Tarzan and the Huntress (1947) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

Tarzan fights to keep a seductive female big game hunter from capturing too many animals.

Cast & Crew

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Kurt Neumann

Johnny Weissmuller

Brenda Joyce

Johnny Sheffield

Patricia Morison

Barton Maclane

Photos & Videos

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Tarzan And The Huntress (1947) -- (Movie Clip) Never Kill For Fun

Tarzan And The Huntress (1947) -- (Movie Clip) Killer Lion

Film Details

Also Known As

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Huntress, Tarzan's Dangerous Game

Genre

Adventure

Release Date

Apr 5, 1947

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Sol Lesser Productions, Inc.

Distribution Company

RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Country

United States

Location

Arcadia--Rancho Santa Anita, California, United States

Screenplay Information

Based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 12m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

6,483ft

Synopsis

Renowned animal trainer Tanya Rawlins and her assistant, Carl Marley, land their airplane in the heart of the African jungle and are eager to begin trapping the abundant wild life for shipment back to American zoos. They soon learn from hunter Weir, however, that the local ruler, King Farrod, allows only one pair of each animal species to be taken from his country by any single expedition. Sure that she can convince Farrod to exempt her expedition from this law, Tanya attends his birthday celebration the next day and there meets wild man Tarzan, his mate Jane and son Boy. While Farrod remains firm in his conviction that only one pair of each animal should be trapped, Tarzan feels strongly that no animals should be taken. To bypass Farrod, Weir and Tanya join forces with Farrod's greedy, ambitious nephew, Prince Ozira, who offers to help them export an unlimited number of animals for a price. During the first day of the expedition, Farrod is assassinated by confederates of Ozira, and the king's son Suli is thrown into a crocodile-filled ravine and left for dead. After Ozira claims the throne, Tanya, Marley and Weir begin indiscriminately capturing animals. Tarzan, meanwhile, becomes upset when he discovers that Boy has exchanged two lion cubs for a flashlight belonging to Smithers, one of Weir's helpers, and goes to the hunters' camp to retrieve the cubs. Upon seeing the camp filled with caged animals, Tarzan warns the expedition to stay on their side of the river and then "calls" the jungle inhabitants to his side. Weir, however, ignores Tarzan's warnings and crosses the river to trap and shoot more animals. One of his victims is Tarzan's chimpanzee Cheetah, whom he takes back to camp in a bamboo cage. Cheetah soon escapes and races back to alert Tarzan, who, with Boy, sneaks into the camp that night and steals all the guns. Although Tanya is ready to abandon the expedition, Weir sends two of his unarmed native helpers to obtain more guns from Ozira. Both men are attacked by lions, but one survives and makes his way through the jungle. The next morning, Tarzan and Boy, who have hidden the guns behind a waterfall, return to the camp to liberate the animals and later rescue Tanya from a leopard attack. After Tarzan promises to guide Tanya out of the jungle, Tanya discovers through Cheetah the whereabouts of the guns and quickly rearms the expedition. While Weir's man alerts Ozira to the expedition's plight, Tarzan and Boy stumble on the still shaken Suli just as a python is about to strike. Tarzan saves Suli from the snake and sends Boy back to Jane while he heads for the village with the prince. On the way, Tarzan and Suli are stalked by three of Ozira's men, whom Tarzan easily kills. Tarzan then "calls" a herd of elephants to stampede the area, and the elephants destroy the camp and cause the death of Ozira, Marley and Weir. After Tarzan rescues Jane and Boy from one of Weir's traps, Cheetah, who has long yearned for Tanya's makeup compact, sneaks on board her airplane as she and Smithers embark. Tarzan, Jane and Boy then see Cheetah being pushed out of the plane and parachuting to the ground, compact in hand.

Director

Kurt Neumann

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller

Brenda Joyce

Johnny Sheffield

Patricia Morison

Barton Maclane

John Warburton

Charles Trowbridge

Ted Hecht

Wallace Scott

Maurice Tauzin

Mickey Simpson

Cheetah

Crew

Albert Antonucci

Cheetah's trainer

Clem Beauchamp

Production Manager

Irving Berns

Bert Briskin

Assistant Director

Mcclure Capps

Leslie Charteris

Contr to Screenplay const

Harold Clandening

Breezy Eason

Director of elephant stampede seq

Jerry Gruskin

Original story and Screenplay

Rowland Leigh

Original story and Screenplay

Sol Lesser

Frank Mcwhorter

Kurt Neumann

Associate Producer

Phil Paradise

Production Design

Paul Sawtell

John Sheets

Associate film Editor

Archie Stout

Merrill White

Videos

Tarzan And The Huntress (1947) -- (Movie Clip) Never Kill For Fun Johnny Weissmuller (title character) happy with Jane (Brenda Joyce) and Boy (Johnny Sheffield), not aware yet of the hunting expedition led by Tanya (Patricia Morison, also from the title) and Marley (John Warburton), flying above, early in Tarzan And The Huntress, 1947.

Tarzan And The Huntress (1947) -- (Movie Clip) Killer Lion Jungle intrigue as the king (Charles Trowbridge) gets shot in a staged stampede, his son (Ted Hecht) distraught, guests (Barton MacLane, Carl Marley, Patricia Morison) alarmed, creepy Suli (Maurice Tauzin) faking concern and Johnny Weissmuller arriving, in Tarzan And The Huntress, 1947.

Film Details

Also Known As

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Huntress, Tarzan's Dangerous Game

Genre

Adventure

Release Date

Apr 5, 1947

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Sol Lesser Productions, Inc.

Distribution Company

RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Country

United States

Location

Arcadia--Rancho Santa Anita, California, United States

Screenplay Information

Based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 12m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

6,483ft

Articles

Tarzan and the Huntress

May 9, 2012

One of the best and liveliest of the latter-day Sol Lesser produced RKO Tarzan flicks, Tarzan and the Huntress (1947) finds Johnny Weissmuller out for his eleventh and next to last outing as the chest-pounding jungle man originally created by writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. In this adventure, Tarzan (Weissmuller) goes up against an expedition of trappers led by the titular huntress Tanya (Patricia Morison) who wants to re-stock depleted American zoos with wild animals caught from the jungle. With greed as the prime motivator, a murder plot is hatched to help bypass some legal restrictions, and it's up to Tarzan, his mate Jane (Brenda Joyce) and their animal friends to save the day.

By the time Tarzan and the Huntress was released, the Tarzan film series starring Johnny Weissmuller was 15 years old, and Weissmuller himself was now in his 40s. With the series starting to feel a little long in the tooth, Weissmuller would make only one more Tarzan film later the same year before hanging up his loincloth for good.

Tarzan and the Huntress also marked the eighth and final time that actor Johnny Sheffield appeared as Boy. Having first played the role in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) at the age of 8, Sheffield had grown up on camera in the Tarzan films of the 1940s and was obviously no longer a boy, but a strapping young adult. Tarzan and the Huntress addresses Sheffield's maturity in its storyline, acknowledging that Boy has now become a man. Of course, the real star of the show is the ever-popular Cheta, Tarzan's mischievous chimpanzee, who provides plenty of riotous comic moments.

Producer: Sol Lesser
Director: Kurt Neumann
Screenplay: Jerry Gruskin, Rowland Leigh (story and screenplay); Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Cinematography: Archie Stout
Art Direction: McClure Capps
Music: Paul Sawtell
Film Editing: Merrill White
Cast: Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), Brenda Joyce (Jane), Johnny Sheffield (Boy), Patricia Morison (Tanya Rawlins), Barton MacLane (Paul Weir), John Warburton (Carl Marley), Charles Trowbridge (King Farrod), Ted Hecht (Prince Ozira), Wallace Scott ('Smitty' Smithers).
BW-72m.

by Andrea Passafiume

Tarzan And The Huntress

Tarzan and the Huntress

One of the best and liveliest of the latter-day Sol Lesser produced RKO Tarzan flicks, Tarzan and the Huntress (1947) finds Johnny Weissmuller out for his eleventh and next to last outing as the chest-pounding jungle man originally created by writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. In this adventure, Tarzan (Weissmuller) goes up against an expedition of trappers led by the titular huntress Tanya (Patricia Morison) who wants to re-stock depleted American zoos with wild animals caught from the jungle. With greed as the prime motivator, a murder plot is hatched to help bypass some legal restrictions, and it's up to Tarzan, his mate Jane (Brenda Joyce) and their animal friends to save the day. By the time Tarzan and the Huntress was released, the Tarzan film series starring Johnny Weissmuller was 15 years old, and Weissmuller himself was now in his 40s. With the series starting to feel a little long in the tooth, Weissmuller would make only one more Tarzan film later the same year before hanging up his loincloth for good. Tarzan and the Huntress also marked the eighth and final time that actor Johnny Sheffield appeared as Boy. Having first played the role in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) at the age of 8, Sheffield had grown up on camera in the Tarzan films of the 1940s and was obviously no longer a boy, but a strapping young adult. Tarzan and the Huntress addresses Sheffield's maturity in its storyline, acknowledging that Boy has now become a man. Of course, the real star of the show is the ever-popular Cheta, Tarzan's mischievous chimpanzee, who provides plenty of riotous comic moments. Producer: Sol Lesser Director: Kurt Neumann Screenplay: Jerry Gruskin, Rowland Leigh (story and screenplay); Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters) Cinematography: Archie Stout Art Direction: McClure Capps Music: Paul Sawtell Film Editing: Merrill White Cast: Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), Brenda Joyce (Jane), Johnny Sheffield (Boy), Patricia Morison (Tanya Rawlins), Barton MacLane (Paul Weir), John Warburton (Carl Marley), Charles Trowbridge (King Farrod), Ted Hecht (Prince Ozira), Wallace Scott ('Smitty' Smithers). BW-72m. by Andrea Passafiume

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The title frame of the onscreen credits reads: "Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Huntress." The working title of this film was Tarzan's Dangerous Game. Costumer Harold Clandening's name was misspelled in the onscreen credits as "Clandenning." In May 1946, Hollywood Reporter announced that because of the success of producer Sol Lesser's previous "Tarzan" film, Tarzan and the Leopard Woman, he and star Johnny Weissmuller signed a three-year contract to make one "Tarzan" picture a year, starting with Tarzan and the Huntress. Previously, Lesser and Weissmuller had agreed not to make any more "Tarzan" films. Ewing Scott was first assigned as the film's director, according to Hollywood Reporter, but bowed out due to insufficient preparation time. Hollywood Reporter also notes that the elephant stampede sequence was shot at Rancho Santa Anita, which was part of the "Lucky" Baldwin estate in Arcadia. According to the film's pressbook, Cheetah's trainer, Al Antonucci, had to replace prop lipstick with bananas and red "goo" so that the chimp would apply it to her lips as called for in one scene. Although the pressbook lists RKO makeup artist Mel Berns with makeup, Irving Berns is credited onscreen. For more information on the "Tarzan" series, consult the Series Index and for Tarzan Triumphs and the entry Tarzan, the Ape Man in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40.

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