T a r z a n   F i l m o g r a p h y   2

| With Germanic connections in bold |
Thanks to Matt Winans and his Tarzan Movie Guide for some of the information in this filmography.

Weissmuller films | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s

 

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Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950, 74 min.)
Lex Barker, Vanessa Brown.

Tarzan’s Peril (1951, 79 min.)
Lex Barker, Virginia Houston. The very first Tarzan film actually shot on location in Africa. All the previous ones were either shot on a back lot, in Florida or in Mexico.

Tarzan’s Savage Fury (1952, 80 min.)
Lex Barker, Dorothy Hart.

Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953, 76 min.)
Lex Barker, Joyce Mackenzie. Directed by German-born Kurt Neumann. Pretty lame story for Barker’s fifth and last Tarzan appearance. (He went on to become a popular film star in Europe, particularly in Germany.) The film’s only high point is Raymond Burr’s (aka Perry Mason) heavy.

Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955, 73 min.)
Gordon Scott, Vera Miles. Scott gets off to a weak start as Tarzan. German-American actor Peter van Eyck plays Dr. Celliers.

Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957, color, 84 min.)
Gordon Scott, Betta St. John. The first color Tarzan film was a British production.

Tarzan’s Fight for Life (1958, color, 86 min.)
Gordon Scott, Eve Brent. Not among the best.

Tarzan and the Trappers (1958, 74 min.)
Gordon Scott, Eve Brent. Low-budget black-and-white effort, originally filmed for an aborted television series, slapped together from three episodes. Don’t bother renting this one.

Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959, color, 88 min.)
Gordon Scott, Sara Shane. A British production filmed on location in Africa. Scott plays an intelligent Tarzan. A young Sean Connery is cast as a villain.

Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959, color, 82 min.)
Denny Miller, Joanna Barnes. Notorious for the use of color tinted scenes from earlier black-and-white Weissmuller movies. Some critics rank it as the worst Tarzan movie. Miller’s only Tarzan film.

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Tarzan the Magnificent (1960, color, 88 min.)
Gordon Scott, Betta St. John. Scott returns. Jock Mahoney, the next Tarzan, plays the villain.

Tarzan Goes to India (1962, color, 86 min.)
Jock Mahoney. A colorful setting, but where’s Jane when you really need her? A British production.

Tarzan’s Three Challenges (1963, color, 92 min.)
Jock Mahoney. Mahoney became ill while filming this, his last, Tarzan movie.

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966, color, 90 min.)
Mike Henry, Nancy Kovak.

Tarzan and the Great River (1967, color, 88 min.)
Mike Henry, Diana Millay.

Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968, color, 90 min.)
Mike Henry.

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Tarzan’s Deadly Silence (1970, color, 88 min.)
Ron Ely. Jock Mahoney and Woody Strode play villains in this feature adapted from Ely’s television series.

Tarzan’s Jungle Rebellion (1970, color, 92 min.)
Ron Ely, Ulla Stromstedt. Also adapted from Ely’s television series.

Weissmuller in the ’70s In the 1970s Weissmuller made cameo appearances in these two cinematic duds: The Phynx (1970) Weissmuller joined other faded stars such as Guy Lombardo and Ruby Keeler in this supposed satire of a rock group. Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) Apparently having learned nothing from his earlier cameo flop, Weissmuller joins yet another group of film veterans in an even worse movie. Not even stars Bruce Dern, Madeline Kahn, and Teri Garr can save this dog.

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Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981, color, 112 min.)
Miles O’Keefe, Bo Derek. Tarzan is speechless and Jane (Derek) is stitchless in this mess directed by Derek’s husband, John Derek.

Greystoke, the Legend of Tarzan (1984, color, 129 min.)
Christopher Lambert, Andie McDowell. Closer to Burroughs’ original concept but somehow, despite some nice touches, it just doesn’t hold together.

Tarzan in Manhattan (1989, color, 100 min.)
Made-for-TV. Joe Lara, Kim Crosby. Lara becomes the 18th film Tarzan and it isn’t pretty. Lara later appeared in a Tarzan TV series (below).

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Tarzan: The Epic Adventures. Tarzan's Return (1996, color, 100 minutes)
Made-for-TV. Joe Lara, Cory Everson. Later a syndicated series (1996-1997). See Matt Winan’s Tarzan on Television for more about the Joe Lara series and other Tarzan episodes on the tube.

Tarzan on German TV (RTL2) > Tarzan: Die Rückkehr — The Lara series auf Deutsch (in German).

Tarzan and the Lost City (1998)
“A New Tarzan for a New Generation.” Casper Van Dien and Jane March. Directed by the Swiss-German Carl Schenkel. Music by the Berlin-born composer Christopher Franke (“Babylon 5”).

Tarzan (1999, animated)
With the voices of Rosie O’Donnell (as a monkey), Glenn Close, and other celebs. Disney’s animated version.

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Disney’s Legend of Tarzan (2001- )
Animated made-for-TV series, based on the 1999 animated feature film.

See Matt Winans’ Tarzan Page for more about the Tarzan movies, including some unauthorized Spanish and other versions.

For Weissmuller’s “Jungle Jim” films, see Matt Winans’ Jungle Jim Movie Guide.

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