Tarzan's Greatest Adventure is directed by John Guillermin who also co- adapts the screenplay with Berne Giler from a story written by Les Crutchfield. Based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs it stars Gordon Scott, Anthony Quayle, Sara Shane, Al Mulock, Sean Connery, Niall MacGinnis and Scilla Gabel. Music is by Douglas Gamley and cinematography by Ted Scaife.When a native village is robbed of explosives and a couple of men are killed, it soon becomes apparent that the gang was led by a man called Slade. The mere mention of this name is of great interest to jungle man Tarzan (Scott), who promptly sets off in pursuit to settle an old score...You can't reason with an idiot!There's no Jane and Cheetah is barely in it, but this Tarzan "adventure" is all the more better for it. With Sy Weintraub producing, he was determined to steer Tarzan in a new cinematic direction, with a bit more mud, blood and literacy, Tarzan became as much for the adults as it was for the kids.Actually the title, whilst true in the pantheon of Tarzan movies, still conjures up images of a kiddie friendly Tarzan, a more fitting title would have been Tarzan's Grudge! What unfolds in the story is a vengeful pursuit by Tarzan of a gang of diamond hunting crims led by a scarface Anthony Quayle. He uses his jungle whiles and hunting skills to pick them off if the opportunities arise, all the while accompanied by the foxy Angie (Shane) who literally dropped out of the sky and into the life of the loin cloth wearing one. Tarzan talks and isn't indestructible, but we still know there is savagery in the man, while on the boat up river the gang are an assortment of scallywags beginning to implode; which makes for rather good entertainment.Film is infused with all the formulaic perils of jungle dramas (and comedies actually) past and present, reference crocodiles, spider, snake, quicksand, booby traps et al, but here it is definitely more fun and thrilling than annoying and cornball. Yes there is still some cheapness, with back screen projections, interwoven animal film footage and you really don't think Scott would be wrestling with a real life crocodile do you? But there's an edge to the narrative and it's great to see. Also helps to have a decent cast of actors on patrol as well, with Quayle leading the way as a broody bastardo. While Scott, looking in great shape and not unlike Kerwin Matthews, seems to be relishing the chance to play a Tarzan with grit and gumption.The rope swings and famous yell are still here, but this is a much better and badder Tarzan and hooray to that. 7.5/10

"Towering Inferno" director John Guillermin's franchise adventure "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" lives up to its title. Truly, this ranks not only as one of the top five "Tarzan" movies of all time, but it also qualifies as Gordon Scott's best ape man opus. Indeed, anybody who grew up on Johnny Weismuller "Tarzan" movies may be surprised at the savage, gritty nature of this somber-minded thriller. You get to see Tarzan looking vulnerable in one scene after a blast from explosion. Later, Guillermin stages a memorably haunting scene. Tarzan is pursuing four treacherous troublemakers up river. They are plying the river in a motorized boat, while the Lord of the Jungle follows them along the banks. At one point, two slimy unshaven thugs who have little use for each other clash over a necklace. O'Bannion (Sean Connery) steals the necklace with a locket that belongs to Dino (Al Murlock) and taunts him. The two men scramble into the jungle. The first thug rags the second. As the second thug runs after the first, a jungle cat leaps out of nowhere and mauls his face. Screaming in agony, the second thug goes staggering without thought into what turns out to quicksand. He dies with a forearm jutting out of the quicksand. The first thug is incredulous. Nobody the first thug or their boss can reach him, he has sunk in the mire. The only indication that he died in the bog is his right forearm sticking up out of the quicksand. The incredulous first thug flings the necklace and it lands on a tree limb inches above the thug's grasping fingers. This unforgettable shot rivals a similar shot in John Boorman's "Deliverance." The second most haunting shot occurs when a woman plunges to her death in a trap set for Tarzan. Guillerman sets up his camera so that all we see is her bloody hand surrounded by dozens of sharpened bamboo stakes. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out that what isn't shown is the women's body impaled on a multitude of such stakes.The action unfolds with three of the four villains masquerading as dark-skinned natives. They strike a village and steal some wooden crates of TNT and paddle off down the river. They kill a man but before he dies, he lets somebody on the radio know who is responsible to the theft and his death. Tarzan (Gordon Scott) learns that his old nemesis Slade (Anthony Quale of "Anne of the Thousand Days") is responsible. Tarzan knows Slade because they tracked down separately a rogue elephant. Slade killed the rogue elephant before Tarzan could. Nevertheless, two men who accompanied Slade died because they got in his way. Tarzan follows Slade and his henchmen, a drunken Irish troublemaker O'Bannion (Sean Connery of "Dr. No"), ex-convict who murdered his own father, Dino (Al Mulock), an obese, spectacled gem expert, Kruger (Niall MacGinnis of "The Mackintosh Man"), and Slade's girlfriend Toni (Scilla Gabel of "Son of Cleopatra") as they head for a diamond mine.Before Tarzan embarks on his quest to catch Slade, he encounters a questionable woman. Angie (Sara Shane of "Magnificent Obsession") is a single woman who does what she wants. Indeed, there is a hint that she is a high-priced call girl. She likes what she sees in Tarzan and follows him up the river, but she does it from the sky in a plane. There is a bit of "Tarzan and the Lost Safari" in this "Tarzan" film. Angie develops engine trouble, crashes her single-engine, propeller-driven craft in the river. A crocodile swims after her until Tarzan intervenes. Angie learns that life in the jungle is no picnic and the constant marching through the jungle takes a toll on her glamorous looks. Meantime, the villains emerge as a thoroughly loathsome group. They wind up trying to kill each other. O'Bannion drives Dino crazy when he steals his necklace locket. British actor Anthony Quale is a rugged, unscrupulous, but cautious adversary who takes no chances. In other words, Tarzan does a little more sweating in this adventure than you'd expect. Tarzan traps Slade and company on the river by felling a tree behind them so they cannot go anywhere. He drives them into the cabin of their boat with arrows. Slade breaks out the dynamite and they hurl sticks of TNT at the ape man. One of the blasts knocks Tarzan out of the tree. Angie winds up helping an inert Tarzan. Slade becomes so obsessed with killing Tarzan that he fashions a noose and dreams about getting Tarzan's head in it. When Slade isn't fantasizing about strangling Tarzan with the noose, he digs a pit and lines it with bamboo stakes. Later, when Angie tries to steal some medicine from Slade's boat, Toni gets the drop on her and captures her. Kruger releases Angie and Toni flees to warn Slade. A lion pursues Toni but Slade shoots it. However, Toni stumbles into a trap laid for Tarzan and dies a horrible death.The finale with Slade and Tarzan atop the waterfall fighting to the death is gripping stuff. Earlier, Guillermin establish the blood feud between Tarzan and Slade. After Kruger and Slade enter an abandoned copper mine where Slade found diamonds, Slade doesn't dream about the fortune in ice that they can excavate from the mind. Instead, he drools over the prospect of killing Tarzan. Tarzan manages to recuperate from his injuries with Angie's help and tells her that he doesn't need any help to kill Slade. Momentarily, Tarzan and Angie flirt, but Tarzan wants to kill Slade more than share a bed with Angie. Yes, this is a "Tarzan" movie! A better title might have been "Tarzan's Savage Fury."

When producer Sy Weintraub took over the reins of the "Tarzan" franchise, in 1958, he set as his goal the dream of Edgar Rice Burroughs and countless fans of the Jungle Lord over the years; a return to the character as originally envisioned in Burroughs' novels. An intelligent, articulate 'defender of the jungle' gifted with nearly superhuman abilities, John Greystoke, aka Tarzan, had the savagery to survive in a primeval environment, but could also function comfortably in the world of men. MGM had thought the concept too far-fetched, and had turned Tarzan (as personified by Johnny Weissmuller) into a monosyllabic savage, only 'humanized' by the love of British society girl Jane Parker (Maureen O'Sullivan). When the formula proved successful, the Ape Man was 'locked' into the characterization, much to the chagrin of Burroughs, and when RKO took over the series, in 1943, no effort was made to change the formula. Weismuller eventually aged out of the role, but successor Lex Barker, despite credentials that would have made 'smartening' Tarzan logical (he was an Ivy Leaguer with a pedigree nearly as impressive as Greystoke), was forced to carry on the "Me, Tarzan" tradition through four more films. When Barker became fed up with being stereotyped, and passed the Tarzan loincloth to ex-lifeguard Gordon Scott, in 1955, the powerfully-muscled Scott carried on the duties of role adequately, but the series had degenerated into low-budget formula pictures, only notable for an occasional future star in an early role (Vera Miles appeared in TARZAN'S HIDDEN JUNGLE, and would, in fact, marry Scott, after filming was completed).After four mediocre Gordon Scott "Me, Tarzan" films, the time was ripe for change, and Weintraub was a man of vision, and terrific entrepreneurial skills. Not only would the actor speak full sentences in TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE, he'd be backed by a first-rate supporting cast, and the film would be the first "Tarzan" shot, in Technicolor, in Africa! With a large contingent of press on hand, the cast and crew arrived on location, and Gordon Scott proved himself the very personification of Tarzan, riding a zebra, wrestling a lion, and performing other tasks with grace and astonishing skill. It was an auspicious start to what would become a landmark "Tarzan" film.The tale of a band of escaped British criminals killing innocents, and stealing dynamite for a robbery, the gang leader, Slade (Anthony Quayle) is a homicidal maniac that Tarzan had put in prison before, making the Ape Man's pursuit a 'personal' vendetta. Not even the presence of an alluring distraction (Sara Shane) would deter him on his quest, and the frequent close-ups of the scarred and cold-blooded Slade, and Tarzan, with a fixed, merciless grin across his face, give clear evidence of two predators, circling for a kill. As Tarzan whittles down the gang, the stage is set for a terrific, violent climactic fight that ranks as one of the best of the entire "Tarzan" series. When Tarzan beats his chest and gives the classic Ape yell at the conclusion of TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE, he's EARNED the right!Featured in the cast is 29-year old Sean Connery, excellent as the brutal, but wise-cracking "O'Bannion", Slade's right-hand man, and he so impressed Weintraub and director John Guillermin that the pair actually asked him to become the next screen "Tarzan", after Gordon Scott's last contracted film, TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT. Connery, thrilled, was prepared to accept the role, but a call back from another audition...to play a secret agent in an upcoming production called DR. NO, resulted in a contract, and he, regretfully, passed on Tarzan, and became James Bond, instead! Weintraub ended up replacing Gordon with his 41-year old TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT co-star, Jock Mahoney, and the new, literate Tarzan would continue on into the sixties.TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE may not be everyone's favorite Tarzan film, but in it's daring approach to both the character and the use of actual locations, it certainly deserves it's place as a classic of the series!

British director John Guillermin was not entirely certain of how to make the character of Tarzan contemporary with the tendency towards realism...Pulled by Sly Weinhaub's great vision, they made the Ape Man literate, but still disposed to chest-beating and ape-calls...Their screen treatment provided a 90 minute superior action film tightly interwoven and very entertaining..."Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" quick-paced action is supplemented with violence and, in the absence of the wholesome Jane, we get two sexy women, a sensual Italian (Scilla Gabel) for the villains and a gaily blonde named Angie (Sara Shane), as the romantic interest for Scott who gives an excellent characterization...The villains are four different British types: Slade (Anthony Quayle), Kruger (Nial McGinnis), O'Bannion (Sean Connery), and Dino (Al Mulock). In raiding a settlement for explosives to use in a diamond mine, they practically destroy it... Tarzan, discovering the cruelty, pursues them upriver to their mine...For his parts in "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure," Sean Connery earned $5,600; his 'big' Bond film "You Only Live Twice" brought him $350,000.