Plenty of eye-candy in the awesomely athletic form of Mike Henry, but too much monkey business (literally), too much "precocious orphan boy" stuff, and not nearly enough action until the climactic mano-a-mano fight between Tarzan and the evil tribal chief. The story is plodding and tiresome, and the direction is sometimes inept - strange, because it was done by the same man (Robert Day) who also made the solid "Tarzan The Magnificent" in 1960. ** out of 4.

Mike Henry is Tarzan in Tarzan And The Great River, the great river of course being the Amazon. Tarzan is on a mission in the Amazon head waters country taking on a Jaguar jungle cult that is headed by Olympic athlete Rafer Johnson. Henry is in Brazil at the behest of an old friend Paulo Gracindo. When Gracindo is killed Henry doubles in his resolve to put an end to Johnson who is enslaving whole villages in the area.Tarzan's traveling companions are Jan Murray who has an African Queen boat delivering medical supplies to Dr. Diana Millay. Murray does some of his borscht belt shtick in the role of the captain and he has a young kid Manuel Padilla who travels with him.Henry and Johnson have a dandy climatic fight scene when Tarzan overcomes the many obstacles put in his path. I do so love when Tarzan provides those South American crocodiles called kamen some lunch with some of Rafer Johnson's warriors.This is an amusing entrée in the Tarzan series, but one better suited for the juvenile trade.

A really boring film with very little to recommend in it. Only the beautiful scenery and a funny performance by Jan Murray makes viewing this bearable. Mike Henry is OK as Tarzan but he seems much too stiff in the non-action scenes. He doesn't seem at ease in the role like earlier Tarzans Gordon Scott or Jock Mahoney. He is fine in the action sequences but looks out of place otherwise. The pacing in this film is deadly. There are long stretches where not much happens and too little action when something does. Villain Rafer Johnson as Barcuna isn't given much to do except to try to look menacing. The climactic fight between him and Tarzan is not very exciting. Jan Murray as Captain Bishop is the bright spot of the film. His goofy performance is fun to watch. Diana Millay as the good doctor is basically a two dimensional character played without much enthusiasm. Overall this film is not as good as Henry's previous Tarzan outing-Tarzan and the Valley of Gold-which had some exciting action and a much more enjoyable story. Give this one a miss. I give it 3 river-boats out of 10.

It is some years since I saw this film but I still remember it vividly.I rate it much higher than all the other Tarzan films from the late forties to the present day.Mike Henry is adequate as Tarzan and Manuel Padilla Jr. is very natural in his role(he was later to play a similar role as Jai in the "Tarzan" television series of the sixties.)The supporting cast are fine too and the scenery is magnificent.Best of all however is the casting of Diana Millay as Ann.Combining beauty and brains this talented actress makes the lovely doctor she plays one of the most memorable heroines in any "Tarzan" film.