Tarzan's Greatest Adventure

At night, the African village of Mantu is raided for its supply of dynamite. The village doctor and radio operator interrupt the robbery and are fatally shot. Before dying, the operator gasps, "Slade" over the shortwave radio. The next morning, Tarzan is awakened by drums, alerting him to something wrong. He departs his treehouse and arrives at Mantu, where a funeral is being held for the fallen villagers. A police inspector informs Tarzan of the raid. Tarzan then embarks by canoe to catch an old nemesis named Slade and his gang of raiders. Along the way, a small plane taunts Tarzan with low flyovers. However, the aircraft's engine stalls, and it crashes, depositing an American ex-fashion model, Angie Loring, into the river. Unwilling to leave her stranded, Tarzan brings Angie to the hunt. Meanwhile, Slade and his quartet of thieves are just miles in front, travelling by riverboat. Their destination is a secret diamond mine, where they will use the stolen dynamite for excavating the gems. When their riverboat malfunctions, the thieves begin to quarrel among themselves. Eventually, one of them, Dino, leaves the boat and is later stuck in quicksand and drowns; another, O'Bannion, dies when Tarzan, who has now caught up with the raiders, nails him with bow and arrow. However, Tarzan is injured, requiring Angie to tend to his wounds. She attempts to steal medical supplies from Slade's boat but is captured. Slade uses her to lure Tarzan into a trap, but the plot fails, costing the life of Toni, another Slade accomplice. This leaves only Slade and his one surviving ally, an ex-Nazi named Kreiger. There is no honor among these thieves, as Kreiger demonstrates when he tries to kill Slade after they reach the mine. Slade retaliates against Kreiger, who offers him all the diamonds he has collected if he lets him go. Unmoved, Slade kills Kreiger. Back on the river, Tarzan is nursed back to health by Angie. He continues his quest to capture Slade, much to her displeasure. Tarzan thanks Angie for her help, and swings away for a final confrontation with Slade. High atop a river bluff, Slade fires rifle shots at Tarzan, who reaches him despite this. At first Slade gets the upper hand by lassoing Tarzan with a wire noose. However, Tarzan's strength and endurance win out, and he pushes Slade over the cliff onto the rocks below. He then travels back upriver to Mantu and his treehouse. ==Cast==

• Gordon Scott as Tarzan • Anthony Quayle as Slade • Sara Shane as Angie Loring • Sean Connery as O'Bannion • Niall MacGinnis as Kreiger • Al Mulock as Dino • Scilla Gabel as Toni ==Production==

The Tarzan films had been produced by Sol Lesser since Tarzan Triumphs (1943). In April 1958, Lesser sold his company, including the rights to the Tarzan films, to Sy Weintraub for a reported $3.5 million. Gordon Scott had played Tarzan for the four previous films in the series under Lesser: ''Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955), Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957), Tarzan and the Trappers (1958), and Tarzan's Fight for Life'' (1958). In July 1958, he announced he would not return as Tarzan, refusing to sign an exclusive contract. Weintraub said he would find a new Tarzan. In September 1958, Weintraub announced he had signed a two-picture deal with Paramount Pictures to make two Tarzan films. The films would be shot on location and the first one would be called ''Tarzan's World Adventure''. They were still looking for an actor to replace Scott. In October, the producers announced Theodore B. Sillis had signed to direct. In November, Hedda Hopper reported that Weintraub, unable to find a new Tarzan, has signed a seven-year deal with Scott to play the role. The producer decided to make a different style of film. ''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'' would present a grittier, more realistic Tarzan. A loner who could be as savage as his opponents, but could also speak eloquently and politely to allies. Tarzan would also be made vulnerable and not as invincible as previous incarnations. "Tarzan has grown up," said Scott in 1959. "I speak clearly understandable, everyday English." He also said "Lesser saw Tarzan as part of a family unit, but if you read Burroughs' books, the bastard [Greystoke] really knew what to do. I always wanted to play it with some scars on me; he used to battle the bull apes, you know, and get a couple of lumps. I wanted to pursue that, but they wouldn't buy it. It may seem like a minor thing, but those minor things really add up." The film was shot on location in Kenya and at Shepperton Studios in London. Stock safari footage was used to portray wildlife, especially animal attacks. Scott said Sean Connery "was marvelous... He and I had some good giggles, when we got back to Shepperton. They wanted to use him in the next Tarzan, even though he gets killed in this one because he was very good. He said OK. but he had to do this thing for [producers Albert] Broccoli and [Harry] Saltzman — and that was Dr. No. We couldn't touch him after that." While the film was being made, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made their own Tarzan film, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959). They were able to do this because they retained remake rights for the 1932 film of the same name. ==Reception==

According to Kinematograph Weekly the film performed "better than average" at the British box office in 1959. FilmInk called it "a masterpiece in the series, the best Tarzan film since Tarzan and His Mate (1934), and perhaps the most remarkable “turnaround of a franchise” in Hollywood history... the leap in quality after what had been over a decade of steady decline is remarkable." Gordon Scott stayed for one more Tarzan film, Tarzan the Magnificent (1960), before being replaced by Jock Mahoney in Tarzan Goes to India (1962) which was also directed by Guillermin. ==References==