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Tarzan and the Valley of Gold
Tarzan '66
USA / Switzerland 1966
produced by Sy Weintraub for Allfin A.G./AIP
directed by Robert Day
starring Mike Henry, David Opatoshu, Manuel Padilla jr, Nancy Kovack, Don Megowan, Enrique Lucero, Eduardo Noriega, John Kelly, Francisco Riquerio, Frank Brandstetter, Carlos Rivas, Yerye Beirute, Oswald Olvera, Meri Welles
written by Clair Huffaker, based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, music by Van Alexander
Tarzan, Tarzan (Mike Henry), Sy Weintraub's Tarzan
review by Mike Haberfelner
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It's clear from early on when Tarzan (Mike Henry) arrives in Mexico by
airplane and is lured into an ambush in a bullring where a sniper wants to
take him out that this is not the Tarzan one has come to know and love on
the big screen but much more of a James
Bond surrogate. Once Tarzan has gotten rid of his assassin by
burying him under a giant Coca Cola bottle, he receives his task, to
accompany a young boy, Ramel (Manuel Padilla jr) through the jungle to his
home, the legendary Valley of Gold, the location of which is
unknown to anyone on the outside world. And that's the very problem, as
legend has it the valley's rich in gold, and thus Vinero (David Opatoshu),
a villainous millionaire with a predilection for explosives, wants to find
the valley and thus kidnaps the boy before Tarzan can even get his mission
started. But Tarzan, accompanied by a chimpanzee, a lion and a leopard, is
quick to free the boy, down one of Vinero's helicopters using a couple of
handgrenades, then relieve Vinero's girlfriend Sophia (Nancy Kovack) he
has grown tired of of the explosives around her neck which were to blow
her up, and still he manages to arrive at the entrance to the valley
before Vinero and his small army, including a couple of tanks. Once in the
valley, which seems to be riddled with pyramids (actually this was filmed
in the ancient city Teotihuacan with special focus on the Pyramid of the
Sun), Tarzan tries to warn the high priest of impeding danger, but the
high priest, like everyone in the valley, is a peaceful man who'd rather
give up all the gold in his city than to lose a single man in fight.
Vinero and his army arrive, and despite the locals showing little
resistance, he has a few of them killed just to demonstrate his power. The
high priest gives him all the gold his tanks can carry, but Vinero wants
more - and his greed proves to be his downfall, as ultimately he finds
himself locked in a room that's flooded with gold that ultimately
suffocates him, while it's up to Tarzan to single-handedly takes care of
of his men ... The first of three Tarzan movies
starring Mike Henry, a former NFL football linebacker rather than
professional linebacker, and he might not be the best actor to ever have
played the role, but sure has the physique to convince as Tarzan, plus he
looks good enough in designer suits - important for the more James
Bond-ish direction the series took with Henry in the lead. And
with that in mind, psychopathic supervillains, gadgets of all sorts,
Tarzan trained in machine guns, grenades and tanks shouldn't surprise, nor
the rather high body count. In all, this might sound a little
anachronistic given the direction the series has taken so far, but makes
for an ok little romp that does profit from its authentic locations, some
nice action setpieces, and a fittingly unhinged performance by David
Opatoshu, but despite all the gadgetry, the basic plot feels very routine
to tired. Not a bad film, mind you, just at the end of the day nothing to
write home about.
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