The producer Sy Weintraub obtained the film rights to the Tarzan character from the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate and had a radical idea he would actually make Tarzan films in the jungle instead of some film studio back lot. Working on a tight budget Weintraub hired talented film crews and shot quickly on location. Tarzan's Three Challenges was filmed in Thailand and is a nonstop action adventure story.
After saving a herd of elephants in Tarzan Goes To India, the ape man is pressed into service helping the new ruler of an Asian kingdom travel to his coronation while fighting off a local strongman trying to stop the rightful ruler of the kingdom. Jock Mahoney is back as Tarzan and his opponent was Woody Strode a former NFL football player and member of the John Ford stock company. Strode is to put it mildly in very good shape in this film and was an excellent opponent for Mahoney.
The film is called Tarzan's Three Challenges but it should have probably been called Tarzan's many challenges as it's just one damn thing after another for Tarzan. An attempted assassination, a forest fire, a test of strength as two water buffalos try to pull him apart and finally a sword fight with Strode on an elevated net which has big jars of boiling oil ready to deep fry the fighter unable to stay balanced on the net.
It's well known that Jock Mahoney got dysentery while filming in Thailand and lost 40 pounds which gave him a very lean look during the big sword fight scene. However the show must go on so they apparently loaded him full of drugs stuck him in front of the camera and kept on shooting. The result of all of this is an entertaining action film with some amazing stunts and stunning scenery.
The film was written by Robert Day and Bernie Giler, the running time is a lean 92 minutes.
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