''Tarzan and the Huntress'' is a 1947 American

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

starring

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

in his eleventh outing as

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

. Brenda Joyce makes the third of five appearances as

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * Jane (1915 film), ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * Jane (2016 film), ''Jane'' (20 ...

and

Johnny Sheffield Johnny Sheffield (born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan, April 11, 1931 – October 15, 2010) was an American child actor who, between 1939 and 1947, portrayed Boy in the Tarzan film series and, between 1949 and 1955, played Bomba the Jungle Boy. ...

marks his eighth and final appearance as Boy.

Patricia Morison Eileen Patricia Augusta Fraser Morison (March 19, 1915 – May 20, 2018) was an American stage, television and film actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood and mezzo-soprano singer. She made her feature film debut in 1939 after several years on ...

and

Barton MacLane Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC ...

co-star. The film was produced by Sol Lesser and Kurt Neumann, written by Jerry Gruskin and Rowland Leigh (based on characters created by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, ...

) and directed by Kurt Neumann. It was released on April 5, 1947.

Plot

Due to a shortage of animals in American zoos following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Tanya Rawlins (

), a big-game "huntress," Carl Marley ( John Warburton), her financial backer and Paul Weir (

), a cruel trail boss, are given permission by King Farrod (

Charles Trowbridge Charles Silas Richard Trowbridge (January 10, 1882 – October 30, 1967) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1915 and 1958. Biography Trowbridge was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where his father served in the ...

), to capture a male and female of each

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of animal on his land. In a subplot, Oziri (Ted Hecht), nephew to King Farrod, colludes with Weir to allow him to trap more animals than bargained for. He also has Weir's men kill King Farrod and his son, Prince Suli (Maurice Tauzin), in order for him to take over the throne. Farrod is shot in the back and killed, and Suli is thrown into a pit full of

crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant me ...

s, but, unknown to all watching, he lands on a hidden ledge and is knocked unconscious. Boy (

) trades two lion cubs to the trappers for a flashlight. When Tarzan (

) finds out, he returns the flashlight, retrieves the cubs, and calls all the animals from King Farrod's land across the river to his part of the jungle. When the hunters begin trapping on his side of the river, Tarzan and Boy sneak into their camp at night, take their guns and hide them in a cave behind a waterfall. They then begin to systematically release all the trapped animals from their cages. Cheeta inadvertently reveals the location of the cache of weapons to Rawlins and her safari. Prince Suli is able to make his way through the jungle, and is found by Tarzan. Tarzan, Boy and a herd of

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

defeat both the usurping nephew and the huntress, but the latter escapes on board a plane.

Selected cast

as Tarzan * Brenda Joyce as Jane *

as Boy *

as Tanya Rawlins, unscrupulous big game huntress *

as Paul Weir, villainous trail boss * John Warburton as Carl Marley, backer of Rawlins' expedition *

as King Farrod * Ted Hecht as Prince Ozira * Wallace Scott as 'Smitty' Smithers

Production notes

A character arc throughout the film is Boy's acceptance of adult responsibilities. In one line of dialogue Tarzan says, "Boy man now." Sheffield was sixteen when the film was released and producer Sol Lesser thought he had outgrown the role of a cute boy, so the character did not appear in further films.

References

Bibliography

* Essoe, Gabe. ''Tarzan of The Movies'', 1968, published by The Citadel Press.

External links

* * *
ERBzine Silver Screen: ''Tarzan and the Huntress''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarzan And The Huntress 1947 films 1940s fantasy adventure films American fantasy adventure films American sequel films Films directed by Kurt Neumann Tarzan films Films produced by Sol Lesser American black-and-white films Films scored by Paul Sawtell RKO Pictures films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films