Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957) User Reviews

Tarzan Soaks Up Local Color

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 22 September 2011]

Muscular jungle king Gordon Scott (as Tarzan) helps a quintet of private plane passengers who crash after a flock of birds causes mechanical failure. They get mixed up with nasty hunter Robert Beatty (as "Tusker" Hawkins) and savage Africans, who are eager to sacrifice white humans. You've seen much of this before, but this time it's in color. Color is a nice addition to the "Tarzan" franchise. There is no "Jane" or "Boy" in this one, but you get two attractive women, brunette Betta St. John (as Diana Penrod) and blonde Yolande Donlan (as Gamage Dean). They admire Mr. Scott's physique as he showers in a waterfall, and he tears up a mink coat to "help" make then some suitable shoes. As usual, "Cheta" finds the alcohol...

***** Tarzan and the Lost Safari (4/12/57) Bruce Humberstone ~ Gordon Scott, Betta St. John, Robert Beatty, Yolande Donlan

A lot of good cancelled out by eye-rolling, kiddie elements

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 9 July 2015]

Released in 1957, "Tarzan and the Lost Safari" stars Gordon Scott as the ape man who assists five survivors of a plane crash near the Opar tribe, savage Africans known for sacrificing white people. A "great white hunter" enters the picture and seems to want to help the survivors, but Tarzan smells something fishy. This incidentally was the first Tarzan film in color.

The plot's great and the movie features many positives. For one, Scott's one of the best actors to play Tarzan and went on to star in a couple of the best Tarzan films, 1959's "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" and 1960's "Tarzan the Magnificent." The African locations are meshed well with the studio work and the studio sets look great, considering the time period. It's sometimes hard to distinguish between authentic Africa and studio "Africa." There's quite a bit of action, numerous shots of animals and I enjoy the scenes where Tarzan interacts with the wildlife, like the lion (which isn't faked).

Unfortunately, there are some bad elements. For instance, the eye-rolling way a vine is always conveniently nearby for Tarzan to easily swing/climb to where he needs to go. Why sure! Then there's this kiddie vibe that's hard to explain, like the producers were trying to appeal to five year-olds, which is strange because there are quite a few adult-oriented elements. What could've been a quality Tarzan flick is sunk for these two reasons.

While Scott's interpretation of the ape man is good the writers have him speaking limited English in the manner of Weissmuller, which is in contrast to Burroughs' book version where Tarzan can speak several languages fluently. I can live with this, however, as it's a movie interpretation of the character. This changed with Scott's two last films as the ape man, noted above, where his portrayal was more faithful to Burroughs.

The film runs 86 minutes and was shot in the Congo, Africa, as well as Iverson Ranch, CA, and studio sets in England; plus stock African footage.

GRADE: C+

A fair Tarzan film

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 5 May 2019]

Tarzan protects a group of passengers of a private plane who crash-landed on the jungle from a hostile native tribe that wants to sacrifice them to their gods. Just another day at the office. The film is technically well-made, but padded and tedious, with relatively little action. Gordon Scott is still mightily impressive as Tarzan, but the best thing in the film is the athletic, outdoorsy leading lady Betta St.John (she actually looks like she worked out regularly, long before it became "the norm" for women). ** out of 4.

Wetta is Betta

[Matthew_Capitano · 6/10 · 11 February 2012]

Betta St. John is pretty, but she leaves a lot more for the imagination to ponder once she falls into the water.

Betta's fiancé is such a stiff, he argues with her and then points out a herd of hippos while he flies everybody into a flock of flamingos causing the plane to ditch in the jungle. Enter Gordon Scott as 'Tarzan' with his cute little monkey companion 'Cheetah'. Native warriors, a cynical adventurist, and several boring passengers of the downed plane go through their paces between Tarzan's action scenes and the next time Betta gets wet.

Best line in the movie is when Betta tells off her airplane-obsessed fiancé: "Why don't you get a guided missile, then you could spend your weekends on the moon!".

Colorful and entertaining a Tarzan/Scott movie , though dubiously faithful to Edgar Rice Borroughs story

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 4 September 2017]

An airplane full of motley passengers (Betta St. John , Donlan , Wilfrid Hyde-White , George Coulouris) who are en route to Europe via Cairo has an accident in the jungle . The private plane is piloted by Dick Penrod (Peter Arne) , an avid flyer whose hobby is aviation . Tarzan (Gordon Scott) encounters the crashed plane and leads five passengers from the downed airplane out of the jungle . A bit later on , they also meet a professional hunter called Hawkins (Robert Beatty) who offers to escort them to the coast but he actually attempts to sell them to the Oparian chief , having already made a deal with a local tribal chief . In the ending , Tarzan again to rescue the unfortunate crew a second time.

"Tarzan and the Lost Safari" contains noisy action , sensational adventures , many angry natives , nasty white hunters , hungry Crocs and wonderful outdoors , though mostly shot in Africa and Elstree studios . Well starred by Gordon Scott , here Tarzan/Scott rescues five occupants , and Gordon brings wit and style to the classic character . Gordon starred 5 Tarzan movies : ¨Tarzan's fights for life¨ by H. Bruce Humberstone , ¨Tarzan and the trappers¨ by Sandy Howard and Charles Haas , ¨Tarzan's greatest adventure¨ produced by Sy Weintraub , directed by John Guillermin and ¨Tarzan the magnificent¨ by Robert Day . Although Gordon Scott also played all kinds of genres as Spaghetti : ¨Tramplers¨, Euro-spy : ¨Death ray¨ , Pirate movie : ¨Marauder¨ , and especially Peplum : ¨Hércules and the princess of Troy¨, ¨Coriolanus¨, ¨Conquest of Mycene¨, ¨Gladiator of Rome¨, ¨Hero of Rome¨, ¨Samson and the 7 miracles of the world¨.

Support cast is acceptable , such as Betta St John as a beautiful girl who creates a rift between his boyfriend/Peter Arne and Tarzan who falls for her . And the ordinary secondaries as Wilfrid Hyde-White , George Coulouris and the nasty Robert Beatty give nice interpretations . And of course , special mention for the likable Chimpanzee Cheeta that steals the show , giving some humorous moments with his antics , frolics and mayhem . As usual , sets and production design are visually appealing , though there are the obvious uses of stock footage and shot on location in Democratic Republic Of Congo , Tanzania , Kilimanjaro , Kenia . Including a brilliant cinematography by Pennington-Richards , being the first Tarzan film to be filmed in color . The motion picture was well produced by Sol Lesser and decently directed by H. Bruce Humberstone

First Tarzan/Johhny Weissmuller was ¨Tarzan , the ape man¨ (1932) by W.S. Van Dyke , this one being the definitive Tarzan movie , the original of the long series . Followed by ¨Tarzan and his mate¨ (1934) by Jack Conway . Richard Thorpe continued the following sequels : ¨Tarzan escapes¨(1936) , ¨Tarzan finds a son¨ (1939) with the addition of the five-year-old Johnny Sheffield as Boy , ¨Tarzan's secret Treasure¨ (1941) , and ¨Tarzan's New York adventure¨ (1942) where Boy is abducted by an evil circus owner , then Tarzan goes to rescue him and he meets N.Y. big city , being Maureen O'Sullivan's final appearance and in which Elmo Lincoln's , the screen's first Tarzan, had a cameo . These stories were lavishly produced by M.G.M. and R.K.O. Subsequently , to be appeared other Tarzans produced by independent producers as Sol Lesser ; the latter being replaced by Sy Weintraub , these movies were interpreted by Lex Barker and Gordon Scott : ¨Tarzan the Magnificent¨ and ¨The greatest adventure¨ directed by John Guillermin . Furthermore , Mike Henry starred as Tarzan in ¨Tarzan and the jungle boy ¨ , ¨ Tarzan and the great river¨ , and ¨Tarzan 66¨ directed by Robert Day . Besides , two performed by Jock Mahoney : ¨Three challenges¨ and ¨Tarzan goes to India¨ directed by John Guillermin , among others . Plus , other TV Tarzan as Ron Ely , Wolf Larsen , Joe Lara

Forgettable Tarzan adventure

[PeterJackson · 5/10 · 9 December 2000]

Average Tarzan fare with Scott leading the passengers of a crashed airplane to safety. Of course there are some baddies along the way and of course all ends well, but it all seems too uninspired to enjoy. Forget this one, there are better Tarzan adventures than this(e.g. TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE). 5/10

Tarzan Leads the Way

[lugonian · 7/10 · 29 July 2018]

TARZAN AND THE LOST SAFARI (Solar Film Productions, 1957), directed by Bruce Humberstone, returns Gordon Scott as the muscular jungle hero, Tarzan, to the screen since his debut performance for the Sol Lesser production unit of TARZAN'S HIDDEN JUNGLE (RKO, 1955). As with the previous installment, this second Gordon Scott/Tarzan adventure has him going solo, with the exception of his pet chimpanzee, Cheta, venturing without the presence of his mate, Jane. Unlike Scott's Tarzan debut, TARZAN AND THE LOST SAFARI not only has the distinction of being the first "Tarzan" adventure in the series to be photographed in color (compliments of Eastman Color), but was reportedly filmed on location Uganda, Kenya and in the Belgian Congo as opposed to indoor jungle sets or outdoor filming near the Hollywood studios. The supporting cast is basically English, naturally since it was produced by a British studio. Though sources label this the first Tarzan movie release through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer since 1942, prints exclude the traditional MGM lion logo for its opening. Regardless, TARZAN AND THE LOST SAFARI ranks a more update improvement in the series, and though many fondly remember Johnny Weissmuller as the jungle warlord for many years, Scott holds his own as possibly the second best next to the Olympic champion Weissmuller, who enacted the role of Tarzan longer than any other actor.

Following opening credits superimposed over African jungle wildlife and huge waterfall background, an airplane flies over the jungle bound for Cairo consisting of Dick Penrod (Peter Arne), the pilot; his wife, Diana (Betta St. John); and passengers, Gamage Dean (Yolande Donain); Carl Kraski (George Coulouris); and society columnist, Doodles Fletcher (Wilfred Hyde-White). Dick and Diane are constantly bickering, with Diane finding that their marriage is on the verge of divorce. As Dick flies low so his guests can have a close look at animallife such as giraffes and zebras, a flock of flamingos cause the airplane to crash land on the cliff ledge. Tarzan (Gordon Scott) comes to their rescue moments before airplane plunges down the canyon. After Diana is abducted by Opal tribesmen, Tarzan fights them off while hunter, "Tusker" Hawkins (Robert Beatty) rescues Diana from becoming a sacrifice to the tribe. In order to get the safari safe to civilization, Tarzan leads them through the jungle, swamps and other dangerous surroundings. In the meantime, Tarzan shows strong dislike towards Hawkins, feeling he has other plans for his stranded guests that are not so honorable.

Also In the cast is Orlando Martins as Chief Ogonorro. Even Cheta the chimpanzee gets screen credit for her performance. For the rest of the cast, Yolande Donian makes one think about character actress, Iris Adrian, through her performance as the flirtatious blonde after Tarzan; and Betta St. John short haircut and features in a physical sense of a younger actress, Fay Wray, from the 1930s. While other actors in the cast may be unfamiliar faces and names, only George Coulouris may be familiar to American audience through his Hollywood movie roles in the 1940s.

Though TARZAN AND THE LOST SAFARI is leisurely paced, it's never dull through its 80 minutes. Naturally for a Tarzan adventure, there has to be a villain, along with some near death experiences including one where Diana's swimming is interrupted by an approaching crocodile followed by traditional extended Tarzan vs. crocodile segment as in the past. There's even a rare moment in the series where Tarzan talks about his jungle upbringing following the death of his parents, to as a boy surviving the jungle through manhood, yet, no mention about his companion, Jane. There's plenty of suspense involving the Tarzan and his safari involving poisoned spiders, and how they will survive the ordeal as they are observed from afar by the tribesmen to when they intend making their attack by throwing spears. And naturally Chetah gets laughs being both brat and helpful to Doodles by lighting his cigarette lighter for his cigarette.

Naturally color and location screening add to this screen adventure. Gordon Scott's broken English isn't as much as Johnny Weissmuller's interpretation from the past, yet, as the series progressed, Scott would soon be speaking in the manner of an educated man, the way its creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs, initially intended through his books

Never distributed on video cassette though available on DVD, this and many Tarzan adventures did enjoy frequent commercial television broadcasts dating back to the 1960s before shifting to cable television in later years, including American Movie Classics (1997-2000) and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: September 10, 2011). Next in the series: Tarzan (Gordon Scott), Jane (Eve Brent) and Tarzan Jr., known as Tartu (Randy Sorensen) returning to formula format from the Weissmuller days for TARZAN FIGHT FOR LIFE (MGM, 1958) for the final time in the series. (**1/2)

A well trained Cheta

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 2 July 2012]

There's no safari in terms of an expedition into the African jungle per se in Tarzan And The Lost Safari. Rather the king of the jungle has to rescue five survivors of a light airplane crash and lead them out of the jungle to safety. The survivors are a cross section of upper crust Britania including married couple George Coulouris and Yolanda Donlon, newlyweds Peter Arne and Betta St. John who are already having issues and a Cholly Knickerbocker type columnist Wilfred Hyde-White. None of them really at home in the wild.

Besides Gordon Scott as Tarzan this party has another potential rescuer in white hunter Robert Beatty. But he's in league with a nasty savage tribe called the Oprahs, whoops Opars. They've got a fortune in ivory and for some white sacrifices they'll give it up, especially if one of them is the legendary Tarzan. Big medicine for the tribe there.

George Coulouris is strangely muted and not what you normally expect from a guy who plays some high powered villains on the screen. Especially when Donlon gives Tarzan the old come-on. Tarzan evinces not a whiff of an interest. Beatty has his eyes on Betta St. John in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition.

And as always that remarkable simian Cheta responding to some well placed instructions is invaluable in the rescue. And Tarzan's knowledge of native drum language also helps in the climax.

Too much silliness in this plot with a good cast making a really dumb script entertaining.

Too British for me...

[xnet95 · 5/10 · 24 November 2011]

This film was made in England and it shows. It opens with a plane full of filthy rich snobs flying back to Europe after attending some grandiose wedding. We have the "pleasure" of meeting Diana Penrod, who is unhappily married to the pilot. This miserable, ungrateful wench does nothing but complain about her husband, who has done nothing wrong. Her main complaint is that he ignores her because he's too interested in flying. Oh my, how horrible! The poor little darling has to be married to a millionaire, go to weddings of the elite and royalty, and fly to exotic places. Maybe she should go see a psychiatrist to help her deal with such a terrible and unfair life. I was really hoping that they would feed this jerk to the lions, but she becomes the heroine of the movie! In 1957, this would only happen in Britain. She's too independent and unsupportive of her husband. It's this kind of attitude and mind-set that has led to present day British women being the worst women in the world - completely useless and deluded, stomping around trying to prove they can do anything a man can do, but failing miserably. If British women are so wonderful, then why are there so many British men living in Thailand married to Thai ex-prostitutes?

Anyway, some of the good things about this movie: 1) The location footage of African wildlife looks great in color and was probably a real treat for viewers back in the 50's before documentaries became so prevalent. 2) No Jane, so there is no Ozzie & Harriet in the jungle story-line. 3) The native dance scene at the end was awesome! The music sounded like recordings I've heard from Africa, and the costumes were great. 4) A superb ending that features mysterious caves, an isolated and evil village located on the top of an unreachable karst, native dances, white sacrificial victims, and Tarzan playing the bongos! The ending almost makes up for the first hour of the movie (which really wasn't that bad).

The best Tarzan movie for me!

[shazam1950 · 10/10 · 31 July 2009]

This is the 3rd movie that starred Gordon Scott as the celebrated Ape Man. Besides the excellent production values, location scenes, and music by Lou Levy with real performances by an authentic African dance troupe, the acting is good all round. Gordon brings this version of Tarzan way up from the previous portrayals of the screen incarnations. Tarzan is clever and more intelligent than seen before. The fact that he is a loner and therefore not hampered by a romantic interest turns him into even a more serious action hero. The movie does have the same racial failings as in past Tarzan movies. The sets and lighting give the dark suspenseful mood and the music increases the dangerous atmosphere. Gordon and Bette St. John swim just as well as the pair in Tarzan and His Mate. In fact the script allows more dialog with better articulation from Tarzan and the men of Opar. I hope all of the Gordon Scott movies finally see the light of DVD day. Post script 6/26/2010.... all of the Sy Weintraub produced Tarzan films are now available through WARNER BROS HOME VIDEO ARCHIVE section. My wishes have been fulfilled

Tarzan Goes Color

[Michael_Elliott · 16 September 2011]

Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

If you start from the first MGM/Johnny Weissmuller film and follow the series through its transformation to RKO and with new actors (Lex Barker, Gordon Scott) then this here would be the nineteenth film and it certainly got a face lift. Not only did the producer's send the cast and crew to Africa for real footage but they also shot the film in color and in widescreen (although most prints are the flat version). This time out Tarzan (Scott) comes across five people whose plane has crashed in the jungle. Along with the help from a hunter, Tarzan tries to get the people to safety but it turns out the hunter has a connection to a deadly tribe who scarifies white people to their Gods. TARZAN AND THE LOST SAFARI has a lot of good things in it like the before mentioned new items but in the end it's still a Tarzan movie with many of the same trappings that hurt previous movies. Once again Scott is very good in the film as he certainly didn't have any trouble fitting into the role. He certainly has the physical look but I thought he also handled the dialogue good enough and had a certain charm that really worked. Betta St. John plays a married woman who Tarzan befriends and she too is quite good. The actors have such good chemistry one wishes that they had written her as being single so that the film could have gone in a different direction. There's no doubt that the authentic shooting in Africa really helps the film because it really adds to the atmosphere. I'm all for back lots at studios but at the same time there's no denying that nothing can top the real thing. With really being in Africa we also get some terrific footage of the wildlife, which is a lot better than the stock footage that took up previous films. The print I watched was the flat version so I can't comment on how well the 2.35:1 was handled but what I saw was impressive. With that said, there's no question that the film goes on for way too long and by this time there's no doubt who will live, who will die and I'm pretty sure we all know what will happen to Tarzan. This predictable side certainly hampers the film but there's no question that this is the best the series has offered since the Weissmuller days.

Utter silliness

[david-546 · 4/10 · 10 September 2011]

OK. This is Hollywood jungle adventure at its best or worst depending on how you wish to view it. TCM certainly does seem able to come up with not only many great old films but also silly nonsense such as Tarzan and the Lost Safari. Bad acting, silly lines, laughable sets (obvious fakes), silly Saturday afternoon serial music, and fractured English for Tarzan and the natives were but some of things that brought laughs. The natives are called savages (it was the 50's after all and vestiges of colonialism and racism lingered). One supposes that the dance sequence after the capture of the members of the lost safari (a plane went down) was a highlight. But the ugga bugga stuff was also just laughable. Add to it the usually assortment of white baddies and the utter predictability of it all and well it was an amusing diversion on a Saturday morning while writing a report. And you wish that the savages would just burn them all at the stake.

First color and widescreen Tarzan picture is stage-bound, boring, and racist

[a_chinn · 4/10 · 3 June 2018]

MGM's first Tarzan picture in many years was also the first color and widescreen version of the Edgar Rice Burroughs' hero. Sadly, this stage-bound production over uses stock footage of real jungles and real jungle animals. The film suffers greatly by never having the actors leave the sound stage. The film also sadly continues it's racist stereo types of African native people and seems all the more ugly in color. Top all that off with a pretty boring story and there's really no reason to watch this picture outside of seeing Tarzan in color.

Not Without Its Charms Except To The Audience

[boblipton · 5/10 · 7 April 2022]

Gordon Harker... no, I mean Gordon Scott.... swings by on a vine to rescue Yolanda Donlan (wit'out huh Nu Juisey acksint), Betta St. John, Wilfred Hyde-White (as a character named "Doodles"), George Coulouris (who wanders through the trackless jungle in shirt, tie and jacket) and Peter Arne from a wrecked plane in this movie. None of the cast left England and no animals were harmed in making this film, although Gordon Scott had his leg torn open by a lion.

There are some nice second-unit shots of wild animals for this first Tarzan movie shot in color, but the difference in cinematography shows badly.

One Small Step For Tarzan, One Giant Leap For Gordon Scott.

[redryan64 · 8/10 · 25 July 2018]

WITH THIS BEING the second Tarzan romp starring Gordon Scott, the improvement that was evident in the initial Scott feature, TARZAN'S HIDDEN JUNGLE, was continuing to come to fruition. The speech pattern displayed by Mr. Edgar Rice Burroughs' creation was going much more toward that of an educated person and away from the "Me Tarzan, you Jane" routine.

PRODUCED BY THE combined forces of America's Sol Lesser and Britain's Solar Productions, this was filmed mostly in the United Kingdom, with some great deal of footage being filmed in Africa. The making of movies was becoming less a regular thing for Mr. Lesser, who would turn over his screen rights to the character to producer, Sy Weintraub.

AFTER TAKING OVER the Tarzan series from MGM, Mr. Lesser first used the reigning apeman, Olympic swimmer, Johnny Weismueller, who in turn gave way to Lex Barker and then to Gordon Scott. The pictures were his productions, but they were released by RKO Radio Pictures. Their association lasted up to the first Scott feature and then various other distributors were employed.

THIS FEATURE MARKED the return of MGM to the Tarzan stories as the prestigious 'Tiffany Studio' was retained as the films' booker in the U.S.A. Reviving their interest in the Jungle epic, MGM would soon do its own production of TARZAN THE APEMAN (remake,1959) with Denny Miller in the loincloth this tome.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY, BOTH in studio and on location, was well integrated into what appeared to be seemless; kudos to the photography guys. All of the animals you'd suspect showed up and to the first time (at least to our recollection), they were all of the species Loxodonta africana or in our vernacular, African Bush Elephant. In just about every prior picture, the Pachyderms were of the Elephas maximus persuasion (Indian Elephant). Some sported "falsies" on screen; those being add-on larger false ears to render heir appearance to look African.

THIS PICTURE MARKED the first time that Tarzan was seen in color, a habit that he wouldn't shake for a long time. (Although at least one other movie, the patch quilt TARZAN AND THE TRAPPERS-a combination of 3 episodes from the failed and unsold Tarzan TV series, reverted to B & W. )

AS FOR THE story, we have nothing out of the ordinary; just another day at the (Jungle) office. Lost expedition from crashed airplane is saved from hostile natives who are being employed by evil White Hunter/Ivory poacher, Tusker Hawkins (Robert Beatty. Lovely ladies Yolanda Donlan and Betta St. John are present to make an absent Jane potentially jealous. The rest of the featured cast is rounded out by Wilfred Hyde-White, Peter Arne, Nigerian born Orlando Martins and former Orson Welles associate, George Coulouris. Veteran character actor, Don Beddoe, makes an uncredited appearance as a partner in the illicit Ivory trade.

WE FOUND THE picture to be a worthwhile Jungle tale and what was most important about a Tarzan movie, it was fun.