Tarzan's Savage Fury (1952)

A good Tarzan adventure film, another of the Lex Barker films that were made with decent budgets and not just cheap knock-offs. Barker does a great job as big hunk Tarzan (its definitely a role that requires more action than acting). First-class actress Dorothy Hart is lovely as Jane and does most of the real acting in this Tarzan household. She was a truly gifted actress who soon quit movies for roles in prestigious television productions and other activities that utilized her worthwhile abilities. There is also a little boy character well played by a lad named Tommy Carleton, although this character seems superfluous to me and was subsequently dropped from the Tarzan series. Former leading man Patrick Knowles does a great job as a vacuous baddie, a weak willed character whose actions are essential to the plot.The overall story of "Tarzan's Savage Fury" is wholly inconsequential but the movie is directed at a nice crisp pace. It is definitely above average for a b-movie adventure flick. I can recommend this film for the action and physicality that Barker brings to the Tarzan role, and for Dorothy Hart's luminous presence and fine acting.

"Tarzan's Savage Fury is my favorite Tarzan film...All performances are excellent...especially the new boy character...Joey Martin...played marvelously by Tommy Carlton...actually Tommy Acker...a kid acrobat in a family act...his only film role...such a shame...He was a splendid new film BOY character...Heavily muscled...he could well have been a jungle boy...a son of the jungle king Tarzan...I can't believe some producer did not make a contract offer to this kid's parents...Tommy could have done more Tarzan films...and then appeared in a "Bomba" like series...He was a potential Dean Stockwell type...Handsome,muscular,charming...Could act with conviction and emotion.

Tarzan's Savage Fury (1952) ** (out of 4) Fourth installment in Lex Barker's turn as the legendary ape man. This time out Tarzan and Jane (Dorothy Hart) are fooled by a man pretending to be Tarzan's cousin who claims to be from the Greystoke family. It turns out that the man wants Tarzan to lead him to a valley full of priceless diamonds and the ape man goes along for the ride but soon realizes that he's been lied to. TARZAN'S SAVAGE FURY is another mildly entertaining entry in the series, which was clearly running out of ideas. The one new thing is that this film offered up Tarzan's connection to the riches, which had been left out of the previous three Baxter films as well as all twelve Weissmuller films. Who knows why they decided to bring it up at this point but it does add for some mildly entertaining scenes and especially some early stuff where Tarzan talks about how he ended up being raised by apes. The rest of the film is pretty much "B" movie material as we get your typical action scenes, poor stock footage and even some very sloppy moments here. The sloppy moments happen during a scene where Tarzan is trying to prevent a rhino from charging. Of course, Baxter is in the frame with the rhino thanks to rear projection but take a look at the footage being shown. There are a few seconds were the footage is missing some frame, which gives the rhino these weird movements. Even worse is when the scene is over and the rhino basically disappears right in front of your eyes! Whoever knew Tarzan could do magic? There are some pretty campy moments to be found here including one sequence where some natives are using young boys to lure crocs into the river so that they can be caught. This entire sequence of boys being chased by wooden crocodiles is rather silly and especially how fake the crocs look. Barker is certainly in fine form as the ape man and he manages to get a few good laughs here. The actor was clearly into character and he has some nice chemistry with Hart who was playing Jane for the first and last time. Patrick Knowles (THE WOLF MAN) adds some nice support in his role as does Charles Korvin as another one of the bad guys. Tommy Carlton plays "Joey", a kid Tarzan finds at the croc hunt and who he brings home. He was clearly meant to be a replacement for "Boy" and the actor does a nice job in terms of charm and bringing some life to the material. The action scenes are mainly cheap and there's no question that the budgets kept getting cut down but there's some nice material to be had with some of the campiness including the before mentioned fake crocodiles. TARZAN'S SAVAGE FURY certainly isn't going to make anyone forget CITIZEN KANE but at the same time there's enough cheap charm if you enjoy "B" movies or jungle adventures. At the same time, it's clear that the series was never going to return to those early MGM classics.

Tarzan's Savage Fury was one of the only Tarzan films to make reference Tarzan's noble background. At least since the Johnny Weissmuller films started I don't recall another movie mentioning Tarzan being the Earl of Greystoke. But it's a false Greystoke played by Patric Knowles who with his guide Charles Korvin comes calling on Lex Barker and Dorothy Hart as Jane. What is family for, but to call on them for aid. The real Greystoke was killed at the beginning of the film and Knowles takes his place. The object is to get to a tribe which has a fortune in diamonds and uses them in their animist religious rites. Although it's never said, Korvin's accent is a broad hint that there is a foreign power behind these proceedings. The Cold War at last comes to the Tarzan series. With RKO under the control of Howard Hughes would you expect nothing less?The cast acquits themselves well and now it seemed that finally black people were playing the African natives in the series for good and all time now.