Truly Dreadful Film

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

After reading a lot of bad reviews, I almost skipped this one. I'm glad I gave it a chance, because Tarzan and the Trappers is a very underrated Tarzan movie. It's fast-paced with good fight scenes, and Cheeta is funny as usual. It almost feels like a (cheaper) Weissmuller movie. I enjoyed every second of it.Best of all, it's a movie you can watch with your kids. The violence is mild (if that's even possible), there's no sexual innuendo or political agenda to be found here. The natives are treated pretty respectfully compared to the pre-code Tarzan movies, and Tarzan himself is a good role model who cares for his family and the jungle animals.Recommended.

George Scott's Tarzan is very much like Superman and this "film" is probably modeled on the old Superman TV show. This is 3 episodes of a planned series edited into a movie and it works. I think the use of 3 directors and stories gives the film more structure and diversity of tone than the typical films from that period.The 1st story details evil white hunters hurting animals and meeting Tarzan. Pt 2 has the hunters hunting Tarzan like game and the 3rd has Tarzan getting revenge for his tribesman friend (played by Scatman Crothers!). Its cheap and stagey, but well shot and the action is good. There's the usual inserts of safari footage but its good footage of cute and exotic animals. The treatment of the black characters is well done. Jane and Boy are barely in this but the cast is good. Gordon Scott is really a lovable hero, so it all comes off well.Minus color, effects and a multimillion dollar budget, this is comparable to today's superhero films. Modest fun.

Apparently, this was an edit of three 30 minute episodes of a proposed black-and-white TV series which did not air in 1958. In context, this looks like it could have been popular, so there might have been some legal difficulties with getting it on television. However, as a "Tarzan" series movie, it's definitely substandard. The juxtaposition of stock and new footage is haphazard.A clear first story deals has animal trappers led by Lesley Bradley (as Schroeder) invading our jungle hero's turf. Muscularly handsome Gordon Scott (as Tarzan) frees a baby elephant and battles the trappers, who eventually kidnap both "Cheta" (the Chimpanzee) and Rickie Sorensen (the "Boy" Tartu). Once that storyline is resolved, the other two "parts" blend in.Out for revenge, trapper Bradley's brother Saul Gorse (as Sikes) comes into the picture. He sets out to make Mr. Scott his prey in a plot borrowed from "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932); this sounds like it might have been the most interesting story, but it doesn't live up to expectations. The search for a "Lost City" is also involved. Pretty mate Eve Brent (as Jane) hangs around.** Tarzan and the Trappers (1958) Charles Haas, Sandy Howard ~ Gordon Scott, Rickie Sorensen, Eve Brent, Sol Gorss

Of the countless actors who have portrayed Tarzan since Elmo Lincoln first appeared in 1918's `Tarzan of the Apes,' Gordon Scott remains the best to ever don a loincloth. So it's no surprise that `Tarzan and the Trappers' is one of the better Tarzan films of the past 80 years. The 1958 film was actually intended to comprise the first three episodes of a television series, but instead was made into a better-than-average Sol Lesser production that runs 74 minutes. The film's story remains contemporary, with Tarzan forced to fight for his own life while stopping greedy traders from illegally trapping and removing wildlife from the jungle.With the future of much of the world's wildlife in question, the story is as compelling now as it was 45 years ago...