Tarzan's Greatest Adventure

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure is a 1959 American Eastmancolor adventure film directed by John Guillermin, produced by Sy Weintraub and Harvey Hayutin, and written by Les Crutchfield, based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs as the twenty-second film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man. With a strong supporting cast that included Anthony Quayle and Sean Connery, and a focus on action and suspense, the film won critical praise as a Tarzan film that appealed to adults as well as children.

The film features a literate Tarzan portrayed by Gordon Scott. The character of Jane, Tarzan's wife, does not appear and is not mentioned. At one point, Tarzan briefly romances a female character, suggesting that he is a loner, not a family man. Cheeta, Tarzan's chimp companion in many films, appears only a few times near the start of the film, and the kind of comic relief that Cheeta represents is generally absent from the film. Released on July 8, 1959, was followed by Tarzan the Magnificent in 1960.

Plot
At night, the African village of Mantu is raided for its supply of dynamite. The village doctor and radio operator interrupt the robbery and are fatally shot. Before dying, the operator gasps, "Slade" over the shortwave radio. The next morning, Tarzan is awakened by drums, alerting him to something wrong. He departs his treehouse and arrives at Mantu, where a funeral is being held for the fallen villagers. A police inspector informs Tarzan of the raid. Tarzan then embarks by canoe to catch an old nemesis named Slade and his gang of raiders. Along the way, a small plane taunts Tarzan with low flyovers. However, the aircraft's engine stalls, and it crashes, depositing an American ex-fashion model, Angie, into the river. Unwilling to leave her stranded, Tarzan brings Angie to the hunt.

Meanwhile, Slade and his quartet of thieves are just miles in front, travelling by riverboat. Their destination is a secret diamond mine, where they will use the stolen dynamite for excavating the gems. When their riverboat malfunctions, the thieves begin to quarrel among themselves. Eventually, one of them leaves the boat and is later stuck in quicksand and drowns; another dies when Tarzan, who has now caught up with the raiders, nails him with bow and arrow. However, Tarzan is injured, requiring Angie to tend to his wounds. She attempts to steal medical supplies from Slade's boat but is captured. Slade uses her to lure Tarzan into a trap, but the plot fails, costing the life of another Slade accomplice. This leaves only Slade and his one surviving ally, an ex-Nazi named Kreiger.

There is no honor among these thieves, as Kreiger demonstrates when he tries to kill Slade after they reach the mine. Slade retaliates against Kreiger, who offers him all the diamonds he has collected if he lets him go. Unmoved, Slade kills Kreiger. Back on the river, Tarzan is nursed back to health by Angie. He continues his quest to capture Slade, much to her displeasure. Tarzan thanks Angie for her help, and swings away for a final confrontation with Slade. High atop a river bluff, Slade fires rifle shots at Tarzan, who reaches him despite this. At first Slade gets the upper hand by lassoing Tarzan with a wire noose. However, Tarzan's strength and endurance win out, and he pushes Slade over the cliff onto the rocks below. He then travels back upriver to Mantu and his treehouse.

Cast

 * Gordon Scott as Tarzan
 * Anthony Quayle as Slade
 * Sara Shane as Angie Loring
 * Sean Connery as O'Bannion
 * Niall MacGinnis as Kreiger
 * Al Mulock as Dino
 * Scilla Gabel as Toni

Production notes
The Tarzan films had been produced by Sol Lesser since Tarzan Triumphs (1943). In April 1958 Lesser sold his company, including the rights to the Tarzan films, to Sy Weintraub for a reported $3.5 million.

Gordon Scott had played Tarzan for the four previous films in the series under Lesser: Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955), Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957), Tarzan and the Trappers (1958), and Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958). In July 1958 he announced he would not return as Tarzan, refusing to sign an exclusive contract. Weintraub said he would find a new Tarzan.

In September 1958 Weintraub announced he had signed a two picture deal with Paramount Pictures to make two Tarzan films. The films would be shot on location and the first one would be called Tarzan's World Adventure. They were still looking for an actor to replace Scott. In October the producers announced Theodore B. Sillis had signed to direct. In November Hedda Hopper reported that Weintraub, unable to find a new Tarzan, has signed a seven year deal with Scott to play the role.

The producer decided to make a different style of film. Tarzan's Greatest Adventure would present a grittier, more realistic Tarzan. A loner who could be as savage as his opponents, but could also speak eloquently and politely to allies. Tarzan would also be made vulnerable and not as invincible as previous incarnations.

"Tarzan has grown up," said Scott in 1959. "I speak clearly understandable, everyday English." He also said "Lesser saw Tarzan as part of a family unit, but if you read Burroughs' books, the bastard [Greystoke] really knew what to do. I always wanted to play it with some scars on me; he used to battle the bull apes, you know, and get a couple of lumps. I wanted to pursue that, but they  wouldn't buy it. It may seem like a minor thing, but those minor things really add up."

This vision of Tarzan heralded a new direction for the character and the series. He became more like the original Edgar Rice Burroughs creation (that is, articulate and intuitive) and even occasionally traveled abroad to make other wilderness regions safe—as in Tarzan Goes to India (1962) and Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966).

Filming started 9 February 1959. The film was shot on location in Kenya and at Shepperton Studios in London. Stock safari footage was used to portray wildlife, especially animal attacks. Paramount did a deal with Sol Lesser Productions with a guarantee of $600,000 in turn for the releasing rights; the deal also gave Paramount 50% of the ownership of the negative. The film cost $750,000. Paramount agreed to pay for prints and advertising.

John Guillermin later said "For a short schedule, fairly low-budget picture, the whole affair really  got me quite excited."

Scott said "Connery was marvelous... He and I had some good giggles, when we got back to Shepperton. They wanted to use him in the next Tarzan, even though he gets killed in this one because he was very good. He said OK. but he had to do this thing for [producers Albert] Broccoli and [Harry] Saltzman — and that was Dr. No. We couldn't touch him after that."

While the film was being made, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made their own Tarzan film, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959). They were able to do this because they retained remake rights for the 1932 film of the same name.

Reception
According to Kinematograph Weekly the film performed "better than average" at the British box office in 1959.

FilmInk called it "a masterpiece in the series, the best Tarzan film since Tarzan and His Mate (1934), and perhaps the most remarkable “turnaround of a franchise” in Hollywood history... the leap in quality after what had been over a decade of steady decline is remarkable."

Gordon Scott stayed for one more Tarzan film, Tarzan the Magnificent (1960), before being replaced by Jock Mahoney in Tarzan Goes to India (1962) which was also directed by Guillermin.