Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949) ** 1/2 (out of 4) After Johnny Weissmuller walked away from the Tarzan series RKO was quick to replace him with Lex Barker and the first of the new series actually turned out to be a good little film. Tarzan (Barker) and Jane (Brenda Joyce) find a cigarette case, which just happens to belong to Gloria Jessup (Evelyn Ankers), a pilot who went missing twenty-years earlier. It turns out that her plane crashed and she was taken in by a local tribe who also happen to have a magic fountain that can keep something youthful forever. Gloria returns back to her homeland but begins to grow old so she wants Tarzan to take her back to her village. TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's still a lot better than the previous five films from the Weissmuller series. I think a lot of the credit has to go to Curt Siodmak who co-wrote the screenplay. Film buffs will recognize his name as the man behind many of the Universal horror movies like THE WOLF MAN and BLACK Friday. He certainly knows how to add in some good touches and he turns this typical story about youth into a pretty good adventure film. I think the screenplay does a nice job at not taking itself too serious but at the same time it works well for adults. The previous few films were certainly aimed at children but this one here has a more serious tone including a couple rather violent deaths and another sequence with some nice black humor involving the skeletons of the plane crash victims. There's no question that Weissmuller was the greatest screen Tarzan so Barker had a large loin cloth to fill. For the most part I thought he was decent in the role as he certainly has the physical appearance for the part and he handled most of the dialogue just fine. Joyce, in her final appearance as Jane, isn't too bad either but I'm a little surprised the producers brought her back considering they were trying to start a new series. Ankers is as charming as ever and Albert Dekker makes for a good villain. The screen's very first Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln, appears quickly at the start of the film as a fisherman. There are a few pacing issues and there are some dry moments here and there but it's hard to not say that the series at least got going back in the right direction after some pretty lifeless films.

Lord of the jungle Lex Barker (as Tarzan) and beautiful blonde Brenda Joyce (as Jane) are given an old cigarette case and journal "Cheeta" the chimp finds while frolicking with a mate. They belong to famous pilot Evelyn Ankers (as Gloria James), who disappeared in a 1928 plane crash. As it turns out, Ms. Ankers survived the crash and took up residence in a "Shangri-la" known to only a select few, Tarzan being one of them. He retrieves Ankers because she can clear a man unjustly accused of murder...But the fact that she didn't age while living in "The Blue Valley" for 20 years attracts the criminal element...RKO and producer Sol Lesser kept the "Tarzan" series going by green lighting Mr. Barker as a replacement for the departing Johnny Weissmuller. In his first appearance as the character, Barker fills the loincloth comfortably. This was the last appearance of Ms. Joyce as Tarzan's "Jane" and it's also her best-acted appearance. Albert Dekker and Charles Drake make fine villains. Considering how the film ends, "The Magic Fountain" provides an implicit explanation for Tarzan's suddenly more youthful appearance.***** Tarzan's Magic Fountain (2/5/49) Lee Sholem ~ Lex Barker, Brenda Joyce, Evelyn Ankers, Albert Dekker

Tarzan's Magic Fountain which introduced Lex Barker to the role of Tarzan and marked Brenda Joyce's farewell performance as Jane was hardly a change from some of what the RKO Studio was doing with the franchise when Johnny Weissmuller was swinging on the vines at RKO. Tarzan's keeping secrets again even from Jane about yet another civilization lost in the jungle. This one has a fountain of youth in it and we now learn that Ponce DeLeon was looking on an entirely wrong continent for same.But the secret spills when Cheta brings in evidence of famed aviatrix Evelyn Ankers who like Amelia Earhart disappeared during a round the world flight over Africa. As it turns out she parachuted into the jungle and these people took her in and kept her forever young.Now however she has to go out and give evidence that will save her beloved who in her absence was convicted of murder and has been in prison all these years. When she leaves the Blue Valley with that mystical and magical Fountain Of Youth she reverts to her proper age in appearance, but she and now husband Alan Napier return to Africa to live with the people who took her in.The problem is that a couple of bottom feeders played by Charles Drake and Albert Dekker want to tag along and exploit the youth water. But as it does in Tarzan films, Tarzan and the jungle elements take care of the bad guys.When the series was originally with MGM it tried not always successfully to stay within the Edgar Rice Burroughs parameters of the character. Gradually that changed as the Tarzan budgets got lower. But during RKO the series was at its worst. So many changes were happening in Africa, but no notice was taken at RKO, especially after Howard Hughes acquired the studio.Still Lex Barker does look good in a loincloth.

Johnny Weissmuller quit Trazan in 1948 in order to make films where he could cover his "aging" body. Lex Barker took his place, and for my money he was the ONLY Tarzan who successfully carried the role after Weissmuller's departure.This was Brenda Joyce's final turn as Jane. Brenda was the best and sexiest Jane ever, but she preferred quitting Hollywood altogether, and that's our loss.Thank heavens for RKO and Sol lessor making these Tarzan movies with modest budget and simple plots. They can be watched over and over, while big budget garbage like "Greystone" is relegated to the dumpster.One part of Magic Fountain worth noting is the scene where Jane has led a party of 4 into a ravine in order to get much needed water. It shows how, in Africa, Mother Nature can turn on you on a dime. Rain starts, so they can now drink... but not so fast. The rain is hard and fast, turning into a dangerous flood in mere seconds, trapping them in the ravine. That's how it is: rain for maybe 30 minutes, so hard it might give you a headache. Then nothing. Then sunlight. Then no trace it ever rained. Many dangers from rain. Roads turn to slick mud and you slide. Dangers everywhere.