May 4th, 2012
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It was quite a shock to me growing up with the MGM Tarzan films to learn that Tarzan was not a monosyllabic noble savage, but an articulate and educated English nobleman when I read the first book in sixth grade. If I had only seen some of the silent films first I wouldn't have been so surprised. Universal's Tarzan the Mighty (1929) is a good one to illustrate this.
On the African estate of Lord and Lady Greystoke, Tarzan (Frank Merrill) and Jane (Natalie Kingston) are entertaining big game hunter Albert Welper (Al Ferguson). Over after dinner coffee, Tarzan relates how he once saved Jane from being sacraficed by Queen La (Mademoiselle Kithnou) to the ancient Gods of Opar. He also lets slip that he is planning a return journey to Opar, seems he is not the best money manager and needs to swipe some of their treasure to replenish his lost fortune.
Jane does not want Tarzan to go, she has a premonition of danger. Tarzan scoffs at this notion and points out it is necessary or they will be destitute. The next morning Tarzan leaves for Opar and Welper heads off on his hunt.
What neither knows is that Welper is actually in the employ of Philip Annersley (Clive Morgan), a distant relative of Tarzan who wants to loot the treasure cave of Opar and get the Greystoke title for himself. Welper is trailing Tarzan to find that location. Welper, not one to overlook an opportunity, is also in the employ of slave trader Achmet Zek (Sheldon Lewis), an old enemy of the ape man who has suffered financially due to Tarzan forbiding slavery in his territory.
Welper signals Zek that Jane is alone at the Greystoke Estate before following Tarzan. Part of his deal with Zek is to kill Tarzan on the trail, but Welper plans to do it after Tarzan leads him to the treasure room.
Zek and his men attack the estate. Tarzan's loyal Waizuri warriors put up a valient fight but they are eventually defeated. Zek grabs Jane and tells her he is taking her to the slave auctions to be sold to the highest bidder. Then, just to put the icing on the cake, he burns down the estate before leaving.
Unaware of this terrible turn of events Tarzan makes his way through the jungle, with Welper not far behind. Tarzan, sensing danger, realizes he is being stalked by a lion. Before he can grab his father's knife that he has carried with him since childhood, the lion leaps upon him and drags him to the ground...........
Based on the novel Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, the serial is fairly accurate to the book, with Tarzan getting amnesia from a blow to the head during an earthquake, Jane escaping her captors and fleeing into the jungle, Welper pretends to be Tarzan's friend while trying to swipe the bag of jewels Tarzan carries with him, who is unaware of their real worth and thinks they are just some "pretty pebbles".
The serial is an early sound serial. Though there is no spoken dialog, the serial contains synced music and sound effects. Most impressive is that now audiences could hear the famous Tarzan yell, supplied by Merrill himself. Not as good as Weismuller's more famous yodel, it is still a good effort on the part of Merrill, and sounds totally savage.
Not every chapter ends with a cliffhanger, some episodes end with a "What will happen next?" blackout like what was used in Chapter Five of Drums of Fu Manchu (1940). There is an odd bit of error in that some of the chapter recaps scenes have different dialog cards than what was shown in the previous episode. And sadly, even in the glory days of the silents, studios had to do some cost cutting, resulting in Chapter Nine being a recap chapter of action from previous episodes.
Frank Merrill makes a great Tarzan, his slim, muscular physique is more realistic than Elmo Lincoln's barrel chested look, and is closer to how he is described in the books. He also effectively conveys both the reserved attitude of a British aristoctrat and the savagry of a jungle animal. He makes you believe he is actually suffering from amnesia. Best of all you can actually tell it is him swinging on the jungle vines and not a stuntman, kudos to his gymnastic training.
Kingston makes a good Jane, even if she is a brunette. She is tough, smart, escaping her captors several times and more than able to fend for herself in the jungle, as you would expect from Tarzan's mate. When she is first reunited with the ape man, she effectively shows her concern and confusion over him not knowing her. She also shows a gleam of hope as he immediately becomes protective of her, as if deep down somewhere he unconsciously remembers her. Most provacative, considering that by this time serials were strictly kid films, Kingston has a nude swimming scene in Chapter Eight. Even though no naughty bits get shown, it is obvious she is naked and must have pushed people's buttons.
Ferguson carries his villainous 'tache well in this serial, displaying a slimy craftiness in many scenes, he also effortlessly emits a sympathetic charm allowing him to play off both his employers while working his own schemes, and keeping both Tarzan and Jane unsuspecting of his villainy for much of the running time. When Morgan shows up in the final chapters to take charge of the villainy, his suave, uppercrust Britishness can't hold a candle to Ferguson,who overshadows him even though he's supposed to fear him.
Kithou makes a very sympathetic, villainous La. She is sexually aggressive toward Tarzan, practically draping herself on top of him in several of their meetings. She tries several times to kill Jane, seeing her as a rival for Tarzan's affections, but you can't hate her because it is really just misguided infatuation for the jungle lord on her part, which is probably why Tarzan forgives her by the serial's end.
Sheldon Lewis isn't given much to do but kidnap Jane in the first chapter. His character is killed off quickly, replaced by the incomparable Paul Panzer as Mohammad Bey, the slave auctioneer. But he disappears quickly as well, not appearing again after Tarzan drives an elephant stampede though the auction bazaar to retrieve his stolen pebbles in Chapter Five.
May 3rd, 2012
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It is sometimes hard to imagine, but the craggy faced, six foot five actor Glenn Strange got his start as a musician. Self taught on the violin and guitar, Strange and his cousin (western character actor Taylor "Cactus Mack" McPeters toured the country as members of the radio singing group The Arizona Wranglers. This eventually led to doing singing filler scenes in films, and eventually taking bit parts. Many of these parts were playing henchmen in B-Westerns like Texas Tornado (1932), The Star Packer (1934), Song of the Gringo (1936) and Whirlwind Horseman (1938).
It was no surprise that he would also begin appearing serials. His first serial was playing a henchmen in Mascot's The Hurricane Express (1932). Universal's Flash Gordon (1936) is really interesting considering the turn Strange's career would take in the forties, he played a Ming soldier (making him a sci-fi henchman) and the Gocko, a large reptilian monster that menaces the heroes while they are trying to navigate a series of tunnels. His other henchmen roles were in Columbia's Flying G-Men (1939) and Republic's The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939). His final two serial appearances had him playing a one of the good guys in Universal's Riders of Death Valley (1941) and a sheriff in Universal's Overland Mail (1942).
While the forties would see Strange continue to play henchmen in westerns, he would also add monster player to his repertoire. Starting with The Mad Monster (1942) where he played a chemically created werewolf, he would go on to play the character he is most remembered for by monster fans, the Frankenstein Monster. Strange would appear as the Monster in three films (equally Boris Karloff's tenure in the role), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). His other horror work included playing a mad scientist's assistant in The Monster Maker (1944) and a hairy behemoth in the Bowery Boys comedy Master Minds (1949).
As with most character actors, Strange branched out into TV, appearing on countless westerns shows like The Adventures of Kit Carson, Hopalong Cassidy, The Range Rider and Annie Oakley. His most popular appearance during this time was on The Lone Ranger, playing Butch Cavendish, the man who killed a band of Texas Rangers and started the Masked Rider of the Plains on his path to bring Justice to the West. The three episodes that comprised this story arc would later be edited into a feature length film. So popular was Strange in the role that he was brought back the next year to reprise the character.
But of course he is best known today among western fans for the recurring role he had on one of the longest running and most beloved TV shows of all time, Gunsmoke. From 1961 to 1973 Strange played the genial, but don't cross him, bartender Sam Noonan at Miss Kitty's Long Branch Saloon, where he poured drinks, kept the place from getting too rowdy, and even occasionally would whip out his fiddle and play a song for the patrons.
