WAY (1949)
A rather obscure Film Noir (at least, I'd never even heard of it) directed by Robert Florey. John Payne stars as a WW2 vet who suffers from incurable amnesia due to a war wound. He returns home to Los Angeles to trying discover his identity and discovers he was a gang boss who betrayed his partner (a really strong and viscious performance by Sonny Tufts) and that he was married to a night club hostess (Ellen Drew). There is nothing startlingly original about the plot but it works well enough. What really lifts this film several notches above the routine is the atmospheric black and white photography by the great John Alton. If Noir is your game then this movie wont disappoint. Rating ***
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)