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| TARZAN'S DESERT
MYSTERY (director: Wilhelm
Thiele; screenwriters: story by Carroll
Young/Edward T. Lowe/based on the characters by Edgar
Rice Burroughs; cinematographers: Russ
Harlan/Harry Wild; editor: Ray Lockert;
music: Paul Sawtell; cast: Johnny Weissmuller
(Tarzan), Nancy Kelly (Connie Bryce), Johnny Sheffield
(Boy), Otto Kruger (Paul Hendrix), Joe Sawyer (Karl
Straeder), Lloyd Corrigan (Sheik Abdul El Khim), Robert
Lowery (Prince Selim), Frank Puglia (Magistrate), Philip
Van Zandt (Kushmet), John Dehner (Sheik
Amir); Runtime: 70; MPAA Rating: NR; producer:
Sol Lesser; RKO; 1943) "I give it a pass for being so goofy and entertaining and irresistible." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz An
oddball Tarzan, set in the Sahara Desert. It mixed
stock footage with on location filming at the
Alabama Hills and in Lone Pine, California. Though
wandering far afield from the usual Tarzan turf, it's
still finely directed by the Austrian-born Wilhelm
Thiele ("Bridal Suite"/"Bad Little Angel"/"The
Madonna's Secret"). Its story line is
far-fetched and far from believable, as Tarzan looks
for a jungle medicine in the desert to treat
malaria in England, takes on Nazi agents,
mercenary warlike Arabs and, of course, a giant
spider, man-eating plants and some prehistoric
dinosaurs. I give it pass for being so goofy and
entertaining and irresistible. The story is by
Carroll Young and it's written by Edward
T. Lowe. This was the eighth time Johnny Weissmuller played
Tarzan and was the second one he made for RKO. Jane
is back in London as a nurse to help in the WWII
war effort and writes her boyfriend Tarzan a letter
urging him to go to the desert to get special medicine
for jungle fever to help the British servicemen. Boy (Johnny
Sheffield) and Cheeta, the playful pet chimp,
convince Tarzan to take them with him despite his
objections the desert is not as safe as the jungle. In
the North African desert Tarzan liberates a wild
stallion being whipped by the evil Nazi Karl
Straeder (Joe Sawyer) and
escorts a stranded in the desert feisty slang talking
American vaudeville magician named Connie
Bryce (Nancy Kelly) to the city
of Bir Herari. She was hired by the Sheik
Amir (John Dehner) to deliver an
important message to his fellow Yale educated
buddy, Prince Selim (Robert Lowery), the
son of the kindly Sheik Abdul El Khim (Lloyd
Corrigan), who rules the city. In Bir
Herari, the sinister Nazi businessman Paul Hendrix (Otto
Kruger), Karl's boss, has Tarzan jailed for
stealing the stallion. Meanwhile Connie delivers the
message, hidden in her bracelet, to Prince Selim, who
is delighted the message tells of the bad deeds
planned by Hendrix and Karl and thereby he can warn
his trusting ruler father of the dangers they present
and have them arrested. But the baddies followed
Connie and when she delivered the message in a house
that wasn't secure, they killed the Prince and framed
the murder on Connie. Facing execution, it's up to
Tarzan and his animal friends to rescue Connie, take
down the baddies and go into the desert jungle, where
an amazing assortment of dangerous animals roam, to
get Jane her medicine. If you can get over that it makes little sense and the plot is routine, you might find it's nevertheless a lot of fun. REVIEWED ON 8/9/2012 GRADE: B- Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |