Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (1949)

Lex Barker takes over as Tarzan, 25 September 2019

Tarzan learns that a female aviator who crashed in the jungle a couple of decades ago may hold the key to helping a man wrongly accused of a crime.  Not only does Tarzan know the woman, he knows where to find her. Everyone is shocked when the woman returns looking as young as she did the day she crash landed.  But what’s her secret to seemingly eternal youth? And to what lengths will some people go to get that secret? 

After watching Johnny Weissmuller labor through his last Tarzan outing, Lex Barker was certainly a welcome sight.  For his first Tarzan adventure, RKO gave Barker quite a bit to work with in Tarzan’s Magic Fountain. Even though everything is obviously stage-bound, the jungle and mountain sets are far better than I expected given RKO’s most recent history with the Tarzan series.  There are a couple of especially nice matte paintings that add to the film’s look. The movie includes moments of danger (rainwater suddenly and violently filling the gorge where Jane and Co find themselves trapped) and violence (a burning arrow to the chest) that add to the atmosphere and tension.  Nicely done! The supporting cast is solid with Evelyn Ankers and Alan Napier providing notable performances. Finally, I wasn’t a bit surprised to learn that Curt Siodmak was, at least partially, responsible for the screenplay. It’s just more interesting than a lot of the previous Tarzan films. 

A few other quick things I noted while watching Tarzan’s Magic Fountain:

1.    Yet another all white tribe in the middle of Africa.   The only black Africans I can remember are a couple of kids who keep Cheeta entertained for a few moments with bubble gum.

 2.   What was up with those crazy leopard-print headbands worn by the Blue Valley guards?  They looked ridiculous.

 3.   When Cheeta drinks from the magic fountain, why does she turns into a small monkey and not a baby chimpanzee?

6/10