Tarzan and the Huntress ** (1947, Johnny Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce, Johnny Sheffield, Patricia Morison, Barton MacLane) – Classic Movie Review 8063

Director Kurt Neumann’s 1947 RKO Tarzan series entry Tarzan and the Huntress brings back Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, who wastes no time in despatching a party of hunters intent on trapping animals for the world’s zoos. Brenda Joyce and Johnny Sheffield also make welcome returns as Jane and Boy.

Maybe because Tarzan’s opponents are not as formidable or as dangerous as the Nazis (Tarzan’s Desert Mystery) or leopard cultists (Tarzan and the Leopard Woman) from previous episodes, Tarzan and the Huntress is a rather tepid adventure, enlivened mainly by just a sharp pace and an exciting elephant stampede, as well as some breezy character acting.

Also in the cast are Patricia Morison as the beautiful but fiendish huntress and animal trainer Tanya Rawlins, Barton MacLane, John Warburton, Wallace Scott, Charles Trowbridge and Ted Hecht.

Tarzan and the Huntress is directed by Kurt Neumann, runs 72 minutes, is made by Sol Lesser Productions, is released by RKO, is written by Jerome Gruskin (as Jerry Gruskin) and Rowland Leigh (original story and screenplay), is shot in black and white by Archie J Stout, is produced by Sol Lesser and is scored by Paul Sawtell.

It is Sheffield’s last movie as Boy. No longer a boy, he was 16 at the time of the film’s release. He went on to be Bomba, the Jungle Boy.

The film is set in Africa but several shots show tapirs, native only to South America, Central America and Southeast Asia. A tapir is a large, herbivorous mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Other animals seen in the film that are not native to Africa include bears, Indian elephants and forest deer. And the extras featured as African natives seem to be Indonesian or Filipino.

It follows Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (1943), Tarzan and the Amazons (1945) and Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946).

It is followed by Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948), the final appearance of Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (1949), Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950), Tarzan’s Peril (1951) and Tarzan’s Savage Fury (1952).

Glamorous movie star of the Forties Patricia Morison died at 103 on 20 May 2018. She appeared in classics such as The Song of Bernadette, Calling Dr Death (1943) and the 1946 Dressed To Kill. 

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8063

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