User Reviews

After six films starring alongside Johnny Weissmuller as jungle beauty Jane, Maureen O'Sullivan decided to depart the series, leaving the writers of the next Tarzan film not only looking for a way of explaining the lovely actress's sudden absence but also having to ensure that male cinema-goers still had a reason to take their family to see the ape-man's latest adventure.

Their solution: have their script conveniently see Jane visiting friends in London, and introduce a sexy new character in the form of Zandra (Frances Gifford), princess of the hidden city of Palandria, who seeks help from Tarzan after Nazi soldiers enslave her people.

A far cry from the first two pre-Hays code Tarzan films, which were chock full of enjoyably un-PC violence and raunchiness, Tarzan Triumphs is strictly family friendly matinée material, with the added novelty of some delightfully daft WWII propaganda. Director Wilhelm Thiele packs the first half of his film with the usual vine swinging, frolicking in lagoons, stock footage of animals, and scenes of good old Cheetah providing plenty of hilarity, but he eventually delivers some decent action once the bad guys go out of their way to upset Tarzan: when the Nazis kidnap Boy and slap him about a bit, our jungle hero finally announces "Now Tarzan make war!" and it's non-stop Nazi bashing fun thereon in, with even Cheetah and Boy grabbing firearms to get in on the action!

And talking of Cheetah, the cheeky chimp also provides the film's excellent final joke, which sees stupid Nazi radio operators in Berlin mistaking the furry-faced funster for 'Der Fuhrer'. Take that, you silly Nazi nincompoops!

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

If you are familiar with the original Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, there's no reason to scoff at the idea of Tarzan taking on the Nazis. This territory was already covered in the seventh novel of the Tarzan series (and one of the best), "Tarzan the Untamed." Set during World War I, this novel starts with German troops destroying Lord Greystoke's home and kidnapping Jane. Tarzan sets out to find the officer responsible, and in the process he finds himself in an actual combat situation, in which he uses his jungle wiles to sabotage the German side.

Interestingly, "Tarzan the Untamed" leads to a climax involving a strange European civilization hidden in a deep valley, rather like the one featured in "Tarzan Triumphs." Although the script for "Tarzan Triumphs" is credited as an original story, it seems clearly inspired by "Tarzan the Untamed."

Breaking into the second volume of WB's Weismuller Tarzan movies, all of which were made at RKO, and which previously had been produced at MGM. Maureen O'Sullivan finally got her way and was able to leave the series when it left MGM, while Weismuller and Johnny Sheffield, who plays Boy, not to mention Cheetah, stayed on. Tarzan Triumphs isn't a great film (I don't have high expectations for any of the remainder of this series, honestly), but it is historically interesting, and amusing in the way all Tarzan movies are. In the thick of WWII, Nazis invade Tarzan's jungle looking to enslave the lost city of Palandra. The princess of Palandra, Zandra (Frances Gifford), begs Tarzan for help. Tarzan refuses, claiming that the Nazis have done nothing to him. But when they actually do do harm to him, by kidnapping Boy, he vows revenge. Strange this one wasn't made in 1941 instead of 1943. Or perhaps by '43 people were already getting tired of war and this is "stay the course" propaganda. Don't know, but it is fascinating as propaganda. It gets very violent, more violent than the other Tarzan movies as far as I can remember. Well, some black people get wasted in nasty ways in the early Tarzan movies, of course. But Tarzan mercilessly slaughters the Nazis. Cheetah pushes one off a cliff, and then pushes a boulder over after him! Even Boy gets to shoot a guy! And the final living Nazi suffers one of the most entertainingly horrible, Roman-style deaths ever. The film ends on a joke worth of Looney Tunes.

The seventh Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film and the first from RKO. It's also the first without Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane. The role would eventually be recast but here we are told that Jane is visiting in England, where she keeps Tarzan and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) abreast of world events through a letter. Since this one features a topical WW2 backdrop, it has one of the more artfully crafted scripts of the later Tarzan sequels. Tarzan here is an isolationist and, like America at the outset of the war, he has no interest in meddling in the affairs of outsiders. The outsiders in this case being the people of the jungle city Palandrya who ask for help when Nazis parachute in and take over, as they were wont to do. But when the Nazis kidnap Boy, Tarzan declares "Now Tarzan make war!" and rallies his animal allies to fight the invaders. And boy, do they fight! This is one of the more violent Tarzan entries. Didn't bother me in the slightest watching Tarzan kill Nazis but it will likely scar politically sensitive types.

Weismuller and Sheffield both make the transition from MGM to RKO, where they are given more lines than in the MGM films. Also carrying over from the MGM series is the ever-lovable Cheeta, fun as always and more than a match for the evil Nazis. There has to be a pretty female in the movie, even without Jane. So enter lovely Frances Gifford playing Zandra, the princess of Palandrya who comes to Tarzan looking for help. She has good chemistry with Weissmuller and even gets a swimming scene with him. Sig Ruman, Stanley Ridges, and Philip Van Zandt play some of the baddies.

As for the WW2 elements, how you feel about most American films made during this period will tell you how you'll feel about this. Unfortunately, if you look around IMDb, you'll find a lot of people who seem to really hate movies that were supportive of the Allies. They spit the word 'propaganda' at these films with such contempt it makes you wonder if these people, most of whom claim to be American, would rather the Axis had won. It's pretty gross. Anyway, if you're one of these types you won't like this movie. But chances are, if you're that way, you don't like Tarzan to begin with and believe yourself to be above these movies. I guess you watched them ironically or something, right? Whatever. For the rest of you, this is a fun start to the RKO series. It's solid escapist fare. Not as good as the MGM films but I'm never bored by them. Love that end scene.

This Tarzan adventure has the hero fighting Nazis as they invade the jungle searching for ore and minerals to bolster their war effort. The visitors also abuse the hospitality of a peaceful native tribe and enslave them while they search for radio parts to maintain contact with the Fatherland. Tarzan doesn't get involved during this Nazi occupation until they snatch Boy and make off with the lad. Johnny Weissmuller is in top form as he battles the invaders alone as he attempts to get Boy back from his captors. Frances Gifford is good as a native girl who is coveted by Nazi boss Stanley Ridges. The film is one of the best of the Tarzan series.

The first of the RKO Tarzans and quite an enjoyable entry. Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) finds himself involved in battling the Nazis when they invade the peaceful nearby village of Palandria and try to make slaves out of its citizens. For this film, Tarzan's partner Jane is absent while doing business in London, so we have the gorgeous Frances Gifford subbing for the feminine interest of the story as a princess of Palandria who makes contact with Tarzan and his son Boy (Johnny Sheffield). Gifford would have made a stunning and perfect Jane. A fun, fast, and entertaining installment with an occasional display of violence, with good actors like Sig Ruman, Stanley Ridges, and Philip Van Zandt playing the Nazi bad guys. *** out of ****

TARZAN TRIUMPHS (RKO Radio, 1943), directed by Wilheim Thiele, the seventh in the long running jungle series starring Johnny Weissmuller, the first of the Sol Lesser productions distributed by RKO Radio, finds Tarzan assuming new territory and dangerous ground at the RKO sound-stages following six successful "Tarzan" adventures distributed by MGM between 1932 to 1942. The production values no way equaled the status MGM put into its series, however, the format used at RKO virtually follows the same pattern from the previous films, with slight alterations to the "Tarzan" character, such as the use of a new soundtrack for the Tarzan yell, heard twice here, unlike those many have become accustomed to from the earlier episodes. Weissmuller's Tarzan continues to speak in mono syllables ("Boy stay! Tarzan get." or "Tarzan thank," etc.) rather than incomplete sentences. Along with Weissmuller, Johnny Sheffield, who plays Boy, son of Tarzan, along and their pet chimpanzee, Cheetah, each resume their characters with much familiarity as enacted at MGM. Tarzan's mate, Jane, played six times previously by Maureen O'Sullivan, had broken away from the series, thus having her "Jane" character omitted here and in the next entry. For this outing, Frances Gifford substitutes as the heroine called Zandra. Due to Gifford's near physical resemblance to Maureen O'Sullivan makes one wonder why Gifford wasn't considered to play Jane. For now, Tarzan and Boy team up with the support of new characters and Nazi villains worked into the story rather than hunters and native tribes.

The story opens with Boy (Johnny Sheffield) leaving the tree-house and riding his elephant, accompanied by his chimpanzee pet, Cheetah, to meet with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), who had earlier gone to the seacoast to obtain a letter written to him by Jane, who's away visiting with relatives in war-torn England. Along the way, the ever curious Boy gets himself in trouble when wanting to take a closer look at the lost city of Palandria located at the bottom of a cliff. Falling off the crevasse, landing on top of a semi loose branch, Zandra (Frances Gifford), the white princess of that lost civilization, comes to his rescue. In helping Boy, the two find themselves trapped on the narrow ledge, that is, until Tarzan arrives in time to save the day. As Tarzan, Boy and Zandra part company, Zandra returns to her civilization where her people welcome some strangers, Nazis who have parachuted down from their airplane. In time, the welcomed guests "repay" their friendly hospitality by turning the peaceful community into slaves while taking possession of their wealth in tin and oil. In the meantime, Lieutenant Scheldon Schmidt (Rex Williams), who had also parachuted from an airplane, injures his leg while holding onto his shortwave radio. Tarzan rescues the German youth from a near drowning. With the help of Boy, they take the injured party to their tree-house for rest and recovery. Because Cheetah has taken and hidden the coil needed to make radio communication to his homeland, Schmidt stirs trouble by chasing after and shooting Cheeta. Sensing danger, Boy's elephant comes to Cheetah's rescue by forcing both Nazi and heavy boulder over a cliff, killing the abductor. Because of the Nazi invasion in her city, Zandra comes to Tarzan for help. Tarzan succeeds in doing away with the Germans by leading them to the river where they are attacked by cannibal fish. While Tarzan feels the Nazi invasion in Palandria does not really concern him, Zandra feels it does, knowing that as long as the Nazis are around, no one is safe. Only after the Nazis invade Tarzan's domain, with its leader, Von Reichart (Stanley Ridges) abducting Boy and holding him prisoner in Nazi headquarters for not revealing the whereabouts of the coil for the radio does Tarzan begin to realize and cry out, "Now, Tarzan make war!!!" (It's been said by Bob Dorian, former host of American Movie Classics, that this scene alone found audiences in movie theaters cheering and applauding).

An average Tarzan adventure by today's standards with a timely message of how an invasion of a territory and war amongst a peaceful people does concern everybody. As with the Tarzan character, who lives a secluded life in his little habitat, with his philosophy, "Nazi leave me alone, Tarzan leave them alone," all that changes when Nazis take over his territory and become a danger to Boy. Against all odds, such as being held prisoner himself, tied up against the pole to await execution by firing squad at dawn does Tarzan manage to become a one man revolution. Tarzan, who fights to survive while the enemy, the Nazis in this case, survive to fight, brings forth his own war for that, as quoted by Tarzan, "In jungle, the strong always win."

The supporting players include Sig Rumann as the Head Nazi; Philip Van Zandt as Captain Bausch; Pedro De Cordoba as Patriarch; and Stanley Brown as Archmet. Frances Gifford, who makes her sole venture in the series, gets some screen time in a stretched out segment filling in for Jane by swimming with Tarzan, and preparing dinner for him and Boy.

As with the entire Tarzan movie series that has spanned decades, TARZAN TRIUMPHS, at 76 minutes, aired frequently on commercial television for many years before shifting over to the American Movie Classics cable channel (1997-2000) and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: May 14, 2011). Unlike the MGM entries, the six features made at RKO Radio starring Weissmuller from 1943 to 1948, were never distributed onto video cassette but later onto DVD around 2008. Next chapter: TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY, where Tarzan and Boy (minus Jane) encounter more Nazis once more but with a few added surprises along the way. (**)

Two things elevate this Tarzan film above all the other latter Weismuller efforts. One, is the amusing tie-in to WWII flag-waving by pitting Tarzan against the Nazis. The other is Frances Gifford (who had excelled in as the star of the serial "Jungle Girl") as the breathtakingly beautiful Princess Zandra (wearing the first abbreviated costume since Maureen O'Sullivan in "Tarzan And His Mate"). You wonder in the end why Tarzan just didn't throw the absent Jane over and run off with her.

Another "iron bird" flies over the area of Africa ruled by jungle king Johnny Weissmuller (as Tarzan), and soon the idyllic paradise is crawling with Nazis. Curiously, only after cute Johnny Sheffield (as Boy) is kidnapped by Hitler's oil and mineral colonel Stanley Ridges (as Von Reichart) does Mr. Weissmuller actually declare WAR. Weissmuller gets a rare chance to "act" in this scene. Of course, "Tarzan Triumphs" over Nazis. With "Jane" (out of the picture) visiting London relatives, new home studio RKO brought in beautifully shaped Frances Gifford (as Zandra) to fill the space, which she does well. Former studio MGM would not surrender the original "Tarzan" yell, and the movies at RKO were noticeable downsized while Weissmuller's waistline grew. This entry is very silly. Appropriately, "Cheeta" the chimp gets the last laugh.

**** Tarzan Triumphs (1/20/43) Wilhelm Thiele ~ Johnny Weissmuller, Johnny Sheffield, Frances Gifford, Stanley Ridges

While Tarzan was a popular moneymaker at MGM, with the outset of WWII, the studio felt Johnny Weissmuller was getting too old, Maureen O'Sullivan wanted out of the series, and the overseas market was lost, so the series was dropped...but RKO would prove the Ape Man had a LOT of life left in him!

Veteran producer Sol Lesser, 53, loved the character, and snapped up the rights for the studio, wisely keeping Weissmuller, 39, and 'Boy' Johnny Sheffield, now nearly 12, in their signature roles. O'Sullivan, no longer interested in 'Jane', was written out (caring for her ailing mother in London), and the elements that fans loved best (nearly superhuman heroics, comedy from chimp co-star, Cheetah, wild animal footage) were 'beefed up', dropping the romantic interludes, the large number of black 'extras', that provided authenticity (but were expensive for a smaller studio to maintain, for a single series), and, indeed, most of the 'glossiness' that marked the MGM entries. Even the signature Tarzan 'yell' had to be replaced (as the manufactured howl, part Weismuller, part studio magic), was the property of the studio; Weismuller created a 'new' one, that would become so popular that it would be kept, long after he finally retired from the role.

The first RKO entry was perhaps the best of their series; TARZAN TRIUMPHS brought the Nazis into the jungle to tap the mineral resources of a 'lost' city, eventually kidnapping Boy, and leading the previously isolationist Ape Man to utter the famous tag line, "Now Tarzan make war!" With lovely Frances Gifford as a native princess, providing sex appeal (and a really weird scene of Boy trying to 'hook up' the princess and lonely Ape Man, to enlist his help against the Nazis), and Sig Ruman, who went from Marx Brothers' foil to one of Hollywood's busiest 'Nazis', as one of the villains, the action adventure is very entertaining (if extremely violent...Tarzan actually encourages the locals to grab a gun and kill, Boy shoots one Nazi soldier with a pistol, and even CHEETA machine guns one!), and the film was a huge hit for the studio.

Tarzan, at a new home, was back in the 'swing' of things!

Tarzan vs. Nazis! Johnny Weissmuller is back as Tarzan, although no longer at MGM and instead produced at a more modest of budget at RKO, this time has the Lord of the Jungle fighting Nazis with the help of Frances Gifford, the princess of a lost city that's been invaded by Nazi paratroopers. This is more of a silly Hollywood WWII propaganda film than a genuine Tarzan story. Still, seeing Tarzan so out of place with this story is pretty entertaining both as a so-bad-it's-good type fo film due to the gonzo idea of Tarzan fighting Nazis, but also still kind of works as a straight adventure film. Overall, it's ridiculous, but it's also entertaining. Look for Sig Ruman as a Nazi, who'd later be better known as Sgt. Johann Sebastian Schulz on "Hogan's Heroes." FUN FACT! MGM would not let RKO use their iconic recording of Tarzan's jungle yell and RKO has to make their own new knockoff "Tarzan Yell."

Tarzan Triumphs is one of the best of the series. Part of the credit goes to its cast.

Boris Karloff to put part of a gangster's brain into Stanley Ridges head in Black Friday in 1940, three years before he starred in this killer Tarzan entry as a classically dastardly Nazi.

Francis Gifford (as Zandra) is a genuine babe. Wow!

And of course, Johnny Weissmuller is your perfect Tarzan.

However, in a brilliant bit of casting, it must be noted that the real star of this epic is ... Cheetah as Cheetah. Thank God, they didn't use Ray Corrigan and his fabled gorilla suit!

Heretofore unbeknown to most of us, it's quite apparent from seeing Tarzan Triumphs that Cheetah really has an axe to grind against the evil Nazi's, who invade central Africa and take over Zandra-ville.

When Cheetah gets word of this, he goes ... ape!

Tarzan unwisely gets himself captured. Brilliant! Ungowa, indeed! This leaves one one man, er, monkey for the job of saving not only Tarzan, but Zandra, her entire town and, for that matter, the whole of central Africa: you got it...Cheetah.

In reality, this film gives us all sorts of talents we didn't know Cheetah possessed prior to this film. For instance, who know that Cheetah was deadly with a Browning water-cooled machine gun? I didn't.

Deciding to take matters into his own little hands, Cheetah blows up a Nazi machine gun next or two atop a tower in town. Then he goes to work. Geez, in a matter of a couple minutes, he kills thousands of Nazis. Who knows, maybe tens of thousands?

That darned monkey killed millions of Nazi's and what was his reward? The Congressional Medal of Honor? No. The Silver Star? Uh-uh. Zandra? Sorry, even though he was dumb enough to get captured, Tarzan got her. No, Cheetah didn't get diddley squat. Not even a ding-dang banana. Where were the Oscar voters back then?

To show his frustration (probably at not getting babacious Zandra), he did a couple back flips, everyone laughed - and the movie ended.

By all means, don't miss Cheetah, star of Tarzan Triumphs...oh yeah, and Johnny Weissmuller and Francis Gifford (yee ha!).

Princess Zandra of Palandria saves the Boy. Jane had gone home to take care of her sick mother. Tarzan stays without care for the outside world war. The Nazis parachute into the jungle in search for natural resources. Tarzan saves a wayward Nazi. The rest of the Nazis arrive at Palandria. Despite their friendly welcome, the locals are soon enslaved to work for the Nazis. Princess Zandra escapes to seek help from Tarzan.

Tarzan has been recruited to fight the Nazis. Like many Americans, Tarzan is initially an isolationist. It takes a lot to convince him. In fact, it takes having the Nazis attack Tazan's home, very much like America. Certainly, this is wartime propaganda and it is good for that. "Take Gun. Kill Nazis."

Animals and Tarzan killing a bunch of dirty nazis. That's a good thing. Plus: A lost civilization in a city lost in the jungle. Pure pulp fun for the young at heart.

Tarzan Triumphs marks the Edgar Rice Burroughs character moving from the premier studio of Hollywood MGM, to the more economical RKO. The results certainly show in this film.

In 1943 the eternal jungle man joins the fight against the Nazis when paratroopers descend on an isolated city called Palandria. What Rommel was doing wasting valuable troops over there, mystifies me, it certainly wasn't anywhere near the North African theater, but the Fuehrer must have had a plan.

The Nazis of course behave in their usual brutal manner and that's enough to bring Tarzan to the aid of the occupied city. Especially since Frances Gifford makes it a personal request. With Jane gone to aid the Allied cause I guess Tarzan's feeling a little antsy.

It's real dated World War II propaganda, but Tarzan Triumphs is still a lot of fun.

This is the most unpleasant Weissmuller Tarzan film I've ever seen. There's simply too much pro-war rhetoric, too much violence and killing and nowhere near enough fun. Fun is what one expects from the Tarzan films of this era, not war propaganda. Still can't deny the ending scene with Cheetah is unforgettable.

'Now...Tarzan Make Propaganda!'

A lot of people seem to have a bias against the RKO Tarzan films, but in truth, it was MGM which gradually morphed the Tarzan franchise from A-picture status to B-picture status, gradually reducing the budget and running time of each picture. And MGM had a bad habit of recycling footage from previous entries in the series...how many times did audiences have to watch the trapeze-vine and the crocodile-wrestling scenes?

In fact, it was probably a good thing that the franchise migrated from MGM to RKO, because RKO made some of the best B-pictures of all time, including many classy ones like the Val Lewton horror series, whereas MGM treated their B-pictures like red-headed step-children. Here we get a brand-new plot and a good script, and we get to see Tarzan fighting a bunch of WW2 Jerries. Thanks to Indiana Jones, it turns out that Nazis are timeless villains, which likely would have surprised the creators of this film, who clearly were content to make a fun propaganda piece.

Above all other considerations, we get Weissmuller and his distinctive portrayal of Tarzan. Maureen O'Sullivan, who was wonderful in her own right and who brought out the best in Weissmuller, is absent here, but we find that Our Hero delivers a good-to-excellent performance throughout, being strangely moving in the scene where Boy reads Jane's letter and his righteous fury is very effective when he utters this famous line: 'Now...Tarzan make war!'

Frances Gifford was an excellent choice as the beautiful and brave princess Zandra, who besides being eye-candy for the adolescents and adults in the audience, has very good chemistry with Weissmuller. Perhaps the chemistry is a little too good...Zandra attempts to persuade Tarzan to help by engaging in some enjoyable flirtation...if Jane had seen the two swimming and sunbathing together, if she had seen Zandra leaning her head on Tarzan's bare chest in a moment of despair, she might not have come back from London in 'Tarzan and the Amazons.'

The MGM Tarzan films were marred by blatantly racist depictions of African tribes. For some reason, the RKO Tarzans seem to have few dark- skinned African tribes, but numerous groups of hidden pale-skinned cities. I don't know why RKO's fictional Africa was populated this way, but I will speculate that it may be due to the fact that in WW2, the US govt. made certain efforts to squelch racism in the media, due to the fact that excessive racial oppression was deemed bad for the war effort. DC Comics, who published the Justice Society of America, did some anti-racism comics during the war, at the behest of the War Department.

Whatever the reason, we are spared the usual bad African stereotypes, but at the same time, it is odd to think of an Africa inhabited mostly by pale-skinned people.

The action and violence in this film are, by the standards of B-movies and Weissmuller Tarzans, very good and satisfying, particularly the sequence where Tarzan tracks and taunts the lead Nazi. Sig Ruman, who played Sgt. Shultz in my favorite Christmas movie, 'Stalag 17,' plays a comedy-relief Nazi here, to good effect.

The Nazis go to Africa seeking oil and strategic mineral wealth, and they use military domination to secure their holdings...the Jerries' troops were called 'Africakorps.' Today, the USA and other military powers are still active in many African nations, perpetrating intrigue, fomenting violence, allying themselves with unsavory characters and regimes, so as to secure petroleum and strategic minerals, such as coltan, which is vital for cell phones and personal electronics. The USA has 'Africom.' Now more than ever, the world needs a Tarzan. Barring that possibility, at least we can watch and contemplate this fun adventure.

When I think of Tarzan films, I think of this one - Cheetah's seminal scene at the end is one of my all-time favourite movie moments. This is, in my opinion the best of the Tarzan genre and I rate it a "10". I may be a bit biased having grown up watching these on TV, then going down the woods with my mates to build dens, climb trees and throw spears at anything that moved, but all the classic formulaic events of a Tarzan masterpiece are here. The big man himself, the jungle, dangerous animals ... throw in a bunch of Nazis for Tarzan to deal with too and how could it be anything but great ? Cheetah gives the performance of his life - he will have you rolling in the aisles with his antics near the end.

If you haven't seen it and it comes on TV, give it a go ... sit back, suspend your disbelief, accept it wasn't made yesterday and take the special effects at face value ... and simply enjoy ...

Superb.

... now, where's my spear ?

Tarzan has to make war against The Third Reich, when the Nazis enter the jungle looking for some mineral resources of the lost city of Palandria.The white princess Zandra manages to escape and asks Tarzan to help the enslaved people of her city.He refuses at first, but then Boy gets kidnapped.Tarzan Triumphs (1943) is directed by Wilhelm Thiele.This film was made after U.S. State Department contacted the producer to tell him that a Tarzan film was an ideal way to spread the message of democracy's battle against Fascism to the American public.Johnny Weissmuller portrays the character once again famously.Weissmuller had portrayed the character six times with MGM, but this was his first one with the producer Sol Lesser at RKO pictures.Johnny Sheffield reprises his role as Boy.And naturally Cheetah is there.Jane is missing, since she is visiting her sick mother in England.Maureen O'Sullivan was unable to reprise her role due to her pregnancy.A couple of pictures later Brenda Joyce, who sadly passed away last month, took the part.The beautiful Frances Gifford plays Zandra.There is something going on between Tarzan and Zandra, that seems almost romantic, like when they're swimming together.But of course Tarzan couldn't cheat on Jane.Stanley Ridges plays Colonel Von Reichart.Sig Ruman is the somewhat comical Nazi Sergeant.Philip Van Zandt portrays Captain Bausch.This Tarzan movie is a great adventure flick that has a darker tone.Of course we all know what kind of damage The Third Reich caused back then, and now Tarzan gets to have his own battle against them.He shows them who the king of the jungle is.It's all very thrilling when Cheetah is chased by a Nazi and Boy is being captured.Cheetah brings some light comedy into the picture.In one funny scene he steals a fruit from smaller monkeys, and he gets thrown by a fruit by them on his face.And in the end he speaks to the Nazis in Berlin through the radio, and they believe it's Hitler that speaks.It should be an offense to Cheetah to be mistaken for such a man.This is a great Tarzan film that has a message.And that message is: In jungle, strong always win.

Johnny Weismuller and Johnny Sheffield are back as Tarzan and Boy, but Maureen O'Sullivan declined to appear in this film for personal reasons. Rather than recast the part, the writers decided to explain her absence by having Jane be in England tending to a sick friend. But, they felt that the film wouldn't be successful without a love interest for Tarzan, so they developed a character named Zandra, who is the queen of a lost city in the African jungle.

Nazis appear in Africa, searching for raw materials for their war machine. They parachute a team of explorers into the jungle to set up a base camp, but their radio operator gets separated from the rest of the platoon and is injured during the drop. Tarzan comes along and rescues him, while the other Nazi soldiers make their way to the Lost City and enslave the peaceful inhabitants, using them as cheap labor for the mines. Zandra tries to stop them but is defeated and has to flee the city, pursued by the Nazi invaders. Just as she is about to get captured and/or killed, Tarzan comes along and rescues her.

Boy likes Zandra and convinces her to flirt with Tarzan, and at one point Tarzan, seeing Zandra on a distant river bank wearing Jane's leather skirts, mistakes her for Jane. Could this be a blossoming romance?

Eventually, the Nazis learn that Tarzan has their radio and they attempt to get it back. They kidnap Boy and demand the radio as ransom. Tarzan and Zandra sneak into the city to rescue Boy and are captured and scheduled for execution. Fortunately, Cheetah comes along and brings Tarzan his knife, which he uses to cut his way through his bonds. In the fight that ensues, the Nazis are defeated.

Overall, its not as good as the classic "Tarzan And His Mate" film, but is still good entertainment even with the hokey "Let's beat the Nazis" theme. But then, this film was made in the dark days of World War 2 so a certain amount of patriotic fervor is understandable. Sure, the plot is formulaic but this is a "Tarzan" film after all so don't expect any deep social drama. The Zandra character was somewhat interesting and could probably have been developed into a recurring sub-plot in later movies, possibly to set up a love triangle between Tarzan and Jane. The two Johnnies do a good job with their roles and Frances Gifford is attractive in a 1940's sort of way. Curiously, after Jane's 2-piece leather outfit raised eyebrows in "Tarzan and His Mate", the costume was changed to a one-piece leather dress. So what is Zandra wearing? A 2-piece outfit that looks vaguely Arabic and shows a bit of mid-section. I guess its ok for supporting characters to show tummy but not a main character.

Tarzan Triumphs (1943)

*** (out of 4)

War propaganda 101 as Nazi's take over a lost city but Tarzan shows up to kick their ass. This probably should have been called Triumph of Tarzan's Will but the politically incorrect humor works just fine for this film. The story is pretty stupid and the German bashing stuff might not go over well today but the film remains a lot of fun due in large part to the animals. Cheetah and the various other monkeys really steal the show here as they're giving a lot of fun things including the one scene where Cheetah steals a bunch of food from three monkeys. Weissmuller is in great form again and Frances Gifford is entertaining as well. There's plenty of nice humor (if politically incorrect) and the action is great. This first RKO Tarzan ranks right up there with the best from MGM, although it does get a little long winded at the end.