Sol Lesser Movies

Tarzan's Fight for Life was the last "Tarzan" entry to be produced by Sol Lesser, whose association with the series dated back to 1933; thereafter, Sy Weintraub was in charge of the franchise. Gordon Scott makes his third appearance as the Lord of the Jungle, while Eve Brent costars as Jane (a character absent from the the two previous Tarzan flicks). This time, Tarz comes to the aid of medical missionary Dr. Sturdy (Carl Benton Reid), whose efforts to minister to the natives are being undercut by witch doctor Futa (James Edwards). Relying on superstition and fear, Futa hopes to foment a native riot, despite the more temperate atttitudes of tribal chieftan Ramo (Woody Strode). The climax relies as much on suspense as action, with Gordon Scott doing a little more genuine acting than usual. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

By 1955, the original Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller, had long since retired, and RKO Pictures tried several replacements. Tarzan's Hidden Jungle was the first of six films starring Gordon Scott as the ape man. It also was the last of 12 Tarzan pictures released by RKO Studios, and other studios subsequently stepped in to try to carry on the long-running franchise. The villain is a bounty hunter named Burger (Jack Elam), who has invaded the jungle in search of ivory, lion skins, and even animal fat. Tarzan thwarts his schemes with the help of the usual herd of elephants. He also spends a lot of time aiding a noble physician, Dr. Celliers (Peter Van Eyck) and his nurse, Jill Hardy (Vera Miles). Miles and Scott were married after the film was shot. Cheta the Chimp is joined by fellow chimps Lucky and Zippy, the latter of which was a mainstay on television's Howdy Doody series. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The title characters of Tarzan and the She-Devil are played by Lex Barker and Monique Van Vooren. He, of course, is the loin-clothed Lord of the Jungle; she is the beautiful-but-deadly Lyra, head of a gang of ivory thieves. To expedite her crooked operation, Lyra has managed to enslave an East African tribe to do her bidding. Tarzan intervenes, only to be captured, tied up (several times) and imprisoned for his troubles. Finally able to free himself, Tarzan rescues the tribe -- and, incidentally, his mate Jane (Joyce McKenzie) -- by summoning forth his elephant friends. Raymond Burr co-stars as Lyra's slovenly, unshaven chief henchman, who ends up trampled to death by the rampaging pachyderms. Many of the jungle scenes in Tarzan and the She-Devil were lifted from the 1934 Frank Buck documentary Wild Cargo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The feature-length documentary Under the Red Sea was lovingly assembled by oceanographer Dr. Hans Haas. The film poses several intriguing questions regarded the methods by which various forms of sea life communicate with one another. As narrator Les Tremayne comments on the action, the audience sees the effect that human-engendered sounds have on barracuda, groupers and the like. Perhaps at the insistence of the film's distributor, RKO Radio Pictures, several minutes of screen time are devoted to the underwater activities of curvaceous female-diver Lottie Berl. The less-attractive male members of the expedition include Gerald Weidler, Leo Rohrer, Edward Wawrowetz and Alfonso Hocchauser. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The people of a jungle village are suffering from a strange illness that is killing off the female population. The natives resort to kidnapping women from other regions -- including Jane (Vanessa Brown), the mate of Tarzan (Lex Barker). Never one to hold a grudge, Tarzan offers to deliver a serum that will wipe out the epidemic. Unfortunately, numerous unforeseen perils await Tarzan during his journey through the foliage. The "slave girl" of the title is played by Denise Darcel, whose role as a nurse is secondary but decorative. An 8 X 10 glossy of the underdressed Darcel, her wrists shackled, clinging desperately to Lex Barker's bare legs, turned out to be one of the biggest-selling "pin-ups" of the 1950s. Not bad for a post-Weissmuller Tarzan flick, Tarzan and the Slave Girl falters only during an extended comic sequence involving Cheta the chimp and a bottle of booze. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "mermaids" are really tribal pearl divers in this diverting Tarzan adventure. Their livelihood is threatened by an evil white trader (Fernando Wagner), who sets himself up as a "god." With the help of lovely diver Linda Christian (later Mrs. Tyrone Power), Tarzan defeats the wicked despot, but not before several underwater battles, not the least of which involves an octopus. If the jungle settings of Tarzan and the Mermaids don't look particularly African, that's because the film was shot at the Churubusco Studios in Mexico. Mermaids represents the final appearance of Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) goes on one of his occasional pro-ecological kicks in Tarzan and the Huntress. This time, the Lord of the Jungle runs afoul of an animal-trapping exposition headed by titular huntress Tanya (Patricia Morison). Not wishing to see his jungle friends packed in crates and shipped off to zoos, Tarzan does everything he can to discourage Tanya from seeking out specimens in his territory. The plot then goes off on a different tangent, as Tanya's unscrupulous partner Weir (Barton MacLane) conspires with aspiring despot Prince Ozira (Ted Hecht) to knock off the Prince's benevolent uncle, King Faroud (Charles Trowbridge). Tarzan saves the day by summoning his elephant pals to trammel the villains, but not before his mate Jane (Brenda Joyce) and his adopted son Boy (Johnny Sheffield) are placed in the usual deadly peril. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) must once more contend with outsiders who invade his jungle domain to hunt for gold. Guarding the valuable ore is a tribe of hostile Amazons, led by Maria Ouspenskaya. The Amazons regard every man as their enemy, and very nearly kill Tarzan before he can rescue them from the villains. Also in the cast are Brenda Joyce as a blonde Jane, Johnny Sheffield as Boy, Barton MacLaine as the principal heavy, and "cult" horror star Aquanetta as an Amazon maiden. Tarzan and the Amazons was Johnny Weissmuller's ninth appearance as the Lord of the Apes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This star-studded musical drama was largely financed by Theatre Guild, with all proceeds going to various wartime fundraising concerns. Most of the story takes place at the Stage Door Canteen, a Manhattan-based home away from home for soldiers, sailors and marines (the real-life Canteen on 44th street was too busy to lend itself to filming, thus the interiors were recreated in Hollywood). Within the walls of this non-profit establishment, servicemen are entertained by top musical, comedy and dramatic acts, and waited on by such Broadway luminaries as Lunt and Fontanne, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Cowl, Katherine Cornell, Tallulah Bankhead, Helen Hayes, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Sam Jaffe and Paul Muni. Though the plotline-one of the Canteen servers, a girl named Eileen (Cheryl Walker) falls in love with one of the visiting soldiers (William Terry), despite the establishment's strict "no dating" rules-is merely an excuse to link together a series of specialty acts, it is superbly and touchingly directed by Frank Borzage. Not all of the film has weathered the years too well: particularly hard to take is Gracie Fields' cheery ditty about "killing Japs!" For the most part, however, the film works, and the guest performers-including comedians Ray Bolger, Harpo Marx, George Jessel and Ed Wynn, and singers Ethel Waters and Kenny Baker-are in fine fettle. If nothing else, Stage Door Canteen offers the only appearance on film of the great Katherine Cornell, who offers a vignette of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Incidentally, the actor playing "Texas", Michael Harrison, later gained fame as cowboy star Sunset Carson. Originally released at 132 minutes, Stage Door Canteen is now generally available in the 93-minute TV version. The six big bands that appear and perform in the film are those of Kay Kyser, Count Basie, Xavier Cugat, Guy Lombardo, Benny Goodman and Freddie Martin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

During WWII, Johnny Weissmuller and his Tarzan character proved useful for Allied propaganda purposes. In the film Tarzan Triumphs, the plot had the ape man fighting Nazis in Africa. In Tarzan's Desert Mystery, released at the height of the war in 1943, he is once again battling Brownshirts in the Libyan desert. Tarzan meets up with Connie Bryce (Nancy Kelly), an American showgirl, and tangles with mercenary Arabs, legions of Nazi warriors, a giant spider, and a bunch of dinosaurs who somehow escaped extinction. In short, it's Tarzan against every evil villain an American filmmaker could have imagined at the time. The film included Johnny Sheffield as Boy, Tarzan's son, along with Tarzan's customary sidekick Cheta the Chimp. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town is given the Hollywood treatment in this adaptation directed by Sam Wood featuring an evocative score by Aaron Copland and outstanding production design by William Cameron Menzies. Frank Craven is Mr. Morgan, the narrator and our guide through the small town of Grover's Corners in the more innocent American times of 1901, 1904, and 1913. Mr. Morgan chronicles the lives of a handful of Grover's Corners citizens, centering upon Emily Webb (Martha Scott), the daughter of the local newspaper editor (Guy Kibbee), and George Gibbs (William Holden), the son of the local doctor (Thomas Mitchell). Emily and George fall in love and the film details their difficult courtship, marriage, and tragic childbirth. The film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, losing out to Rebecca. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this musical drama, a child is abandoned upon the San Francisco docks. He is found and raised by a fisherman. His life is happy until the fisherman's sister-in-law moves in after her husband dies. She brings her bratty son with her. This upsets the orphan so much that he runs away. The fisherman launches a huge city-wide search, finds the sad lad, and finally brings him back home. Songs include: "Fisherman's Chantey," "Sell Your Cares for a Song," and "Blue Italian Waters." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Way Down South ranks as among the better Bobby Breen musicals, if only because of its impressive production credits. The film is set in antebellum Louisiana, where young Tim Reid's (Breen) inheritance is highly coveted by crooked attorney Martin Dill (Edwin Maxwell). With the help of kindly Cajun innkeeper Jacques Bouton (Alan Mowbray), Tim is able to foil the villain, with time left over for a number of Southern-fried tunes. The film's attitudes towards slavery-to a man, the "darkies" are blissfully content with their lot in life-is astonishing, inasmuch as the film was cowritten by Clarence Muse (one of the more militant black performers in Hollywood) and African American poet Langston Hughes! The screenwriters were also responsible for the songs, including "Louisiana" and "Good Ground." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide