Tarzan and the Slave Girl
Encyclopedia
Tarzan and the Slave Girl is a 1950 film starring Lex Barker
as Tarzan
, Vanessa Brown
as Jane
, and Robert Alda
as big game hunter Neil. It was directed by Lee Sholem
. The plot involves a lost civilization in Africa, a strange illness, and an evil counselor manipulating a prince into kidnapping large numbers of local women.
The film was Barker's second portrayal of Tarzan, and actress Joyce Brown's only outing as Jane.
Tarzan and the others are repeatedly attacked by other tribes and the Lionians as they search for the Lionian city. Neil suffers a broken leg, and is left behind. Dr. Campbell unknowingly drops his bottle of serum, and although Neil discovers it later as he follows Tarzan and Campbell.
Meanwhile, Jane and Lola are taken to the Lionian capital. The Lionian king has recently died of the horrible disease, leaving the Prince in charge. He is easily swayed by the evil counselor, Sengo, who has persuaded the Prince to indulge every lust for food, drink, and women to assuage his grief. Furthermore, the illness has killed many Lionian women, leading the Lionians to capture local beauties as concubines. Lola refuses the Prince's advances, and is brutally whipped. When Jane defends her, both women are entombed alive in the dead king's stone mausoleum. When the Lionian High Priest challenges Sengo, Sengo convinces the Prince that the priest is a rebel and should be fed to the lions.
Tarzan arrives at the Lionian city with Campbell. The Prince's son has fallen ill with the disease, and Sengo blames Tarzan and Neil. Their deaths are ordered, but Tarzan escapes and leads the Lionians on a merry chase through their own city. Tarzan hides inside the dead king's sarcophagus, but becomes entombed in the stone mausoleum as well. Luckily, Tarzan discovers where Jane and Lola have been sealed up as well, and frees them. Tarzan calls for help, and an elephant breaks down the tomb's door to free Tarzan, Jane, and Lola. Tarzan holds off the Lionians, and manages to throw Sengo into the pit with the lions. Meanwhile, Neil arrives with the serum and the Prince's son is cured. The Prince, realizing how wrong he has been, orders the High Priest, Tarzan, all of Tarzan's friends, and all the slave girls freed.
RKO Pictures
. The working title of the film had been Tarzan and the Golden Lion (the same as the 1927 silent picture
). But the June 23 announcement changed it to Tarzan and the Slave Girl as well as naming Lex Barker as the star. On July 16, French actress Denise Darcel
(who had recently appeared in William Wellman's World War II picture Battleground, was cast as the slave girl. Vanessa Brown was signed to play Jane two weeks later.
Hans Jacoby, who had scripted the highly popular Tarzan and the Amazons
, turned in the screenplay for the film. He would also script the Lex Barker feature Tarzan's Savage Fury
.
Some location shooting was done in Baldwin Park, California
, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
, and the Iverson Movie Ranch. But most of the filming was done on the RKO Forty Acres
backlot. (On January 7, 1950, Lesser announced that the next Tarzan film would be made entirely in South Africa
.)
The film marked actress Vanessa Brown's only outing as Jane. According to director Lee Sholem, producer Sol Lesser was looking to cast a a new "Jane" to replace actress Brenda Joyce
, who had portrayed Jane in the four previous films. Sholem brought Marilyn Monroe out to see Lesser, but Lesser didn't think she'd be right for the part as she was too much of a bombshell. Sholem brought Monroe to see Lesser eight times in all, but in the end Lesser settled on Vanessa Brown. Brown had been a popular performer on the Quiz Kids
radio show, and at age 21 already had a six-year acting career which included a number of prominent roles in important films. Signed by 20th Century Fox
, she'd been loaned out to RKO several times. But Fox had cancelled her contract in early 1950. She took the role in RKO's Tarzan and the Slave Girl because she needed the money. She later recalled, "My intellectual friends said, 'My God, what you won't do for money.' I needed a job, I had to pay the rent." (Later that year, she'd become a Broadway
star after Katharine Hepburn
picked her to play Celia in As You Like It
.) Lesser picked Brown because of her Quiz Kid background. But director Sholem found her pompous:
The slave girl in the title is Lola, played by Denise Darcel. Although previous films had made it clear that Tarzan and Jane were husband and wife, this film depicted Jane as Tarzan's girlfriend—which allowed Lola to compete for Tarzan's affections without implying that she was an adulterer.
Actress Mary Ellen Kay has an uncredited role as the slave girl who is engaged to the Prince. Eva Gabor
has a nonspeaking background role as one of the slave girls as well.
During the production, Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs
visited the set. Suffering from Parkinson's disease
and having already had several heart attacks, Burroughs visited the set of Tarzan and the Slave Girl during its production. It was one of his last public appearances, according to Burrough's daughter, Joan. Burroughs died on March 19, 1950, just four days after the film's release on March 15.
called the film "painful" to watch, and said, "About the only novelty the picture offers is Cheeta's encounter with a bottle of whisky, and even that isn't very funny."
Lex Barker
Lex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...
as 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...
, Vanessa Brown
Vanessa Brown
Vanessa Brown was an Austrian-American actress who was successful in radio, film, theater, and television.-Early life:...
as Jane
Jane Porter (Tarzan)
Jane Porter is a major character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film.- In the novels :...
, and Robert Alda
Robert Alda
Robert Alda was an American actor. He was the father of actors Alan Alda and Antony Alda.-Life and career:...
as big game hunter Neil. It was directed by Lee Sholem
Lee Sholem
Lee Tabor Sholem was an American television and film director....
. The plot involves a lost civilization in Africa, a strange illness, and an evil counselor manipulating a prince into kidnapping large numbers of local women.
The film was Barker's second portrayal of Tarzan, and actress Joyce Brown's only outing as Jane.
Plot summary
Tarzan and Jane are spending some time by a river when they hear a scream. A local tribal girl has gone missing, and the tribespeople believe this is due to some evil spirit. Tarzan and Jane quickly realize the girl has been kidnapped. The kidnappers are Lionians, a "lost" culture of Caucasians who have a culture similar to ancient Egypt and who worship lions. The Lionians are kidnapping girls throughout the region to bring back to their city deep in the jungle. But they have brought a terrible disease with them which can kill within hours. Tarzan seeks the help of Dr. Campbell, who has a serum that can both cure the disease as well as vaccinate against it. After saving the local tribe, Dr. Campbell and Tarzan (with the help of Neil, a drunken big game hunter) head for the Lionian city. Meanwhile, Dr. Campbell's native assistant, the buxom and blonde Lola, has fallen for Tarzan. Jane and Lola have a fight, after which both women are captured by a Lionian raiding party.Tarzan and the others are repeatedly attacked by other tribes and the Lionians as they search for the Lionian city. Neil suffers a broken leg, and is left behind. Dr. Campbell unknowingly drops his bottle of serum, and although Neil discovers it later as he follows Tarzan and Campbell.
Meanwhile, Jane and Lola are taken to the Lionian capital. The Lionian king has recently died of the horrible disease, leaving the Prince in charge. He is easily swayed by the evil counselor, Sengo, who has persuaded the Prince to indulge every lust for food, drink, and women to assuage his grief. Furthermore, the illness has killed many Lionian women, leading the Lionians to capture local beauties as concubines. Lola refuses the Prince's advances, and is brutally whipped. When Jane defends her, both women are entombed alive in the dead king's stone mausoleum. When the Lionian High Priest challenges Sengo, Sengo convinces the Prince that the priest is a rebel and should be fed to the lions.
Tarzan arrives at the Lionian city with Campbell. The Prince's son has fallen ill with the disease, and Sengo blames Tarzan and Neil. Their deaths are ordered, but Tarzan escapes and leads the Lionians on a merry chase through their own city. Tarzan hides inside the dead king's sarcophagus, but becomes entombed in the stone mausoleum as well. Luckily, Tarzan discovers where Jane and Lola have been sealed up as well, and frees them. Tarzan calls for help, and an elephant breaks down the tomb's door to free Tarzan, Jane, and Lola. Tarzan holds off the Lionians, and manages to throw Sengo into the pit with the lions. Meanwhile, Neil arrives with the serum and the Prince's son is cured. The Prince, realizing how wrong he has been, orders the High Priest, Tarzan, all of Tarzan's friends, and all the slave girls freed.
Cast
- Lex BarkerLex BarkerLex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...
as TarzanTarzanTarzan 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... - Vanessa BrownVanessa BrownVanessa Brown was an Austrian-American actress who was successful in radio, film, theater, and television.-Early life:...
as JaneJane Porter (Tarzan)Jane Porter is a major character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film.- In the novels :... - Robert AldaRobert AldaRobert Alda was an American actor. He was the father of actors Alan Alda and Antony Alda.-Life and career:...
as Neil - Hurd HatfieldHurd HatfieldWilliam Rukard Hurd Hatfield was an American actor.-Biography:The son of William Henry Hatfield , an attorney who served as deputy attorney general for New York, and his wife, the former Adele Steele, Hatfield was born in New York City, and was educated at Columbia University before travelling to...
as Prince of the Lionians - Arthur ShieldsArthur ShieldsArthur Shields was an Irish stage and film actor.Born into an Irish Protestant family in Portobello, Dublin, he started acting in the Abbey Theatre when still a young man. He was the younger brother of Oscar-winning actor Barry Fitzgerald. An Irish nationalist, he fought in the Easter Rising of...
as Dr. E.E. Campbell - Anthony CarusoAnthony Caruso (actor)Anthony Caruso was an American character actor in over 100 American films, usually playing villains, including the First Season of Walt Disney's Zorro as Don Juan Ortega...
as Sengo (billed as Tony Caruso) - Denise DarcelDenise DarcelDenise Darcel is a retired French actress who made a few films in Hollywood.Born as Denise Billecard in Paris, she was college educated. According to one of her friends who she met in Paris during WWII, she was a passenger in an L-5 Stinson light observation aircraft on VJ Day to see the...
as Lola - Robert Warwick as High Priest
Production
Production of the film was announced on June 23, 1949, after producer Sol Lesser signed a new distribution agreement for his "Tarzan" pictures withRKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
. The working title of the film had been Tarzan and the Golden Lion (the same as the 1927 silent picture
Tarzan and the Golden Lion (film)
Tarzan and the Golden Lion is a Tarzan film based on the 1923 novel of the same title written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of the Tarzan character. The film starred James Pierce as Tarzan, Frederick Peters as Esteban Miranda, Dorothy Dunbar as Jane, and Edna Murphy as Betty Greystoke. The film...
). But the June 23 announcement changed it to Tarzan and the Slave Girl as well as naming Lex Barker as the star. On July 16, French actress Denise Darcel
Denise Darcel
Denise Darcel is a retired French actress who made a few films in Hollywood.Born as Denise Billecard in Paris, she was college educated. According to one of her friends who she met in Paris during WWII, she was a passenger in an L-5 Stinson light observation aircraft on VJ Day to see the...
(who had recently appeared in William Wellman's World War II picture Battleground, was cast as the slave girl. Vanessa Brown was signed to play Jane two weeks later.
Hans Jacoby, who had scripted the highly popular Tarzan and the Amazons
Tarzan and the Amazons
Tarzan and the Amazons is an adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller in his ninth outing as Tarzan. Brenda Joyce makes the first of five appearances as Jane and Johnny Sheffield returns as Boy. Henry Stephenson and Maria Ouspenskaya co-star. The movie was produced by Sol Lesser and Kurt...
, turned in the screenplay for the film. He would also script the Lex Barker feature Tarzan's Savage Fury
Tarzan's Savage Fury
Tarzan's Savage Fury is a 1952 film starring Lex Barker as Tarzan, Dorothy Hart as Jane, and Patric Knowles. The movie was directed by Cy Endfield. While most Tarzan films of the 1930s, '40s and '50s presented Tarzan as a very different character from the one in Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels, this...
.
Some location shooting was done in Baldwin Park, California
Baldwin Park, California
Baldwin Park is a city located in the central San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 75,390, down from 75,837 at the 2000 census.- History :...
, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 127 acres , is an arboretum, botanical garden, and historical site nestled into hills near the San Gabriel Mountains, at 301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA...
, and the Iverson Movie Ranch. But most of the filming was done on the RKO Forty Acres
RKO Forty Acres
Forty Acres was a film studio backlot that belonged to RKO Pictures and later Desilu Productions, located in Culver City, California. Best known as Forty Acres, or "the back forty", it had other names such as "Desilu Culver", the "RKO backlot" and "Pathé 40 Acre Ranch" depending on which studio...
backlot. (On January 7, 1950, Lesser announced that the next Tarzan film would be made entirely in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.)
The film marked actress Vanessa Brown's only outing as Jane. According to director Lee Sholem, producer Sol Lesser was looking to cast a a new "Jane" to replace actress Brenda Joyce
Brenda Joyce (actress)
Brenda Joyce was an American film actress. She was born as Betty Graftina Leabo in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, although family and friends referred to her as Graftina....
, who had portrayed Jane in the four previous films. Sholem brought Marilyn Monroe out to see Lesser, but Lesser didn't think she'd be right for the part as she was too much of a bombshell. Sholem brought Monroe to see Lesser eight times in all, but in the end Lesser settled on Vanessa Brown. Brown had been a popular performer on the Quiz Kids
Quiz Kids
Quiz Kids, a popular radio-TV series of the 1940s and 1950s, was created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan . Originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from Chicago, June 28, 1940, airing as a summer replacement show for Alec Templeton...
radio show, and at age 21 already had a six-year acting career which included a number of prominent roles in important films. Signed by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, she'd been loaned out to RKO several times. But Fox had cancelled her contract in early 1950. She took the role in RKO's Tarzan and the Slave Girl because she needed the money. She later recalled, "My intellectual friends said, 'My God, what you won't do for money.' I needed a job, I had to pay the rent." (Later that year, she'd become a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
star after Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
picked her to play Celia in As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
.) Lesser picked Brown because of her Quiz Kid background. But director Sholem found her pompous:
- There was a situation one day where she had about three words to say, and she asked, "What is the underlying meaning of this?" In a Tarzan picture [laughs]! "What is my feeling here? What is my attitude?" Oh, you never heard such shit!
The slave girl in the title is Lola, played by Denise Darcel. Although previous films had made it clear that Tarzan and Jane were husband and wife, this film depicted Jane as Tarzan's girlfriend—which allowed Lola to compete for Tarzan's affections without implying that she was an adulterer.
Actress Mary Ellen Kay has an uncredited role as the slave girl who is engaged to the Prince. Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-born socialite and actress. She was widely known for her role on Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, Duchess in the 1970 Disney film The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in Disney's The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under...
has a nonspeaking background role as one of the slave girls as well.
During the production, Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
visited the set. Suffering from Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
and having already had several heart attacks, Burroughs visited the set of Tarzan and the Slave Girl during its production. It was one of his last public appearances, according to Burrough's daughter, Joan. Burroughs died on March 19, 1950, just four days after the film's release on March 15.
Critical reception
Generally speaking, the film received only mediocre reviews from film critics, who felt the plot was silly and that Brown was a poor substitute for Joyce as "Jane." The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the film "painful" to watch, and said, "About the only novelty the picture offers is Cheeta's encounter with a bottle of whisky, and even that isn't very funny."