We first
meet this
brain damaged Tarzan-2 in Tarzan the Ape Man . A Safari looking
for the
mythical Elephant's graveyard travel up to Tarzan's escarpment.
(Somehow they
escape notice of the Gaboni and Jaconi, perhaps they were already
occupied with
another unfortunate safari.) The party contains James Parker, his
daughter
Janet Parker and Henry Holt. James Parker was a member of the English
aristocracy but evidently was not titled. His son, Charles became a
Chief
Inspector for Scotland Yard and married into the Wimsey family. Henry
Holt on
the other hand was the son of a wealthy man who insisted on his son
suceeding
on his own. Henry Holt's father was Jack Holt, a tobacco smuggler as
depicted
in W.M. Thackery's Pendennis.
Although
the film and
all the films in the series to follow, name her as Jane Parker she was
undoubtedly confused with Burroughs' Jane Porter, but they were two
demonstrably different people. Whereas Jane Porter was a blonde,
Virginian
belle Janet Parker was a sophisticated brunette Englishwoman. Janet had
insisted upon accompanying her elderly father and Holt. She is a strong
willed
and independent woman but one quite pampered by the trappings of
civilization.
However she is apparently dissatisfied with civilized life and makes
statements
about leaving civilization and becoming a savage prior to meeting
Tarzan.
On the
escarpment they
cross a river and are attacked by pygmies.
Tarzan swings down and rescues
and abducts
Janet Parker at the same time. He brings her to where the apes live and
we see
the large mangani and the small mangani living in close proximity.
Her
initial attempts to
communicate with him is frustrating. He tells her that his name is
Tarzan but
does not understand that her name is Janet. He either remembers the
name from
his distant past and cannot get past it or has some cognitive problem.
(Despite
their many years together, Tarzan language skills and vocabulary never
grow all
that much nor does he learn to read or write. Which would leave one to
believe
that the damaged area is still being regenerated.) Another telling
aspect of
this trauma was that Tarzan does not use either a bow or rope until
later
films, not until Boy began using them. The only implement he uses with
any
regularity is his knife. Perhaps food was so plentiful on the
escarpment that
he never needed to relearn this skill until much later.
The
elephants of on the
plateau seem to be of a higher level of intelligence than those found
outside
of the escarpment area. This could be a result of generations of
beneficial
inbreeding or due to some mutation caused by the escarpment's proximity
to a
dimensional rift.
The
elephants have a
sophisticated culture and have the ability to learn and understand
spoken
English and mangani. On the escarpment they evidently do travel to a
communal
burial ground when they realize that they are close to death. Yet they
also
have the intelligence and social skills to make certain that their
family
members are taken care of upon their passing, fostering their children
to other
elephants or if necessary to mangani.
Upon
Janet's return to
her father, the safari is attacked and captured by the pygmies. Tarzan
uses an
assault force of elephants to destroy the pygmy village. (Evidently,
they never
recovered from this attack for we never see or hear about them again)
Parker
and party follow a wounded elephant from this assault to the elephant
grave
yard. James Parker dies from a stroke. He is buried from in the
elephant
graveyard.
Janet
stays with
Tarzan. Henry Holt returns to civilization.
Henry
Holt returns to
the Mutia Escarpment in Tarzan
and
His Mate. He has been hired as guide to find the Elephant burial
ground by
an old chum of his. Holt intends to gather wealth from the ivory and to
lure
Janet back to civilization. They make the perilous trek through swamp,
desert
forest and plain and are chased by the Gaboni to the escarpment.
Nearing
the top of the
escarpment, some of the large mangani hurl boulders down on the safari,
remembering no doubt the trouble and deaths that the previous safari
had caused.
When Janet fails to succumb to Holt's temptations and when Tarzan
refuses to
lead them to the elephant burial ground, Arlington fatally shoots an elephant, so that it
will guide
them to the elephant burial ground.
Once at
the burial
ground they begin collecting ivory. A herd of elephants, accompanied by
Tarzan
attacks the safari. In exchange for their lives, the safari agrees to
leave the
ivory, stating they would leave in the morning. While Tarzan is out
getting
food, Arlington shoots him and leaves him for dead.
When informed
of Tarzan's death, Janet agrees to accompany Holt and Arlington back to civilization. A group of
natives wearing
tusks helmets attack the safari. They back the safari into a
rocky alcove
and then summon a pride of lions by blowing into giant horns.
Holt and Arlington are killed before Tarzan can arrive
with a herd of
rampaging elephants.
Janet
confirms her love
for Tarzan and her willingness to spend the rest of her life in the
Jungle.
In Tarzan Escapes, two of Janet Parker's
relatives seek her out for her to return to England with them so that they may inherit
money from a
difficult old uncle who left everything to Janet. She reluctantly
agrees to
return with them if only so her cousin can go to medical school.
The
cousins are
accompanied by a ruthless white hunter who wants to capture Tarzan and
several
animals for sale to circus or zoo. He makes a deal with the leader of
the
Zembini to sell the whites into captivity to be used in magical
sacrifices so
that he may have safe passage through their lands. Captain Fry even
manages to
convince Tarzan that Janet wanted Tarzan to be caged so that she could
return
to civilization. The Zembini double-cross Fry and attempt to bring the
cage
with Tarzan into their village. Tarzan calls for elephants who carry
him away,
cage and all. Tarzan escapes from the cage and once again uses the
elephant
troop combined with apes to attack the native village.
Tarzan
leads the Safari
into a swampland that is taboo to the Zembini. Fry is forced to leave
the party
and gets eaten by crocodiles.
As they
are about the
depart the escarpment, Janet's cousin reveals that she really does not
have to
return to England, a signature would be sufficient for her to inherit
the money
and transfer it to her cousins. They had tried to trick her to coming
out of
the jungle but realized that she belong there with her jungle man.
The next
film in the
Weissmuller series is Tarzan
Finds a
Son. It begins with a small plane carrying three passengers,
Richard
Lansing, his wife and their infant son. The mechanics of the plane goes
haywire
as they travel over the escarpment and it crashes. Cheta hears the
wailing of
the infant and carries it to Tarzan's tree house.
Tarzan
and Janet investigate
the plane crash but finds that one of the native tribes had gotten
there before
them and had done a thorough job of wrecking it and mutilating the
bodies.
In the movie five years pass and the boy has learned to be a little
Tarzan,
friend to the elephants and mangani. Even at five he has a better grasp
of
English than does his adopted Father.
A safari
crosses the
plains to the escarpment, once again chased by the the ferocious
Gaboni. The
safari consists of an elderly man, Sir Thomas Lansing, his nephew,
Austin
Lansing, the nephew's wife and their guide. They are seeking
clues as to
the whereabouts of their relative, Richard Lansing and his family who
had
perished in a plane crash some five years before. Lansing was the favorite nephew of the Earl of
Greystoke
and had been named his heir.
Despite
their attempted
subterfuge, the Lansings figure out that Boy is Richard Lansing.
When the
uncle insists on taking the boy back to civilization, the younger Lansings balk but then warm to idea, intending
claim
guardianship of the boy to get the inheritance and title but keep the
child
tightly under their control. They convince Jane it would be in the
boy's best
interests to take him to England. So that Tarzan will not interfere she
traps him
in a steep grotto. As they travel Sir Thomas informs Jane of the Lansing's plans. She tries to return with Boy
to Tarzan
but Austin Lansing and Sanderson force Jane to guide them at gun point.
They
begin traveling off of the escarpment using a path that will take them
past any
natives but it is densely overgrown. While the Lansings are concentrating on hacking through
the brush Sir
Thomas attempts to sneak off to warn Tarzan. Austin shoots his Uncle in the back. The Lansings then disbelieve Janet when she attempts
to guide
them forcing her to take a clearer path, This path leads to them being
captured
by the Zembini.
Austin
Lansing is
killed by the natives during a ritual. Boy manages to escape from the
village
when Janet creates a diversion which results in her being sorely
wounded. Boy
and Cheta rescue Tarzan from the grotto and once again the Elephant
cavalry
saves the day. Lansing's widow and the guide are grateful at
being
allowed to leave the escarpment with their lives. Tarzan, Jane, Boy,
Cheta and
the elephants return to their jungle home.
It is
also in this
movie that Tarzan whispers into Cheta's ear, causing her to laugh
uproariously.
As cited before, laughing at a verbal remark is a human trait, not a
chimpanzee
trait.
Lets
examine
this crucial film a bit more closely. You may have overlooked the
mention that
Richard Lansing, sr. was the nephew of the Earl of Greystoke. Wait a
minute,
then boy is related to Tarzan and also a member of the Wold Newton
family! Not
so fast, Boy whose real name was Richard Lansing, was indeed a member
of the
Greystoke family. The real Greystoke family as you will know
from
reading Burroughs and Farmer Tarzan's Greystoke surname was actually a
code
name for an undisclosed surname.
However, there was an actual
aristocratic
Greystoke family distantly related to Tarzan but not of the branch
mutated by
the Wold Newton Event of 1795. Evidence for this branch of of the
Greystoke
lineage can be found in a wide rage of sources.
In Robert
Anton
Wilson's novel's Schrodinger's Cat and Mask of the
Illuminati, Lord Greystoke is a character.
This family
has connections to Africa, is related to the Babcocks and Celines
(important
families in
Wilson's work), but is not the same as the
Dukes we know.
In one of
Rosemary
Edghill's short stories, one of the minor
characters is the Viscount
Greystoke.
In A
Feast Unknown,
Lord Grandrith is racing through the village of Greystoke, when the tires of his vehicle blow and
he crashes into a statue of
Tarzan Battling a Gorilla which was slated to be unveiled the next day.
Grandrith states that Lord Greystoke, who was not Tarzan, was
a friend
of his, thought the idea of the statue was all in good fun and gave its
his
support.
In Malice
Domestic
#9, presented by Joan Hess. A story entitled "A
Mishap at the Manor," by Walter
Satterthwait, treats of the murder of Lord Greystoke. This
Greystoke
is not John Clayton, the 7th Duke. His parents were lost in
Africa in a plane crash. Cheetah
is mentioned, and several other
points make it obvious that the movie Tarzan is the character here, or
so it
appears.
More on
Boy's
background will be revealed later.
Although
perhaps more
dramatic, the fact of the matter is that Thomas Lansing did not die of
his
wound but was nursed back to health by the Tarzan family. Upon
recovering, he
and Jane worked out a deal that when Boy was of age he would go to a
civilized
country to receive a good education, in exchange he would leave Tarzan
and
Janet in loco parentis while he assumed legal guardianship of
Boy.
Thomas was pragmatic enough to know that he would have to cut some sort
of deal
with his nephew's wife upon his return to England. The deal was probably something like
this, in
order to respect Boy's privacy and secure his birthright, the
Greystoke
title and half of its estates would upon Sir Thomas' death be bestowed
upon, Austin's widow and her two boys. She had given
birth to
twins shortly after her return from Africa. Thomas
rather suspected that they were Sanderson's but said nothing. The other
half of
the estate would be held in trust for Boy and his descendants.
A word
about Sanderson.
Some have speculated that he was the son of Sanders of Sanders of the
River
fame If so, he was a poor offspring for his father. He became rather
renown
throughout the Coastal towns of East Africa as a
braggart and a drunk. Often while in his cups, he would tell the tale
of the
boy who survived the plane crash and was raised by apes. Author Bob
Byrd some
how heard the tale but changed it so that the boy was raised by lions,
believing it was more dramatic. He called his character Ka-Zar.
In Tarzan's Secret Treasure Boy
finds a
large gold nugget and is intrigued by Janet's description of what one
could buy
with it in civilization and decides to visit it. He makes his down the
Escarpment and saves a small African boy from being killed by a rhino.
He
follows the boy into his village only to discover that he was a member
of the
Gaboni. The Gaboni's are currently suffering from a virulent disease
which is
highly fatal. The African boy, Tumbo appears unaffected by it, although
his
mother shortly dies from it. Although Tumbo intercedes on his behalf
the
village witch doctor believes that by sacrificing the son of the great
juju man
they will lift the plague.
They tie
Boy to a stake
and prepare to burn him alive. A truckload of scientists arrives in the
nick of
time and scares the natives away by blowing on the horn of their truck
and by
shooting into the crowd of natives.
In
gratitude, Boy
invites the scientists to visit his parents on the escarpment he also
takes
Tumbo along to become his friend. Tarzan usually does not like visitors
on the
escarpment but since they had saved Boy's life, he agrees to lead them
over the
escarpment to a tribe of people they are searching for. They are the
Vanussi, a
tribe that wandered into Africa from Asia centuries
ago.
Boy
however showed two
of the scientists a chunk of gold and they decide to turn the
expedition into a
gold hunt. The expedition's photographer comes down with the same
disease that
affected the Gaboni as does Boy. Tarzan makes some jungle medicine
which slowly
cures both of them. One of the scientists convinces Jane that Tarzan
should go
down to their truck and get modern medicines to help the Boy. Worried
for his
safety she agrees. The leader of the expedition refuses to allow the
other
scientists to hunt for gold so when he also succumbs to the disease,
they allow
him to die.
The movie
is the last
time that the ferocious Jaconi and Gaboni are seen attacking safaris.
We can
assume that they were decimated by the disease and lost the ability to
mass
attacks or they underwent a fundamental change in their attitudes.
Tumbo is
not mentioned
again but it is quite likely that he went back to the remnants of his
people.
The next
film in the
series is Tazan's New York
Adventure.
Despite it being one of my favorite Tarzan films, most of the story is
fictional.
The story
line has a
plane land on top of the escarpment The owner of a circus and his
animal
trainer trap animals for the circus. Tarzan tells to leave at a certain
time
but they overstay their welcome. Natives attack and it appears as
though Jane
and Tarzan are killed while coming to the American's aid. They put Boy
in the
plane and take off. Jane and Tarzan follow them to New York and
get Boy
back.
First of
all as
demonstrated earlier planes do not function around the escarpment. So
to have
the circus land on the escarpment and take off again is purely
dramatic. They
probably landed on the plain near the escarpment, still having some
sort of
engine troubles. Boy happened to be in the area, perhaps visiting
Tumbo. Boy
demonstrated his almost innate ability to communicate with the
elephants and
had them perform tricks. The circus owner decided to grab the kid over
the
pilot's objects.
When they grabbed Boy the
remnants of Gaboni
attacked the plane. The pilot managed to drop one of the circus
advertisements
out of the window.
Tumbo got
a message to
Tarzan and Jane. They found the circus advertisement and traveled to
either
Capetown or Nairobi, where ever the circus was actually centered. With
the
pilot's aid they managed to get Boy back and return to the
jungle. The
pilot arranged for them to receive and send mail at regular intervals.
Tarzan's
next recorded
adventure is not one of the Weissmuller films but rather one of
the Gordon Scott films,Tarzan's
Hidden Jungle. This highly fictionalized story demonstrated that
Tarzan was
beginning to expand his horizons beyond the escarpment, encouraged no
doubt by
Jane and Boy. Tarzan aided a native chief and his small tribe against
two
trappers and their heavily armed party. Over the course of the next
three
years, Tarzan would come against some ruthless trappers several times.
These
events were portrayed in the films Tarzan
and the Huntress and Tarzan
and the Trappers. Although I suspect that the use of trappers was a
simplification and a metaphor for various types of exploitation against
the
native populations by European colonialists.
Lets
mention a word
about the native populations, from the mid forties to the late fifties,
African
natives were portrayed in many Tarzan films and other films supposedly
set in
Africa as a melange of Incan, Mayan and Polynesian. However, I would
discount
this, except perhaps in the case of the lost cities that Tarzan
occasionally
visited in the film series. Even then I suspect that some of those
populations
were mixed so far as race goes but given the social climate of
the era
the films could not depict such a state of affairs. It is my
opinion that
the natives that Tarzan encountered during the normal course of events
were
Black Africans.
Noteworthy about this
period is that Tarzan has begun using the bow and arrow more
frequently. This
is a good sign that his cognitive skills are regenerating. Perhaps the
increased human contact of Janet, Boy and others that have stimulated
his brain
or perhaps the most of serious damage has finally been regenerated.
Some time
around 1939
Janet Parker traveled to London because her mother was quite ill.
In early
1940, the
events ofTarzan Triumphs takes
place. A
group of Nazi's flies over the escarpment and parachutes into the
jungle. One
of the expedition's leaders had stayed in the lost city of Palandria
when he
had been on safari a few years earlier. The Palandrians had discovered
him
dying and nursed him back to health. He had convinced the German High
Command
that Palandria was rich in mineral, oil and gold, resources that would
increase
the Reich's power and prestige in the world. Also he was convinced, and
he
might have been correct, that they were the remnants of an original
Aryan colony
that had found its way into the heart of Africa. Although there has
been some
intermarriage or contact with Arabs since many of the population
possessed
Arabic names.
The
German plane has
engine trouble and begins to crash as the last paratrooper jumps. He is
carried
off course and crashes through the jungle where he is rescued by Boy
and
Tarzan. He manages to conceal his dark motives from Tarzan and Boy as
they
nurse him back to health. Since he was the radio operator with a still
functioning short-wave, he is crucial to the success of the mission. An
expedition to find him will be launched from Palandria, after it has
been
subjegated.
Meanwhile
Palandria has
been reduced to a slave state. A slave state were slaves are worked to
death
and shot if they cannot work. Zhandra, the daughter of the Leader of
Palandria
escapes. A squad of men is detached to find her and bring her back
alive.
Tarzan sees her running towards him and being fired upon. They manage
to elude
the squad and go to the tree house. Upon discovering the Nazi in
Tarzan's home,
she tells Tarzan what the Nazi's have done to Palandria. The Nazi shows
his
true colors and pulls a gun. Tarzan wrestles with him and the gun goes
off
killing the Nazi.
Boy
and Tarzan go
looking for the Nazis and are spotted. Their guns disintegrate the
foliage
around Tarzan causing him to fall to ground in a thick bed of leaves.
Thinking
Tarzan dead, the Nazi's capture Boy and take him back to Palandria.
Cheta leads
Zhandra to Tarzan and she helps him home and cares for him for a few
days while
he recovers from the fall.
Tarzan
and Zhandra
travel to Palandria where after various recaptures and imprisonments,
they lead
an uprising that slaughters the Nazi oppressors. Cheta rescues Tarzan
by
finding a knife and cutting his bonds, later she can be seen using a
fire arm
in this film.
In Tarzan's Desert Mystery prompted
by
Janet's letter asking Tarzan to make some of his jungle medicine which
is
located in an oasis. This is merely a plot device in the film
however I
believe that Tarzan's and Boy's trek across the desert was more
personal. Janet
had probably told them that she would becoming home soon, wanting to
leave
before the war became too bad. Tarzan and Boy decided to get her a
special
homecoming gift so Tarzan went to this particular oasis where some
special gems
were located.
On their
journey,
probably through the Sudan, they stopped a group of Arabs from
capturing a wild
stallion which had been promised to the Sheik of the nearby city of Ben
Harabi.
Further along they stopped another group of Arabs from sawing a woman
in half.
This woman was an American adventurer, named Connie Bryce. She was a
professional entertainer, currently a magician. Connie had been hired
to use
her status as a magician to deliver a message to the son of the Sheik.
The
message proved that the American who had become such a powerful
business leader
in Ben Harabi was in fact a German agent laying the foundation for an
easy Nazi
take over of the area.
Tarzan
was arrested for
stealing the stallion upon his arrival in the town. Connie delivers her
message
but the Sheik's son is murdered by the German Agent shortly afterwards.
Connie
is accused and convicted of the crime.
Cheta and
Boy get
Tarzan out of jail. They stampede a herd of horses through the
courtyard where
Connie's hanging is taking place. They Tarzan frees Connie amidst the
stampede.
Tarzan, Boy and Connie flee across the desert, traveling to the oasis
Tarzan
had been heading for. This oasis might be inside another dimensional
rift for
the vegetation is quite lush for an oasis area and it supports
dinosaurs and
giant spiders, both of which would need a more substantial foraging
ground than
a small oasis.
The
German Agent and
his henchman follow Tarzan onto the oasis. They do not follow him out.
Connie
gets her name
cleared and is going to America via England. She promises to give Jane
a
message from Tarzan and Boy. In the film there is a definite spark
between the
characters of Tarzan and Connie Bryce. This will be dealt with further
on.
The next
film in the
series is Tarzan and the
Amazons
and it takes place in 1941 or 42. It opens by showing Boy and
Tarzan
preparing for Jane's arrival home doing some last minute sprucing up.
Next they
travel on a raft down river to meet Jane's boat. While on the way they
save a
girl being chased by a leopard. The girl is from Palmyra, a lost city
of
Amazons. Tarzan takes her back to her city but forbids Boy from coming
along.
Boy follows them out of curiosity and is stunned to see a hidden city
deep in a
valley past an almost impassable chasm.
Cheta
picks up and
stores the golden bracelet which the girl had dropped in knapsack.
They swim
out to meet
Jane's boat. With Jane is Sir Guy Henderson, an old friend of her
father's who
is leading a scientific expedition. Cheta gives Jane the gold bracelet
and Sir
Guy recognizes the symbol and an owner of a trading post sees the gold.
After
weeks of asking Jane and Tarzan to lead them to the lost city, the
scientists
are finally lead there by Boy.
The men
are surrounded
by spear wielding and bow toting female warriors. They are forced to
give up
their weapons. They are told that it is death for intruders to enter
Palmyra.
However because Boy had saved the life of one of Palmyra's citizens, he
and the
rest of the men's lives would be spared. They would spend their lives
working
in the rock quarries, along with all the other men. The girl whom Boy
had saved
releases them from prison.
Instead
of leaving
immediately the Trader and the scientists collect their weapons and
begin
looting the golden treasures of the city. Boy's friend sounds the gong
and is
killed for her troubles. The men are surrounded by armed women.
The men
fight their way
out, losing most to wounds. Two men escape with golden implements. They
sink in
quicksand. Tarzan retrieves the golden objects and returns them, saving
Boy's
life.
This is a
crucial film
in the series for it introduces us to a new Jane and sets the stage for
the
next Tarzan.
For the
first time in
the series, Tarzan and Boy are not seen climbing down the escarpment to
get to
the river. While this could have been excised for expediency, the
escarpment is
never really shown again in the series. It appears that Tarzan and Boy
are no
longer living on the escarpment but in the jungle close to it, near a
river.
There are
several
reasons why this could be the case. The Gaboni and Jaconi are evidently
no
longer a threat, disease and increased contact with the "civilized"
world have "tamed" them. It also seemed to Tarzan that his very
presence on the escarpment attracted unwelcome visitors and he believed
that he
could better protect the rare species on the escarpment, (the two
remaining
mangani tribes and the elephants) by preventing travelers from
even
climbing the escarpment.
Also
Tarzan had no wish
to return to the escarpment at least not in the foreseeable future. In
January
of 1941, Tarzan and Boy had been informed that Janet Parker had been
one of the
thousands of victims to perish in the London Blitz. After venting his
rage/grief in a call that resounded across the escarpment, Tarzan had
told Boy
they were leaving. Tarzan could no longer live where Jane had lived.
So if
Janet had died
who was it that Tarzan was meeting?
This Jane
was blonde
and spoke with a distinct American accent, yet she knew Tarzan and Boy
upon
site. The man who accompanied Jane, was according the film, Sir Guy
Henderson. Sir
Guy bore an uncanny resemblance to Sir Thomas Lansing. This is who I
believe
was in the boat with the woman, who I believe to be Connie Bryce, the
American
entertainer whom Tarzan and Boy had met the year before.
Miss
Bryce and Sir
Thomas Lansing were both coming to visit Tarzan and Boy on a condolence
visit
and a legal visit. Sir Thomas wanted to acquaint Boy with the
arrangements that
he and Janet Parker had made years before and to check on his
guardian's
health. Connie Bryce was bringing some of Janet's effects that her
family
thought Tarzan and Boy might want.
She had
also been asked
by the British government to ask if Tarzan would aid a group of
scientists to
find a some tribes north of the river.
The scientists were actually
intelligence
officers from various European governments sent to look into the
activities of
the German and Italian African colonies. However the gold bracelet that
Cheta
found changed all that. Some of the scientists became greedy for the
gold
others saw a chance to aid in their war effort. However Tarzan refused
to lead
them to Palmyra so they convinced Boy to do so.
They got
into trouble
basically as described in the film although there was not a elderly
scientist
among them as was depicted in the film nor was there a greedy trader.
The
Palmyran Amazons
may have been descendants of the some of the original Amazons who had
emigrated
to Africa and retained their matriarchal society but much of their
culture and
society had changed.
The idol
of their Sun God
was most demonstrably a Black African so it is likely that their
original
worship of Apollo and Ares was syncretically blended with local gods
such as
Ogun or Shango. The Amazons themselves, although depicted as Caucasian
must
have been pre-dominantly Black Africans since that would have been the
most
readily available male population from which to have picked mates.
Tarzan
rescued Boy from
the Amazons but left the others to their own fate. Sir Thomas makes Boy
promise
to get an education and gives him the information necessary to
establish his
identity.
Connie
Bryce decides to
visit a while longer with Tarzan and Boy. She is the woman portrayed in
the
films Tarzan and the Leopard Woman, Tarzan's Fight for Life
and Tarzan
and the Mermaids.
Tarzan
and the Leopard Woman is
a
meditation on the goods and the evils of colonialization. The
goods of
colonialization as depicted in the film is that colonialization brings
modern
education, modern science and advancement to the natives. Native girls
are shown
being trained to be teachers and the area's doctor is a native educated
in
Europe. The evils of colonialization are the destruction of native
culture, the
often enforced use of natives as laborers and soldiers and the gradual
destruction of native populations. Yet the natives in this film are
depicted as
Polynesian types rather than Black Africans. Despite this portrayal
however the
natives were quite probably Black Africans.
The doctor although educated
and urbane,
hates the Europeans for what they have done to his people and longs to
return
his people to their native culture. He becomes involved with and
becomes the de
facto leader of a cult that worships leopards. The cult dresses in
leopard
skins and have weapons that resemble a leopards paw. They attack the
caravans
traveling between towns in this apparently British Colony. They make
especial
targets out of the natives who have assimilated into the colonial
culture.
Much of
the natives'
resentment against the colonial government probably came from having
many of
its able bodied conscripted to fight in a war against enemies they knew
nothing
about. Also war time conditions made the colonial governments exploit
the
natives more intensively as agricultural workers, mostly for little or
no
wages.
Whatever
the true facts
of the story, the film itself is pretty formulaic with episodes and
situations
cribbed from other films in the series. Tarzan and his family are
captured by
the Leopard Cult and Cheta must once more rescue them.
Once
again travel up
and down escarpment is not shown. Further lending credence to the
speculation
that the Tarzan family has moved from the escarpment. Tarzan is also
shown to
be more at ease with people, and in fact wrestles with an Arabian
strong man. He
is also well known in the town of Randini, and so we can guess he and
his
family visits there fairly often.
By this
time Connie
Bryce and Tarzan have apparently become a couple. Tarzan was, even
brain
damaged, if nothing else pragmatic. Death was not anything to be
greatly
dwelled on in the jungle. When a loved one died you grieved at once,
whole
heartedly and then moved on. This is not to say he had forgotten or
discarded
his great love for Janet Parker but had a great deal of emotional
resilience and
was able to rebound quickly.
It was shortly after
this incident
ended, that Boy kept his promise to Sir Thomas and went to school.
Janet and
Connie had tutored him at home. Since England was in the midst of the
Second
World War and Connie had connections in the United States, it was
decided that
Boy would be educated in the United States. He traveled from Capetown
to South
America and via there to the United States. During a stop over in Rio
he takes
a day trip to the jungle. An American film crew sees him swinging
through the
tress and asks his name, Boy facetiously replies, Bomba the Jungle Boy,
referring to a series of books he had enjoyed as a child. Upon
returning to
Hollywood the films producer begins a series of pictures based on the
character
of Bomba.
The next
film in the
chronology is Tarzan's
Fight for
Life. This is a Gordon Scott film but I believe the earliest Gordon
Scott
films actually depicted the later career of the brain damaged Tarzan-2.
In this
particular film, Tarzan is recruited by a Dr. Sturdy ( possibly related
to Don
Sturdy?) to aid in distributing a serum that will cure a plague. Tarzan
and Dr.
Sturdy are opposed by a witch doctor and a native warrior who see this
at a
threat to their political power over their people. Tarzan had become
increasingly articulate and civilized in his dealing with other people.
He knew
that the modernization of Africa was inevitable, to think otherwise
would have
been as reactionary as the witch doctor Futa. He would either have to
adapt or
leave.
Although
there is
a boy is called Tartu in this film Boy had already left Africa by this
time so
this aspect of the film was fictional.
Tarzan
and the Mermaids would
appear to
be a mostly fictionalized story line however I believe that many of its
aspects
were true. Tarzan-2 and Jane did indeed find a Polynesian type girl in
the
river by their home. This girl claimed to have come from an island in a
great
sea that lie in a river passage under a long tunnel. Her people were
being
exploited by a foreigner who had assumed the guise of their highest
god.
Intrigued by her tale they followed her through the rapids, through the
swamp
near the Mutia escarpment and into a deep and rapidly running stream
which fed
into a cavern underneath the Mutia escarpment. The cavern slanted
downwards
shot through some very intense rapids and finally fed out of a chasm
into a
lagoon.
Tarzan
and Connie
exposed the false god who was a man from Tarzan's world selling the
artifacts
that his worshippers offered to him. They stayed a while in the this
tropical
paradise where the sun never set. They were intrigued by tales of vast
seas and
lands of unspoiled wilderness.
The
cavern was a
dimensional rift, one of many that dotted Africa and the Mutia escarpment in particular.
This portal opened open up in
Pellucidar. Tarzan and Connie returned to their homes, after a good
deal of
soul searching they decided to go and live in this strange land under
the
earth. They took as many of the mangani as wished to go, most however
wished to
stay behind on escarpment.
They
informed Boy of
their decision and invited him to come along. He declined not wanting
to leave
the only home he had ever known.
Part
III
Tarzan?
Jane? Intro page, Part IV
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© 2000
Dennis Power