Probably time to take a break from the ape man after this Tarzan film. Once again the producer Sy Weintraub shoots a film on location, in this case Mexico. Weintraub made some major tweeks to the Tarzan character this time. It's been pointed out that Tarzan is now acting more like James Bond then the jungle ape man created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. There is also a really annoying 1960's jazz score to have to put up with.
Weintraub also had a new actor playing Tarzan, former NFL football player Mike Henry who is needless to say is in very good shape and in these Tarzan movies these actors don't wear a whole lot of clothes. With the exception of character actor David Opatoshu playing the chief bad guy like he was Auric Goldfinger and model/actress Nancy Kovack, the rest of the cast and the film crew were Mexicans.
The film is an entertaining action adventure. Tarzan travels to Mexico to save a young Mexican boy from an evil bad guy. The bad guy wants the boy to lead him to his jungle city which is loaded with gold. Fortunately Tarzan is on the case and the film has lots of action. The final part of the film was photographed at the magnificent Teotihuacan pyramids, nothing beats on location filming.
Mike Henry as Tarzan isn't much of an actor but then again he doesn't have to be. Viewers watching this film and especially adolescent boys are here for the action highlights not Shakespearean soliloquies. This Tarzan movie has Tarzan with his animal friends, a chimp named Dinky and a lion named Major helping out. Apparently Mike Henry and Dinky didn't get along to well, Dinky ended up biting Henry which resulted in him getting stitches. Henry ended up suing the producers for creating an unsafe work environment.
The film was written by Clair Huffaker who was frequently associated with John Wayne movies and other western films. The running time is 90 entertaining minutes.
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