Four men painted black paddle to the shore of an African outpost. While two break into a shed, the other two keep an eye on the house with the radio and the outpost director. A crying baby awakens the administrator and clumsiness at the shed alert the radioman. The painted men kill the radioman and the administrator before retreating to their boat with several boxes of explosives. Before dying, the radioman transmitted a name: "Slade."
In the morning, the beat of drums tells Tarzan (Gordon Scott) of the attack. He arrived at the outpost to get the details. He also met Angie Loring (Sara Shane), a pilot who heard the radioman's last transmission. She is quite taken with the brawny Tarzan, but he brushes her off and starts upriver. Probably won't see her again.
Meanwhile, Shane (Anthony Quayle) and his band of villains are bound for a secret diamond mine that will make them all rich. O'Bannion (Sean Connery) is a lout with a high opinion of his abilities. He thinks they should wait for Tarzan and kill him. Kruger (Niall MacGinnis) is a German who can identify valuable diamonds vs. worthless ones. He views himself as indispensable and isn't afraid to say so. Dino (Al Mulock) maintains the boat. He's a private fellow and easily riled, something that O'Bannion gleeful does. That won't end badly. Lastly there is Toni (Scilla Gabel), Slade's woman. Of course, all the men drool over her. I'm sure that won't cause trouble.
Though entertaining, I would hardly call this the greatest adventure. It's a pretty good adventure, what with Tarzan hunting a band of murders while also looking after a damsel in distress; yeah, somehow Angie found herself stranded in the jungle and needing to be rescued.
Gordon Scott stared as Tarzan in 6 movies from 1955 to 1960. I am astonished that I had never seen him. Surely, these played on TV when I was a kid, but I mostly remember Ron Ely from the Tarzan television show (1966-68) that was a staple on KTLA. As for Sean Connery, this is several years before his big break as Bond in Doctor No (1962). Interestingly, he did black face for the role, beating Roger Moore to that faux pas by 16 years (Roger Moore did black face in Shout at the Devil). Where Connery shined with a small role in Hell Drivers, he was unremarkable as O'Bannion.
Good popcorn fun. I'm now interested in seeing some of Gordon Scott's other outings as Tarzan.
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