Tarzan and the Great River
Encyclopedia
Tarzan and the Great River (1967) is an adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
Eastmancolor film starring Mike Henry in his second outing as a James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
-like globetrotting Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
of his three Tarzan movies. The movie was produced by Sy Weintraub
Sy Weintraub
Sy Weintraub was a movie and television producer best known for his series of Tarzan films and television episodes between 1959 and 1968. Weintraub broke with the Johnny Weissmuller formula of portraying Tarzan as a pidgin-speaking noble savage who lives in a treehouse with Jane and Boy...
and Steve Shagan
Steve Shagan
Steve Shagan is an American novelist, screenplay writer, TV and Movie producer. He was born in 1927 in New York. He wrote the novel, the screenplay and also co produced, Save the Tiger, the 1974 movie, for which Jack Lemmon won the Best Actor Academy Award and Shagan was nominated for Best...
, written by Bob Barbash (from a story by Barbash and Lewis Reed), and directed by Robert Day. It was released in September 1967.
Plot
Tarzan is called to BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
by an old friend, The Professor (Paulo Gracindo) to help stop the Jaguar Cult, led by Barcuma (Rafer Johnson
Rafer Johnson
Rafer Lewis Johnson is an American former decathlete and film actor.-Biography:Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, but the family moved to Kingsburg, California, when he was nine. For a while, they were the only black family in the town. A versatile athlete, he played on Kingsburg High School's...
), from running off Dr. Ann Philips (Diana Millay
Diana Millay
Diana Millay is an American actress. She is best known for her work in television, having guest starred in close to 200 primetime TV shows and later played continuing roles on two daytime offerings, Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm.Diana started her career as a model, first as a child for the...
) who is there to give much-needed inoculation
Inoculation
Inoculation is the placement of something that will grow or reproduce, and is most commonly used in respect of the introduction of a serum, vaccine, or antigenic substance into the body of a human or animal, especially to produce or boost immunity to a specific disease...
s to native villagers along the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
.
Tarzan is assisted by Baron (a lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
) and Cheeta
Cheeta
Cheeta is a chimpanzee character appearing in numerous Hollywood Tarzan movies of the 1930s–1960s as well as the 1966–1968 television series, as the ape sidekick of the title character, Tarzan...
(a chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
), both of whom he brought from Africa, as well as Captain Sam Bishop (Jan Murray
Jan Murray
Jan Murray was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and game show host who made his name on the Borscht Belt.-Early life:Murray was born Murray Janofsky in The Bronx, New York City...
), a riverboat pilot, and Bishop's young ward, Pepe (Manuel Padilla Jr.).
Selected Cast
- Mike Henry as Tarzan
- Jan MurrayJan MurrayJan Murray was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and game show host who made his name on the Borscht Belt.-Early life:Murray was born Murray Janofsky in The Bronx, New York City...
as Captain Sam Bishop, crusty riverboat pilot, ally to Tarzan - Diana MillayDiana MillayDiana Millay is an American actress. She is best known for her work in television, having guest starred in close to 200 primetime TV shows and later played continuing roles on two daytime offerings, Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm.Diana started her career as a model, first as a child for the...
as Dr. Ann Philips, physician attempting to inoculate Brazilian natives - Rafer Johnson as Barcuma, leader of the Jaguar Cult
- Manuel Padilla, Jr. as Pepe, Sam Bishop's youthful ward
- Paulo Gracindo as The Professor, Tarzan's old friend
- Eliezer GomesEliezer Gomes-Selected filmography:* O Assalto ao Trem Pagador * Choque de Sentimentos * Faustão * O Anjo da Noite * Joanna Francesa -External links:...
(uncredited)
Production notes
The movie was filmed entirely on location in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro (Zoo, Parque lage, Floresta da tijuca).Dinky, the chimp portraying Cheeta, bit Mike Henry on the jaw during filming, requiring twenty stitches. The chimpanzee was destroyed
Animal euthanasia
Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...
, and Henry later sued the producers for this accident and other unsafe working conditions on all three of his Tarzan films. The parties settled out of court.