Ron Of The Jungle

I have spent weeks enjoying all things Tarzan. Next on the schedule was the Ron Ely TV series, both seasons (three DVDS - two for season one) and now that I've much more quickly than I imagined have finished the series with a smile. These are tasty television shows with a lot of natural vistas and some fine acting. 

Ely's Tarzan is "my" Tarzan, he's the first actor I ever saw portray Edgar Rice Burrough's iconic Ape Man and so like any child he's imprinted on my imagination. His sleek body style, his fluid modern speech patterns, and his handsome friendly face all add up to Tarzan in my book. I was surprised to find that the TV series only lasted two seasons. I seem to remember watching it for what seems forever. Ely as Tarzan standing atop that magnificent waterfall in the opening credits is often the go-to image in my memory when the name of Tarzan is evoked. I didn't until recently know that waterfall was in Brazil.

But alas my boyhood memories fail me a bit when it comes to the texture of the show. Its editing is more hodge-podge with clear stock footage interpolated with shots of the Ape Man and his associates. This is especially true in the earliest five or six episodes made in Brazil. The production of a weekly TV show was daunting because of weather and Ely's desire to do his own stunts which resulted in injuries and delays. The production seems to get on firmer ground after a switch to a Mexican location mixed with more interior set shooting. Yet it seems none of these things bothered a young boy rapt with romance of Tarzan, the ultimate wish-fulfillment hero, assured, strong, agile, handsome, and most of all independent. 

Tarzan's Deadly Silence was a theater release made from my favorite two-part episodes. It pitted Ely against Jock Mahoney as "The Colonel" a brutal military man who sought to build an empire among the tribes. He is assisted by Woody Strode, always a formidable presence on screen. Both Mahoney and Strode showed up on the show several times in an array of roles and added value each time. 

Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion is a compilation of two episodes from the second season. By this time the series had found its mojo and was kicking out episodes with regularity. The same faces often appeared week after week playing a gaggle of different African chiefs and white hunters and such. Often there  was a lovely dame in evidence, often she was misled or confused and likely she found her way to clarity by episode's end.  Some episodes featured Jai almost exclusively. I didn't much care for Tarzan's sidekick originally, but this viewing made appreciate you Manuel Padilla's acting much more. He does some pretty sophisticated stuff from time to time. 

Watching the series after having just seen the films produced by Sy Weintraub, it's fun to look for footage from the movies that is often used to give the television show some heft. There are fires from Joch Mahoney's India adventure we see over and over again and the "death dance" from one of Gordon Scott's movies shows up several times. Event he credits owe much to the films as the memorable gimmick of Tarzan swinging across the screen to reveal the title is actually Mike Henry.

Here are some more of Gold Key's tribute to the then-current TV Tarzan.

Rip Off