The Best Johnny Weissmuller Movies
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- 1Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil HamiltonEnglishman Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) joins a friend for an African safari on which they hope to find ivory. Holt also hopes to locate former girlfriend Jane Parker (Maureen O'Sullivan) who lives with her husband, Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), a white man raised by animals in the jungle. When they find the couple, Jane refuses Holt's overtures. As Holt and his companion continue their search for an ancient elephant burial ground, they unleash havoc from all of the jungle's inhabitants.
- 2Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Weissmuller, C. Aubrey SmithTarzan the Ape Man is a 1932 pre-Code American action adventure film featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith and Maureen O'Sullivan. It was Weissmuller's first of 12 Tarzan films. The film is loosely based on Burroughs' novel Tarzan of the Apes, with the dialogue written by Ivor Novello. The film was directed by W. S. Van Dyke. It was remade in 1959 and in 1981 with the same title but each was a different adaptation of Rice Burroughs' novel.More Tarzan the Ape Man
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- 3Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Weissmuller, Benita HumeTarzan Escapes is a 1936 Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the third in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Tarzan series to feature Johnny Weissmuller as the "King of the Apes".
- 4Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Weissmuller, Anne JeffreysTarzan's New York Adventure is a 1942 film, the sixth Tarzan film to feature actors Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. This film was the sixth and final film in MGM's Tarzan series and was the studio's last Tarzan film until their 1958 release, Tarzan's Fight for Life, Tarzan's New York Adventure was directed by Richard Thorpe, and although it included New York scenes, as well as the customary jungle sequences, it was another Tarzan production primarily shot on MGM backlots.
- 5Johnny Weissmuller, Stanley Ridges, Frances GiffordTarzan Triumphs is a 1943 adventure film in which Tarzan fights the Nazis. Johnny Weismuller had portrayed the popular Edgar Rice Burroughs character in six films with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but this was his first with the producer Sol Lesser at RKO Pictures. Weismuller was reunited with two of his three co-stars from several of the earlier films, Johnny Sheffield and Cheeta, but Maureen O'Sullivan was unable to reprise her role as Jane because the franchise switched from MGM to RKO, and O'Sullivan was an MGM contract player. Instead, Frances Gifford played the princess of the lost city of Palandrya, which is conquered by Germans.
- 6Maureen O'Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Johnny WeissmullerTarzan's Secret Treasure is a 1941 Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is the fifth in the MGM Tarzan series to star Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan.
- 7Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Weissmuller, Ian HunterTarzan Finds a Son! is a 1939 Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the fourth in the MGM Tarzan series to feature Johnny Weissmuller as the "King of the Apes".
- 8Johnny Weissmuller, Nancy Kelly, Johnny SheffieldTarzan's Desert Mystery is a 1943 film starring Johnny Weismuller and Nancy Kelly, and directed by Wilhelm Thiele. Like its immediate predecessor, Tarzan Triumphs, this movie makes reference to Tarzan's mate, Jane, played in earlier Weissmuller films by Maureen O'Sullivan, but it does not show her on screen. The explanation given is that she is in England helping the war effort. The film revolves around Tarzan's quest, at the urging of Jane, to find a rare African serum to help Allied troops. Tarzan's son, Boy, manages to tag along as the apeman journeys into the Sahara, and the two are soon joined by a rambunctious horse and a female American magician, played by Nancy Kelly. The story is mostly a fantasy adventure—with "Arabian Nights"-style characters and sinister Nazi spies—but it also includes considerable comic relief and even science fiction elements. Critics complained that it was aimed more toward juvenile audiences than previous Tarzan films had been.
- 9Johnny Weissmuller, Henry Stephenson, Maria OuspenskayaTarzan and the Amazons is an adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller in his ninth outing as Tarzan. Brenda Joyce makes the first of five appearances as Jane and Johnny Sheffield returns as Boy. Henry Stephenson and Maria Ouspenskaya co-star. The movie was produced by Sol Lesser and Kurt Neumann, written by John Jacoby and Marjorie L. Pfaelzer and directed by Kurt Neumann. It was released on April 29, 1945.
- 10Johnny Weissmuller, Patricia Morison, Brenda JoyceTarzan and the Huntress is an adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller in his eleventh outing as Tarzan. Brenda Joyce makes the third of five appearances as Jane and Johnny Sheffield marks his eighth and final appearance as Boy. Patricia Morison and Barton MacLane co-star. The film was produced by Sol Lesser and Kurt Neumann, written by Jerry Gruskin and Rowland Leigh and directed by Kurt Neumann. It was released on April 5, 1947.
- 11Johnny Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce, AcquanettaTarzan and the Leopard Woman was a 1946 action film based on the Tarzan character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and portrayed by Johnny Weissmuller. Directed by Kurt Neumann, the premise of the movie is Tarzan encounters a tribe of leopard-worshippers. It was shot in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. Its plot has nothing in common with the 1935 novel "Tarzan and the Leopard Men."
- 12Johnny Weissmuller, George Zucco, Brenda JoyceTarzan and the Mermaids is a 1948 adventure film based on the Tarzan character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Directed by Robert Florey, it was the last of twelve Tarzan movies to star Johnny Weissmuller in the title role. It was also the first Tarzan film since 1939 not to feature the character Boy, adopted son of Tarzan and Jane.
- 13Irving Berlin, Johnny Weissmuller, Eddie CantorGlorifying the American Girl is a 1929 musical comedy film produced by Florenz Ziegfeld that highlights Ziegfeld Follies performers. The last third of the film is basically a Follies production, with cameo appearances by Rudy Vallee, Helen Morgan, and Eddie Cantor. The script for the film was written by J.P. McEvoy and Millard Webb and directed by John W. Harkrider and Millard Webb. The songs were written by Irving Berlin, Walter Donaldson, Rudolf Friml, James E. Hanley, Larry Spier and Dave Stamper. The film is in the public domain, and many prints exhibited on television are in black-and-white only, and do not include pre-Code material, such as nudity.
- 14Johnny Weissmuller, Virginia Grey, George ReevesBrave African explorer Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) uncovers evidence of a legendary lost burial ground where the ancient rulers were interred amid their treasures. Anthropologist Hilary Parker (Virginia Grey) hires Jungle Jim to guide her to the site, despite his warnings that it may be under the control of deadly local witch doctors. Unscrupulous photographer Bruce Edwards (George Reeves) bullies his way into the expedition, creating havoc when the witch doctors reveal themselves.
- 15Johnny Weissmuller, Angela Greene, Jean WillesDr. Linda Roberts (Angela Greene), an anthropologist in Africa, is on a mission to find a tribe of giants. Failing to get permission for her trek from the district commissioner, Kingston (Lester Matthews), she asks explorer Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) for help. However, Kingston has his own plans for the tribe and manages to capture two of its members. In the meantime, poachers searching for ivory complicate matters for Roberts -- and for Jim, who finds himself framed for murder.
- 16
Jungle Manhunt
Johnny Weissmuller, Bob Waterfield, Sheila RyanIn this film based on the popular newspaper comic strip, big-game hunter Jim "Jungle Jim" Bradley (Johnny Weissmuller) again springs into action. After brawny football player Bob Miller (Bob Waterfield) goes missing in the dark jungle, Jim is called upon to ensure his safe return. As he leads a determined search party through the treacherous terrain, he encounters such wild obstacles as vicious tribesmen, creepy skeleton-men and carnivorous dinosaurs. - 17Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Crabbe, Virginia GreySwamp Fire is a 1946 American film directed by William H. Pine.