a_chinn Lex Barker is back as a Johnny Weissmuller's replacement as the new Tarzan and has a better than expected outing in this long running (and by this point rather played out) franchise. Tarzan finds himself as peacemaker between warring tribes (complete with racist stereotypes of African people, as was common for most of the Tarzan films), who've been stirred up by gunrunners. The supporting cast includes Virginia Huston, George Macready, Alan Napier, and of most interest is the casting of singer, dancer, actress Dorothy Dandridge as Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba, although her talents are painfully wasted on this juvenile material. Still, as juvenile as the material is, I did enjoy the man-eating plants and other jungle nonsense. Overall, it's nothing classic, but decent enough if you're a fan of Tarzan films.

Robert J. Maxwell It helps to be in the right mood to enjoy this rather typical nonsense about Tarzan (Lex Barker) foiling a plan by a villain with a Polish name (George MacReady) to arm one band of African natives with rifles and Tommy guns so they can conquer another tribe and sell them into slavery or concubinage or something. The name of MacReady's character is Radijek. It SOUNDS villainous, doesn't it? And in 1951, Slavic names served nicely as labels for the bad guys although, to be sure, Hollywood must have been experiencing some conflict over whether to give their heavies the names of Commies or Nazis. At the moment the moguls must be in turmoil, what with the Arabs.I don't really think the plot is worth going on about. MacReady sneers constantly and murders his partners in the scurrilous plan one by one in order to steal their share of the loot. Jane wears necklaces by Tiffany and a wrap-around sarong out of Christian Dior. Tarzan comes home from the jungle and Jane says, "Sit down and have some supper," just like Dagwood and Blondie or Ricky and Lucy. Their tree house has several rooms, one of them with a comfortable table and chairs, suitable for wedding receptions and bar mitzvah celebrations. I think I spotted a framed poster of a Marc Chagall on one of the bamboo walls. The bathroom probably has a framed poster too -- a yellow rose over the slogan "Tomorrow Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life." You can probably read it while on the throne.Of course, if you're NOT in a receptive mood, the movie sucks. There was some second-unit shooting in Africa. You can watch the stilt-legged water birds gobble down newly hatched baby crocodiles while a jaunty tune plays in the background. Dorothy Dandridge is in here somewhere, in a minor part, and we don't get to see nearly enough of her. Tarzan not real man. If Tarzan red blooded, then Tarzan shed domestic tranquility, fling Dandridge over shoulder, and swing through tree to someplace else. Company of Cheetah optional.

bkoganbing RKO no doubt felt the acclaim that King Solomon's Mines and The African Queen received from the movie-going public and decided to splurge for some real African location shooting for Tarzan's Peril. As we learn here from IMDb, Tarzan's Peril was also supposed to be in color, but that footage was scrapped. But it was nice for once to see actual Africans and black American actors playing speaking roles. From the last of the Weissmuller films through the first two Barker Tarzans, the jungle hero was constantly discovering these lost white tribes in Africa and it was getting ridiculous.Sad to say though the story was borrowed from any number of westerns and transferred to Africa. White men George MacReady, Douglas Fowley, and Glenn Anders are selling guns to the natives. The tribe under Queen Dorothy Dandridge refuses, but the tribe under King Frederick O'Neal doesn't and the latter subjugates the former until Tarzan straightens things out.MacReady even in far worse pictures than Tarzan's Peril brings his own brand of serpentine villainy for us to savor. His character and Lex Barker have some history so a chance to even things up with Tarzan is too good to pass up. MacReady though is bad news for both Fowley and Anders as well.Seeing Dorothy Dandridge is also a treat, she is one regal beauty as the queen of her tribe. Dandridge was two years away from her Oscar nominated Carmen Jones, the high point of her sad career.Tarzan's Perils was definitely better than the first two Lex Barker Tarzans, but a pedestrian western plot bogs this film down.

Ozirah54 If one is interested in the action/adventure component of Tarzan movies, Tarzan's Peril does have something to offer.While the plot may be simple, this first Tarzan movie ever filmed in Africa does have its moments, mostly revolving around one of the sub-villains, King Bulam, played by noted African-American actor Frederick O'Neal, founder of the American Negro Theater in New York which launched the careers of such notables as Sidney Poitier.Gun runners have broken out of jail and have come to King Bulam's village to trade guns for jewels. Bulam, who has tangled with Tarzan before, intends to use the guns to make war on the peaceful Ashuba people, led by Queen Melmendi (Dorothy Dandridge).Tarzan (Lex Barker) is unsuccessful in stopping Bulam and his Yurongan warriors and is even thrown over a waterfall and presumably drowned. King Bulam conquers the village and, after being rejected by Melmendi, he withdraws and his warriors get drunk. Tarzan returns and organizes an uprising after having freed the Ashuban men.When Bulam arrives to check on the situation, Tarzan gives his famous yell and the Yurongans are caught off guard. Bulam sees that Tarzan is very much alive and flees in confusion and fear.Tarzan catches up with the husky, proud, ambitious, and greedy African war chief and a knife fight, one against one, ensues. While a much trimmer stunt double is sometimes visible, this is still an exciting screen fight. Bulam manages to knock Tarzan's head against a tree trunk and then pulls out a rather hefty, oversize knife that we have seen dangling at his waist for much of the film. The knife is almost in Tarzan's neck when Tarzan grabs Bulam's wrist and causes Bulam to fling the knife away. It lands in some ferns, blade side up. Using his legs as scissors, Tarzan manages to spin Bulam away, and the chief rolls over several times.Here is the part I savor. Bulam rolls over onto the clump of ferns where his knife is projecting skyward. As his ample belly passes over the knife, it is shoved into his body. The wicked, adventurous, risk-taking war chief is stunned; he has been stabbed with his own knife! Bulam makes several attempts to rise and continue the fight and Tarzan even draws his own knife, not certain as to whether Bulam is really done for. But, as his head lolls for the last time, with the knife partially obscured by all the vegetation the king has rolled into, it is certain that Bulam has been vanquished.The next scene shows the warriors being herded into a corral and Tarzan is begged to stay for a celebration but he must go after the gun runners who are even now having a falling out of their own and, eventually, endangering Jane.