Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Blistering performances.

This well made adventure yarn is full of action and excitement from beginning to end, making it a real treat to watch. Yes, all of the genre staples are in there, like Tarzan swinging from vine to vine repeatedly (although his famous "jungle call" is noticeably missing), but this film also has a real plot too, and complex multi-layered characters with it - something generally missing in films aimed at a juvenile audience like this one, where they usually just don't bother with having real people and instead cardboard cut-outs.The lively script invokes good performances from the seasoned cast of performers, who bring real depth to their roles. Even the villains are not totally bad, just devoted to another cause. John Carradine steals his scenes with his hammy performance of the chief baddie, yet Jock Mahoney is the real villain of the piece, and he does the sneering bit exceptionally well. Strangely enough Mahoney would take up the gauntlet of the Tarzan role after Scott, which is strange considering his lean appearance here. Lionel Jeffries is once again very good in a kind of comedic/tragic role, as a born loser. Yet Scott dominates the film with his muscular physique and imposing manner, portraying Tarzan as a tough, serious, yet good-hearted man. There is little warmth or friendliness in his Tarzan, as he is a man more suited to getting the job done. Yet his natural charisma shines through, as it did in MACISTE AGAINST THE VAMPIRE, just one of the many entertaining peplum movies he made in Italy in later years.Alexandra Stewart is the pretty, blonde-haired damsel in distress, and isn't required to act much. Betta St. John, who appeared in a number of adventure/horror pictures around this period, is the unlikeable female lead who goes off with the baddie and gets eaten by a lion for her sins - that'll teach her. This scene is just one of a number of surprisingly brutal moments, another occurs when a doctor is shot in cold-blood - and for no reason - by one of the brothers.Most of the film consists of a journey through the jungle. The locations are varied, with our characters travelling through heavy undergrowth, wasteland, native villages, and waterfalls. Some of this film was shot on location in Africa so the scenery is very picturesque and nice to look at, especially one moment of back projection showing our heroes gazing out over a valley which is quite convincing. It's a fast-moving story, and one which is packed with action. There are a number of gun and arrow battles, fist fights, even some quicksand thrown in for good measure. The film may seem naïve and predictable to a modern audience (who couldn't guess that the unattached black character was going to get killed?) but the sense of adventure and fun it has makes it impossible to enjoy. The ending consists of a protracted battle between Tarzan and the remaining villain, and is quite exciting. Altogether this is a well-made, well-paced adventure yarn to be relished by fans of an era long since gone.

After seeing "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" in 1959 I thought Gordon Scott had made the best Tarzan film ever.....one year later "Tarzan the Magnificent" comes along and it is nearly as good, just a tad not as good as TGA.....Scott, a bulging musclemen and very handsome makes a great Tarzan, and the old cornshuck scripts and groans were taken out of his vocabulary again and he is a thinking, intelligent ape man hell bent on righting the wrongs of the notorious Banton gang....as in "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" Scott is after a gang of cuthroats and killers again and wont settle the score until they are all captured or killed. Producer Sy Weintraub assembled another top notch cast of veterans like Jock Mahoney and John Carradine as superb villains and some other newcomers too......a couple of nice looking women are again in the mix ala TGA.......This time instead of doing the chasing of villains as he did in TGA, Tarzan is chased and followed by the murderous Banton gang, hell bent on getting back their brother (played by Jock Mahoney) who has been captured by Tarzan and has Tarzan wanting to give him to the authorities in a settlement a few miles away. Problem is Tarzan must escort a group of mixed up civilians who do not know the ways and treacheries of the jungle terrain. Tarzan is constantly trying to stay ahead of the Banton gang and yet is slowed to a crawl by his civilian misfits. Then Mahoney creates ultimate friction by wooing and stealing one of the group's wife.....Tarzan has his hands full at this point!! In the end Scott must fight the remainder of the Banton gang and wipe them all out ala TGA.....in the end he delivers Mahoney to the proper authorities and Scott returns to his jungle realm. All in all this is another great Weintraub production of an intelligent Tarzan and Scott rises to the role in superb fashion. He is definitely the best Tarzan ever in my opinion. Very sadly this was Scott's last Tarzan film and the thing that has perplexed me is why Weintraub after the amazing success of TGA and T the Magnificent did not want Scott to make more of these great Tarzan movies. Very sadly a skinny, underweight Jock Mahoney became the next Tarzan and he is no Scott......nowhere near as handsome either. Scott at this point joined his good friend Steve Reeves and made a slew of the very popular sword and sandal Hercules type films in Italy during most of the 60s......Scott finished up his film career with a good Italian western "The Tramplers" made in 1966.....

I'm writing this a few days after Gordon Scott's life has come to an end, so this review is a tribute to his life and career , especially his characterization as Tarzan, which many consider the best ever brought to the screen. Gordon Scott had a great screen presence as well as underrated acting abilities, and we really need more of his films released on DVD."Tarzan the Magnificent" is his last Tarzan film, I think, and it was released in 1960, right after "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" which I consider the best Tarzan film ever made. This film is not as good as that one, though it comes close, therefore coming in as the second best Tarzan film ever made. In any case, Gordon Scott again does a fantastic job portraying the ape man. I think he was the only one who convinced me that physically he could take on lions and crocodiles as well as Sean Connery.The plot of this movie is basically the same as "Greatest Adventure." Tarzan pursues and battles a gang of jungle crooks. (What the hell are backwoods moonshiners doing in Africa anyway?) Here there is a psychological angle as well as slam bang action. The location photography is great too. The ending is a little too similar to the last outing, but hard hitting just the same.Gordon, wherever you are, thanks for the great entertainment!

For a Tarzan movie, this is about as good as you're going to get. Gordon Scott does an excellent job in this film, as he did in the previous "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure". Unlike previous Tarzan actors, Scott's version of the Ape Man speaks good English and is quite intelligent. The story in "Tarzan the Magnificent" is well-written and mature. Again, for this type of genre, "Tarzan the Magnficicent" and "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" are as good as you're going to get.