Tarzan's Desert Mystery

Tarzan's Desert Mystery
Tarzan's Desert Mystery
Directed by	Wilhelm Thiele
Written by	Carroll Young (story); Edward T. Lowe Jr.
Based on	Characters created; by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Produced by	Sol Lesser
Starring	Johnny Weissmuller; Nancy Kelly
Cinematography	Harry J. Wild; Russell Harlan
Edited by	Ray H. Lockert
Music by	Paul Sawtell
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	December 26, 1943;
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Tarzan's Desert Mystery is a 1943 American Tarzan film directed by Wilhelm Thiele and starring Johnny Weissmuller and Nancy Kelly.^[1]

Like its immediate predecessor, Tarzan Triumphs, the film mentions Tarzan's mate, Jane, but does not show her on screen. The explanation for her absence, as in the earlier film, is that she is still in the United Kingdom contributing to the war effort. (Maureen O'Sullivan had played Jane in the first six of Weissmuller's Tarzan films, but when the character of Jane returned after a two-picture absence, she was played by Brenda Joyce, not O'Sullivan.)

The picture's supporting players include Johnny Sheffield as "Boy", Otto Kruger, Joe Sawyer, Robert Lowery and John Dehner in an unbilled role as Prince Ameer.

Plot

Tarzan receives a request from Jane, who is helping out on the British home front in World War II, to locate a rare plant-derived serum that can save the lives of many service members. He sets off into the Sahara, which is the shortest route to the place where the plants can be found. Boy and Cheetah tag along, and soon they are joined by a rambunctious horse and traveling magician Connie Bryce (Nancy Kelly), who has been entertaining Allied soldiers in the region.

The group travels to Connie's next destination, a small Arab kingdom in the desert. Tarzan intends to drop her off and continue his journey, not knowing that she is on a secret mission from Washington to thwart Nazi spies who have infiltrated the kingdom. Tarzan and Connie quickly run afoul of these devious agents, who manage to frame the two for crimes against the royal family. The apeman leads a daring escape with the help of Cheetah. Then, with the Nazis hot on their heels, the travelers head for the strange prehistoric jungle where the serum plants grow.

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan
Nancy Kelly as Connie Bryce
Johnny Sheffield as Boy
Otto Kruger as Paul Hendrix
Joe Sawyer as Karl Straeder
Lloyd Corrigan as Sheik Abdul El Khim
Robert Lowery as Prince Selim
Frank Puglia as Magistrate
Philip Van Zandt as Kushmet
Bobby Barber as Turban Vendor (uncredited)
John Berkes as Charlie (uncredited)
John Dehner as Prince Ameer (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Achmed (uncredited)
George J. Lewis as Ali Baba Hassan (uncredited)
Nestor Paiva as Prison Guard (uncredited)
Syd Saylor as Bewildered Camel Herdsman (uncredited)

Critical reception

A review of the film in Variety reported that it "doesn’t miss a thing with its quota of Nazi agents and gruesome animals, plus the usual Tarzan jungle scenes" and "is nicely paced and (the) photography highly effective."^[2] In the film's review in The New York Times, it was noted that "perhaps the small fry at least will be amused by people that behave like monkeys, and monkeys that behave like people," that the "sequence in which the luckless Nazi is crunched by the big spider should have the children screaming in their sleep for months to come," and "the desert and the swampy jungle—the latter infested by prehistoric monsters—are as close as adjoining rooms in this fabulous adventure."^[3]

References

^ Fury, David (1994). Kings of the Jungle: An Illustrated Reference to Tarzan on Screen and Television. McFarland & Co. p. 103. ISBN 0-89950-771-9. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
^ "Tarzan's Desert Mystery". Variety. Variety Media LLC. December 31, 1942. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
^ "At The Globe". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. December 27, 1943. Retrieved May 17, 2025.