Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle ** (1955, Gordon Scott, Vera Miles, Peter van Eyck, Jack Elam, Rex Ingram) – Classic Movie Review 8048

Director Harold D Schuster’s 1955 jungle adventure Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle features a new Ape Man in Gordon Scott, making his film debut and taking over from Lex Barker after his fifth and final appearance as Tarzan in Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953). Another novelty is that in Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle, the role of Jane is not even included after five movies featuring different Janes.

But otherwise Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle is jungle business as usual, and it re-tells the same old story about nasty white hunters coming to the jungle to kill wildlife for profit. A good B-cast includes Vera Miles, who married Scott soon after filming, Peter van Eyck, Jack Elam and Rex Ingram. The screenplay, based on the characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is by William Lively, who lives up to his name in the writing.

Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle is the last Tarzan movie filmed in black and white, and the last to be made by Sol Lesser Productions for distribution by RKO Radio Pictures. It was shot at the Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia, California.

Also in the cast are Charles Fredericks, Richard Reeves, Don Beddoe, Jester Hairston, Ike Jones and Maidie Norman.

In 1953, two Hollywood agents talent spotted Las Vegas lifeguard Gordon Weschkul and his 19-inch biceps and introduced him to producer Sol Lesser, who had already conducted 200 tests as part of his search for a new Tarzan. Lesser gave him a seven-year contract and changed his name to Scott. 

Two of his Tarzan movies, Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959) and Tarzan the Magnificent (1960), are considered to be among the best Tarzan films. Scott was a friend of Hercules star Steve Reeves, who got him to play Remus opposite his Romulus in Duel of the Titans (1961).

Tarzan and the Lost Safari, Tarzan’s Fight for Life, Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959) and Tarzan the Magnificent (1960) followed, all with Scott.

Scott and Miles were married from 14 April 1956 to 2 March 1960, with one son, but divorced. Miles changed her name from Vera Ralston as the name was already taken by a Hollywood star. Arguably best known for playing Marion Crane’s sister in Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), she insists that author Donald Spoto’s repeated claims that she and Hitchcock had an antagonistic relationship are false and that she thinks of Hitchcock ‘very fondly’.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8048

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