Tarzan and the Slave Girl
Brief Synopsis
A dying tribe kidnaps the jungle king's wife to help replenish their numbers.
Cast & Crew
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Lee Sholem
Director
Lex Barker
Tarzan
Vanessa Brown
Jane
Robert Alda
Neil
Hurd Hatfield
Prince
Arthur Shields
Dr. Campbell
Film Details
Also Known As
Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan and the Slave Girl, Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Genre
Adventure
Release Date
Mar
18,
1950
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Location
Los Angeles--Baldwin Park, California, United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 14m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,648ft
Synopsis
As African wild man Tarzan and his girl friend Jane are passing by a group of Nagasi women picking berries by a jungle river, Moana, one of the women, suddenly disappears. Although the tribal medicine man proclaims that evil spirits took Moana, Tarzan and Jane suspect she was kidnapped and go to investigate. While Jane is inspecting the area where Moana was last seen, she, too, is ambushed. Tarzan and the Nagasi chief's son hear Jane screaming and race to her rescue, then pursue the kidnappers, Lionians, into the jungle. Tarzan catches one of the abductors, but is knocked out by the others, who flee in a boat. When the captured kidnapper later collapses from a paralyzing disease in the Nagasi village, Jane, fearing that the illness is contagious, sends Tarzan for a doctor in nearby Randini. After Tarzan describes the disease's symptoms, Dr. Campbell identifies it as deadly and highly contagious and prepares a serum. Accompanied by Lola, his flirtatious nurse, and Neil, her ne'er-do-well American beau, the serum-equipped doctor is guided by Tarzan and his chimpanzee Cheeta to the Nagasi village. There he administers the life-saving drug and prepares to follow Tarzan and a troupe of Nagasis to the disease's source--the kidnappers. Tarzan instructs Jane to room with Lola until his return, but when Lola, who is attracted to Tarzan, insinuates that he prefers her to Jane, the two women begin to fight. The defeated Lola rushes into the jungle, where she is immediately captured by the kidnappers. Hearing Lola's screams, Jane follows and is also taken prisoner, much to the delight of Sengo, the kidnappers' leader, whom Jane had badly scratched during her earlier abduction. In the jungle, meanwhile, Tarzan and the others encounter Wadis, a tribe of hostile, dart-blowing natives, and suffer many casualties before escaping over a deep ravine. Jane and Lola, who have joined up with Moana and seven other captured women, then leave the jungle and arrive in the Lionians' arid village. Sengo delivers the enslaved women to the Lionian prince, a capricious young man who has just lost his father to the disease. Although the High Priest warns him that the disease, which has also struck the prince's son, requires his serious attention, the Prince remains oblivious. Seeing an opportunity to advance himself, the ambitious Sengo incites the Prince to condemn the High Priest to death, then assumes his post. Later, the brash Lola, to whom the Prince has taken a fancy, is beaten by Sengo and, grabbing his knife, stabs him in retaliation. Lola and Jane then attempt to escape, but are chased into an enormous crypt, where the King is about to be buried, and hide inside the Queen's unsealed tomb. When Sengo deduces their whereabouts, he orders that the tomb be sealed, thereby assuring the women will suffocate. Tarzan and the group, meanwhile, are led into the village by armed guards, and as they pass the crypt, Jane spies them through a temporary opening in the roof and calls out to Tarzan. Unaware that his serum bottle fell out in the jungle, Dr. Campbell assures the Prince that he can cure his son and protect the village. As the doctor is led to the princeling, Tarzan sneaks away to rescue Jane, gaining access to the crypt by hiding in the King's coffin. When the doctor finally discovers that the serum is missing, he is condemned by the Prince, who then orders that his father's entombment proceed. Soon after, Neil, who suffered a leg injury during the journey and fell behind, arrives in the village with Cheeta, who picked up the dropped serum. Dr. Campbell cures the prince's son just as Tarzan frees Jane and Lola and opens the just-sealed crypt with help from the tribe's elephants. Sengo denounces Tarzan for desecrating the crypt, and a mêlée breaks out as the High Priest is about to be executed in a den of lions. After a fierce fight, all of the women are freed and Tarzan throws Sengo in the lions' den. Later, the grateful Prince pronounces Tarzan and the others his friends, and much to Neil's annoyance, professes his love to Lola.
Director
Lee Sholem
Director
Cast
Lex Barker
Tarzan
Vanessa Brown
Jane
Robert Alda
Neil
Hurd Hatfield
Prince
Arthur Shields
Dr. Campbell
Tony Caruso
Sengo
Denise Darcel
Lola
Robert Warwick
High Priest
Mary Ellen Kay
Moana
Alfonso Pedroza
Nagasi chief
Tito Renaldo
Chief's son
Satini Puailoa
Mecicine man
Tom Hern
Molo
Tiny Mcclure
Wadi chief
Paul Burns
Elephant keeper
Freddie Ridgeway
Princeling
Martin Wilkins
Serum bearer
Russ Conklin
Nagasi brave
Charles Mauu
Nagasi brave
Fred Carson
Nagasi brave
Tom Tamarez
Nagasi brave
Vincent Romaine
Nagasi brave
Blue Washington
Randini bearer
Dock Mcgill
Randini bearer
Jackee Waldron
Slave girl
Rosemary Bertrand
Slave girl
Mona Knox
Slave girl
Gwen Caldwell
Slave girl
Shirley Ballard
Slave girl
Martha Clemons
Slave girl
Josephine Parra
Slave girl
Peter Virgo
Lionian
Peter Mamakos
Lionian
Phillip F. Harron
Lionian
Allen Church
Lionian
Steve East
Lionian guard
Gene Gary
Lionian guard
Sheldon Jett
Eunuch
Vic Romito
Lionian brave
George Magrill
Lionian brave
Crew
Frank Beetson
Wardrobe Supervisor
Arnold Belgard
Screenwriter
Ruth Burch
Casting Director
James Casey
Assistant Director
Glenn Cook
Prod Supervisor
Russell Harlan
Photography
Harry Horner
Production Design
Hans Jacoby
Screenwriter
Sol Lesser
Producer
Gustaf Norin
Makeup Artist
Christian Nyby
Film Editor
Paul Sawtell
Music
Allan Thompson
Camera Operator
John Tribby
Sound tech
Film Details
Also Known As
Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan and the Slave Girl, Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Genre
Adventure
Release Date
Mar
18,
1950
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Location
Los Angeles--Baldwin Park, California, United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 14m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,648ft
Articles
Tarzan and the Slave Girl
A dying tribe kidnaps the jungle king's wife to help replenish their numbers.
Tarzan and the Slave Girl
A dying tribe kidnaps the jungle king's wife to help replenish their numbers.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Tarzan and the Golden Lion. The opening title card reads: "RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. presents Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Slave Girl." This was the only "Tarzan" film in which Vanessa Brown appeared as "Jane." Although in previous Tarzan films Jane is Tarzan's wife, she is portrayed as his girl friend in Tarzan and the Slave Girl. According to Hollywood Reporter, some location shooting was done in Baldwin Park, which is in Los Angeles, CA, but unlike earlier Tarzan pictures, most of the film was shot in the studio. An Hollywood Reporter news item also announced that in late August 1949, Burroughs made a rare public appearance to help producer Sol Lesser promote the film, whose release coincided with the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Tarzan stories. Burroughs died in late March 1950, a few days after the film opened. For more information on the Tarzan series, consult the Series Index and for Tarzan Triumphs and Tarzan, the Ape Man in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40.
