Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949)

Simply A Masterpiece

Good movie but grossly overrated

Admirable film.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Anyone notice that Brenda Joyce looked a little heavy in this film? Mostly her legs. She was still gorgeous and had a great figure,but there's quite a differance from the year before. One reviewer thought Elmo Lincoln was the villain with the eyepatch-that was former wrestler Henry Kulky. Elmo can be seen briefly as a fisherman near the pond where Lex and Kulky fight.

First Tarzan film with Lex Barker in the title role, "Tarzan's Magic Fountain" is a welcome improvement after Johnny Weissmuller's last entry, the dull "Tarzan and the Mermaids", whose only saving grace was the location shooting in México, with its attractive monuments and landscapes. When he moved the franchise to RKO Radio, producer Sol Lesser was much helped with the addition of Barker, a handsome, tall and dignified Lord Greystoke; simple and attractive art direction and inexpensive but effective visual effects. Although the story is lineal and easy, lacking strong emotional or action peaks, it is still fun to watch, due to its fantasy elements: a British woman pilot who disappeared in an African jungle (not to far from Tarzan's home), reappears 20 years later looking as young as when her small plane crashed, thanks to the magic fountain of Blue Valley. Soon greedy men want to get there and start a business bottling the fountain water. (In the story, the product target is women, but in these days it would be also a success among vain men). The plot is more romantic than this but it's up to you to discover the whole story. And Cheetah is funnier than ever!

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.

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.