| Tarzan Goes to India | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | John Guillermin |
| Written by | Robert Hardy Andrews John Guillermin |
| Based on | Characters created byEdgar Rice Burroughs |
| Produced by | Sy Weintraub |
| Starring | Jock Mahoney Jai |
| Cinematography | Paul Beeson |
| Edited by | Max Benedict |
| Music by | Ken Jones |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.1 million (US/Canada)[1] |
Tarzan Goes to India (1962) is the first film featuringJock Mahoney asTarzan. The twenty-fourth film of theTarzan film series that began with 1932'sTarzan the Ape Man, it was written byRobert Hardy Andrews and directed byJohn Guillermin, who also directedTarzan's Greatest Adventure. The film also stars IndianBollywood actorsFeroz Khan,Simi Garewal andMurad in pivotal roles.[2] It was followed byTarzan's Three Challenges (1963) which was set in Thailand. It was one of two Mahoney films that took Tarzan out of Africa and sent him to theFar East. It was aco-production between Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Jock Mahoney had appeared as the villain Coy Banton in the previousTarzan film,Tarzan the Magnificent.
Tarzan is called toIndia to save three hundred elephants, that will be drowned if adam is opened to create a man-made lake to power an electric plant. Tarzan is pitted against Bryce and O'Hara, two engineers who ignore the catastrophic results their work will create.
Gordon Scott had played Tarzan for the previous six movies in the series.Don Bragg was reportedly cast as his replacement but injured his foot and was unable to go to India.[3]Jock Mahoney's casting was announced in December 1961 just as the unit left for India. He was the twelfth actor to play Tarzan, and had just appeared in the previousTarzan movie,Tarzan the Magnificent, as villain Coy Banton. He had also auditioned for the role a decade previously as a replacement forJohnny Weissmuller inTarzan's Magic Fountain but lost out toLex Barker. The director wasJohn Guillermin, who had madeTarzan's Greatest Adventure, the first movie in the series produced bySy Weintraub.[4]
Filming took place in early 1962 inBombay,Mysore andMadras.[5]
Guillermin later said it was difficult dealing with a dam and elephants. "It's especially difficult when you're making a film for two cents in six weeks," he said. "It really was an absurd bit of business. Technically, we did construct a bamboo wall that was used to charge 50 elephants through. You couldn't stop them for two or three miles. But, we did manage to stop them in a river bed. It was all very exciting."[6]
Guillermin said "I'm not sure why Gordon [Scott] didn't doTarzan Goes to India, but Jock did a good job. He was an ex-stuntman. Jock was an extremely tough guy."[6]
Mahoney said that Guillermin would regularly abuse him during the shoot.
The poor man got sick, just very ill. He called me some names, things like yellow-bellied son-of-a-bitch. I explained to him that the last guy who talked to me that way got beaten to a pulp. But Guillermin was ill! I had to let many things slide. I was riding an elephant named Mahaveeta. And an elephant, after they're captured, decides whether to live or commit suicide. This one had a tough time getting accustomed to captivity. Whenever we would do a scene where the guns, beaters and firecrackers were surrounding her, she would be frightened to death and lie down. She would start crying, literally cry. This happened one time when I was beyond a rise and out of camera range. The idea was to lead the elephant over the rise and into camera. Well, Guillermin never saw any of this happening. I came back over the rise and he gave me an improper tongue-lashing. I didn't bother to explain to him what had happened. He was so sick out of his head. The producer, Sy Weintraub, came to me later to apologize. I was ready to leave the picture. I just didn't have to eat that kind of slop.[7]
In August 1962,Hedda Hopper reported the film was "cleaning up" at the box office.[8] Mahoney said "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had just releasedMutiny on the Bounty, that three-hour remake. And then cameTarzan Goes to India. Well, ol' Tarzan saved Metro's bacon.Mutiny wasn't doing very good at all. They really needed to make the bucks. The picture had all the elements going for it. They even billed me as 'The World's Greatest Stuntman' but in my opinion,Dave Sharpe was the world's greatest."[7]
According to MGM records, however, the film recorded a loss of $178,000 for the studio.[9]
A review of the film inVariety reported that it "has a large-scale production sheen and exotic faraway flavor" and that "Mahoney is the best Tarzan in years," but noted that "the character [Tarzan] is counterfeit. Widespread appeal of the original primitive ape man will never be duplicated by his jet age descendant, an articulate, subdued, businesslike troubleshooter."[10]The New York Times reported that "in addition to being more verbose than his predecessors [Mahoney] is also considerably thinner," but that "coping with leopards, cobras, rampaging wild elephants or evil representatives of civilization, however, he is the same old Tarzan," and "if the background scenery of vultures, monkeys and elephant baths seems suspiciously familiar, it is nonetheless a welcome change from the cardboard African jungle Tarzan usually inhabits."[11]
FilmInk said the movie "has two interesting concepts, neither really developed – Tarzan as a stranger in a strange land, and Tarzan is played by someone over 40. However, the action is excellent, the visuals spectacular and Mahoney ideal in the lead."[12]
Warner Bros. released the film onBlu-ray on January 29, 2019 as part of their Archive Collection line.[13]