User reviews

The Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan series continues at RKO with the fourth film (tenth overall, counting the MGM films). This one's pretty different from those that came before it. There's a different vibe to it, particularly in the early scenes where Tarzan acts as a sort of jungle detective. He's asked by a commissioner (of what I don't know) to look into a series of leopard attacks on travelers. Tarzan doesn't believe leopards are the cause of the attacks and, as you might have guessed by the title of this picture, he's right. So it's Tarzan versus leopard skin-wearing cultists, led by Queen Lea (Acquanetta).

I'm used to seeing Acquanetta in Universal films from around this time. They tried to make her a star in their horror stable but it didn't really work out. She's very attractive but not the strongest actress. This is arguably the best acting job of her short career, for what that's worth. Dennis Hoey is amusing as the commissioner. He's best known for playing Inspector Lastrade in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. Tommy Cook is very creepy as Kimba, the Leopard Boy. What a little psycho. Brenda Joyce appears as Jane for the second time and does a fine job, although she's nowhere near the presence Maureen O'Sullivan was in the role. Johnny Weissmuller and Johnny Sheffield are both good, as usual. Weissmuller's first scene has him wrestling hirsute Tongolo the Terrible, whose voice I strongly suspect was dubbed. Speaking of voices, Johnny Sheffield's voice continues to change. Puberty's rough on us all, Boy. Cheeta is still lots of fun, which I'm sure surprises no one.

It's one of the better Tarzan RKO films. Personally I like them all but you have some fans who think of the RKO films as nothing but kiddie stuff. Then you have the people who don't like any Tarzan movies, RKO or otherwise. I try my best to avoid people like that. If you can't enjoy the adventures of Tarzan and his family, you're probably not much fun to be around.

In his tenth outing, jungle king Johnny Weissmuller (as Tarzan) leads the charge against a cult of leopard-emulating white folk. The story is exceptionally silly, but perfect for Saturday afternoons at the cinema. This is the point in the "Tarzan" series where you would have to say "Boy" sidekick Johnny Sheffield became a young man; he shows off his muscles and deeper voice proudly in a shower scene. Beautiful and leggy Brenda Joyce (as Jane) appears very comely in her micro mini-skirt. "Cheeta" the chimp is an excellent musician. Appearing as the titular "Leopard Woman" is curvy "Acquanetta" (as Lea). However, the main guest star is "Leopard Boy" Tommy Cook (as Kimba), who makes the most of the film's best-scripted role. Director Kurt Neumann and photographer Karl Struss set up most every scene for good visual appeal.

****** Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1/20/46) Kurt Neumann ~ Johnny Weissmuller, Johnny Sheffield, Brenda Joyce, Tommy Cook

TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN (RKO Radio, 1946), directed by Kurt Neumann, brings forth Tarzan, the jungle lord, in another Saturday afternoon matinée adventure story.

The story opens with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), Jane (Brenda Joyce) and Boy (Johnny Sheffield), along with Cheetah, strolling through the village doing some afternoon shopping. Tarzan is seen having fun by wrestling with a strong man named Tall Bull the Terrible (Tor Johnson), while Cheetah watches a snake charmer and nearly getting bitten by one of the snakes. Then comes a wounded man riding on an elephant who soon succumbs from wound scars acquired by a leopard. Tarzan examines the dead man and tells the authorities that the man's death was not caused by a leopard, but by people dressed in leopard skins and iron claws. Aside from solving the mystery, Tarzan and his family find themselves in danger after taking in Kimba, a native boy (Tommy Cook), who not only happens to be the brother of the evil high priestess (Acquanetta) of the leopard tribe, but trouble to all those around him.

The supporting cast includes Edgar Barrier as Lazar; Dennis Hoey as The Commissioner; Anthony Caruso as Mongo; and Doris Lloyd as the Superintendress. Acquanetta, best known for her role as Paula, the Ape Woman in Universal's CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943) and JUNGLE WOMAN (1944), makes a fine tribe leader this time around.

With the Tarzan movies being distributed in theaters on an annual basis, the writers attempt to come up with new and fresh ideas surrounding the old, familiar characters, headed by Weissmuller. Brenda Joyce returns as Jane for the second time, while the teenage Johnny Sheffield, outgrowing his part, appears to be a bit too old now to be called Boy. One scene in the shopping village finds young native girls giving Boy the eye, but Boy becomes bashful and passes up on them. The native tribes from the MGM movie days seem to have moved to another part of town, thus, being substituted by a jungle shopping mall. Another noticeable change finds Tarzan acquiring neighbors with each passing film, this time a Leopard tribe who don't seem to be the sorts to be calling on Tarzan and Jane at their treehouse for a cup of sugar this time around. For the first time since TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (MGM, 1941), Boy is able to bond with another lad close to his own age, but with friends like Kimba, who needs enemies? One highlight finds Boy in a fight to the finish with Kimba attempting to endanger Jane with a knife, with Boy subduing Kimba, having his hands tied behind his back and placing the little demon in a cage like a wild animal. As for Tarzan, he's captured by the leopard tribe and held captive by the priestess.

Not bad entry in the long running series, but by this time, the yarns are becoming routine and still quite watchable by fans of the series. Aside from commercial television revivals during the 1960s to 1980s, this and the other Tarzan adventures did enjoy frequent reruns on American Movie Classics (1997-2000) before moving to Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: June 11, 2011). TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN has been distributed to video cassette but did become part of the Tarzan/RKO package on DVD around 2009. Next in line: TARZAN AND THE HUNTRESS (1947). (**1/2)

TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN (1946)

A bizarre Tarzan offering featuring a freaky cult of worshippers who dress up in leopard skins with claws and attack people, taking out their hearts to sacrifice to their god! The high priestess of the pack is the pretty Acquanetta (CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN) who was never a good actress at all but is probably used to better advantage here than she ever was before here. Tarzan becomes aware that something's not right when the attacks are blamed on real leopards. A very strange chapter indeed.

**1/2 out of ****

TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN is the most entertaining of the Tarzan films Weismuller made for RKO. Things were starting to get dreary at the RKO backlot jungle, and this film gave the series a boost. The story of a murderous cult who worship a leopard god, has the kind of plot found in the Tarzan comics I used to read as a kid. The plot seems to be in part based on a real life leopard worshiping murder cult, somewhat like the murderous Kali cult of 19th century India; this secret all male society terrorized East Africa until it was put down by the British. Acquenta is exotically gorgeous as the cults leader, Queen Lea.

So what if TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN is only escapist entertainment. If you highbrow types are looking for art, what are you doing watching a Tarzan movie anyway?

This Tarzan adventure is about a cult of leopard worshipers who are incited by one of their own to kill outsiders who want to civilize jungle inhabitants. An educated doctor plots the killing of neighboring tribes to make it look like the work of killer leopards. The killers attack other tribes and caravans as they travel through the jungle until Tarzan figures out that the killings are done by man instead of the big cats. The film has some good moments but the plot is rather silly and illustrates how this venerable series seemed to be winding down after many years of popularity with audiences. Johnny Weissmuller reprises his role as the fearless jungle man, with Brenda Joyce along as Jane. Johnny Sheffield and Cheta round out the usual cast of characters.

What is a Tarzan film without the Tarzan yell?

As a child what I enjoyed and looked forward to was the Tarzan yell. I was a bit disappointed when there was no Tarzan yell in this outing. I recently acquired a mint 16mm print of this film complete with leaders and all credits. I found the film enjoyable and actually enjoyed the plot.

As the plot has been well reviewed I will not go into it again. Enjoyable family entertainment. I liked Brenda Joyce as Jane. She had a reasonable part to play and it was pleasant to see Tarzan, Jane and Boy shopping like any normal family and Tarzan having to contend with house hold chores, fixing the shower. Robert: South Africa.

"Tarzan and the Leopard Woman" is probably the sexiest Tarzan in this series. Since it's 1946, you naturally are not presented with anything graphic, but with nearly all this cast wearing very little, the possibilities are all there for a wild sexual fantasy. Johnny Weismueller has long outgrown his days as a lean, jungle machine. Here, he's big, buff and has obviously worked out. We see his pectorals, his concave stomach, powerful shoulders and thighs. His loin-cloth is almost a bikini. The glorious Acquanetta looks fabulous in her clinging gowns and robes as Lea, the high priestess of the leopard man cult. For once, all the male extras in their brief sarongs are handsome and buff and they really show their stuff when they perform their leopard dance. Just as sexy is Anthony Caruso who shows off his muscular torso as Lea's accomplice. Johnny Sheffield is now a handsome teenage boy and he would soon be making his own jungle series as Bomba, the Jungle Boy. As has been cited by other reviewers, the most erotic scene is when Tarzan is captured and bound to a post in the temple of the leopard cult. HIs handsome body is covered with welts and his chest is thrust out with his hands bound behind him. Lea approaches him slowly, holding her leopard club with claws. The scene is played nearly silently. Tarzan's chest is heaving up and down in anticipation and then, there's an interruption. The nearly naked Tarzan, helpless, must have aroused many a fantasy in 1946 and by millions of TV viewers later when it played on TV. The movie is beautifully photographed and cast. This is one Tarzan movie I play regularly. Rarely did Tarzan have so many attractive cast members to play against.

People in America were kept in ignorance about Africa due to films like Tarzan And The Leopard Women. Even taken at face value the film shows the decline in the series since it left MGM.

When Acquanetta says how her leopard god cult has kept secret from Tarzan all these years no one in any theater this was showing could possibly believe that. After all this was Tarzan and in his jungle you don't belch or toot without him knowing about it. How a whole tribe of leopard cultists kept secret from Tarzan until Edgar Barrier came back from civilization as he sneers it no one could buy into that.

Barrier's character is borrowed liberally from that other RKO classic Gunga Din. He's the guru of the tribe and he does not want to see the civilization of the whites spread. Especially when its in the form of some shapely maiden school teachers. He's going to have his leopard guys hijack the caravan and steal the teachers. It falls to Tarzan to rescue them.

By the way note how Barrier sneers also at the decadence of democracies which the British were as represented by Commissioner Dennis Hoey. A lot of that talk was coming from some recently defeated enemies of said British and their allies. Made Barrier an easy guy to hate.

Acquanetta has a young brother played by Tommy Cook and he's looking to become a full blooded warrior. Only he gets a little thing for Brenda Joyce as Jane. For the only time in the series history Johnny Sheffield as Boy gets an adversary his equal. He needs a little help from Cheta in taking him out.

In fact in this most silly of Tarzan films, Cheta gets to save everybody from the Leopard people. If you care you have to see the film to see how everyone's favorite chimpanzee does it in one of the worst of the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films.

Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (Kurt Neumann, 1946) - This is a touch better than Amazons, with plenty of action (quite well done) and a lively performance by Weissmuller, who'd looked a bit out of sorts in the previous entry. The plot, by now following a path through the jungle wilds so well-trodden it resembles a motorway, sees the Ape Man battling a weird cult with silly leopard costumes that's really into robbery and human sacrifice. Considering the movies were aimed at kids, their marketing is curiously sexualised, with the poster art invariably flagging up the boobs of whichever minor character was most well-endowed. Here it's Acquanetta, who gets shared billing. Her leopard bikini is at least a bit better thought-out than those ridiculous capes the other cult members are wearing.

I rather enjoyed the film, particularly its adherence to near wall-to-wall action, but it provides quite a bit of unintentional hilarity. That comes partly from its incredibly low opinion of natives (who are all duplicitous, hateful savages) and partly from the barely-choreographed dance the leopard men do around the fire. They look like drunk clubbers wearing their wives' coats. One interesting element of the film is "half-native" Edgar Barrier, a Western-educated cultist who denounces the decadence of the imperialists and leads the fight against them. All the RKO series regulars return here: Brenda Joyce is still somewhat one-note as Jane, Boy is entering puberty (giving him an all-new voice and face) and Cheeta hogs the limelight once more. I'm going to be an old cynic and suggest that it's not really him playing that music on the trumpet, though.

This was a little strange to view at first because I had never seen a Johnny Weismuller-Tarzan film of the 1940s. I was only familiar with the earlier stuff with Weismuller and Maureen O'Sullivan as "Jane." By the mid '40s when this was made (and others), Brenda Joyce had replace O'Sullivan. A blonde-haired "Jane" looked strange to me. Their son, "Boy," still played by Johnny Sheffield, was another shock of sorts. He now was a teenager with muscles and a changing voice. That didn't look or sound right!

Tarzan himself had become a regular English-speaking person, even though he still lived in the jungle. He came into town and everyone knew him and talked to him as if he was one of them. It was just all too strange.

Meanwhile, "the leopard woman" (Acquanetta) wasn't as mysterious as she was billed nor was she much of an actress, just a pretty face. She didn't have that big a role, anyway.

All in all, not a video worth keeping.

People are apparently being attacked by leopards. Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) is unconvinced. The locals launch an expedition into the jungle, joined by Tarzan, Jane (Brenda Joyce), and The Boy (Johnny Sheffield). They are attacked by a group of leopards. It's a trick executed by the revolutionary Dr. Ameer Lazar with Queen Lea. They intend to overthrow the governing powers.

I don't like the leopard outfits. It looks a little silly like they put rugs over their heads. The little ears make it look like kiddie pajamas. The outfits need to be scary. My bigger issue with this Tarzan is that he's often fighting for the colonial powers. It's good for the audience of its day but I don't like the implication in a modern sense. Also, he needs to be on the side of the animals. He's not too kind to the leopards. I can see lots of fun for the little kids back in the day. It's an action adventure for the little ones, but it's not right for a variety of reasons.

MY favorite of the Johnny Weisemuller Tarzan movies, contains great B-movie over-the-top performances and classic lines.

The Tarzan family's shopping trip to Zambezi is cut short by the arrival of a bloodied,dying man, the only survivor of a caravan apparently attacked by leopards. But the Jungle Man knows something is not quite right. "Man not killed by Leopard" he declares, pointing out that leopards use not just their claws but their teeth to kill. Challenged by skeptics to give an alternative explanation, he responds with the classic line "Something Leopard that isn't Leopard".

That something is this freakish cult of Leopard people,who enjoy dressing up in animal skins, attacking people, and ripping out their hearts to sacrifice to their god. They are led by Lea (Aquanetta) (based loosely on the character of the high priestess "La" in the Tarzan novels) and her lover, Lazar, a proto-environmentalist?- who is obsessed with stamping out civilization - a great "over-the-top performance by Edgar Barrier.("Away with them! Down with them!")

But the character to watch is "Kimba" Lea's brother, deliciously portrayed by Tommy Cook - as a conniving, sadistic little creep, who despises Lazar and harbors a not-so-secret lust for his sister and for Jane, the "lady with golden hair".

Taunted by his friends for his pretentiousness,Kimba boasts "When I come back,I will show you a heart". Kimba ingratiates himself into the Tarzan family, then turns on the unsuspecting Jane and Boy declaring "Now I take back TWO hearts". It stretches credulity when the bumbling Boy temporarily overpowers the clever and calculating Kimba.

Tarzan knows more about the ways of the jungle and its inhabitants than anyone, so of course NO ONE in the movie takes his warnings seriously until another caravan is attacked, and the "Zambezi maidens" (student teachers who have been hired to civilize the natives)are captured, along with the entire Tarzan family, and all are bound and prepared for sacrifice to the leopard god. Following classic adventure movie logic, the leopard folks bind Tarzan to the main support beam of their temple, providing him (with the aid of the ever-helpful Cheetah)not only with the opportunity to escape but to literally bring down the house. In a final moment of dramatic retribution, the dying Kimba finally gets his coveted heart - Lazar's heart.

As a kid, I just loved this movie, and I wish it were available on video or DVD. Does anyone know if it is going to be released?

Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946)

** (out of 4)

The tenth film in Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan series is without question the dumbest so far as I'm sure a 5-year-old could have came up with a better plot. This time out people are being killed by what appears to be leopards but Tarzan isn't so sure. It turns out that a woman (Acquanetta) has grown tired of the changes going on in Africa so she's brought together hundreds of people who are dressing as leopards and attacking people. Yeah, once you stop laughing over this plot you're going to realize that there's really not too much going on in this film. At 72-minutes the film seems to drag on longer than ROOTS and for the life of me I can't wrap my brain around what the producers were thinking. The only possible explanation is that there wasn't any money left at RKO to hire someone to come up with a good story so they took the silliest thing they could come up with. The biggest problem is that the story is just so far-fetched that it's impossible to ever feel threatened by the killers. Their costumes are all rather silly and seeing dozens of men running around the jungle in these outfits just made one want to laugh. There's never any real drama, no suspenseful scenes and even the comedy bits with Cheetah are just downright weak and they never get a single laugh. Weissmuller, for the first time in the series, appears to be very bored as he doesn't give the character a bit of life and usually you can just see the joy coming out of the actor but that's not the case here. Brenda Joyce is back as Jane and offers up a decent performance but the screenplay doesn't offer her much. Johnny Sheffield is back as Boy and the most shocking thing is seeing how much he has grown since the previous movie, which was shot less than a year before this one. Acquanetta, best remember for playing Paula the Ape Woman in Universal's CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN, isn't given much of a role here but she at least looks good in her outfits. Tommy Cook plays a pretty important role as Kimba, a child spy but his character is so annoying that you really can't help but hate him and want to see Boy bash him into the ground. You can tell that RKO had pretty much given this thing as little attention as possible as the sets aren't nearly as good, the story poor and there's simply not an ounce of energy to be found anywhere in the picture. TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN is a pretty bland movie from start to finish and what's even worse is how boring it is even in the Saturday-matinée feel.

Local authorities are positive that leopards are responsible for a series of fatal attacks on caravans travelling the jungle route from Zambesi, but Tarzan remains unconvinced. The ape man is right, of course: the real culprits are fanatical members of a leopard cult, led by beautiful high priestess Lea (the gorgeous Acquanetta) and native doctor Ameer Lazar (Edgar Barrier), who are angry at civilisation for exploiting their resources and encroaching on their domain.

Meanwhile, Lea's younger brother Kimba (Tommy Cook), who is desperate to earn warrior status by presenting his tribe with a human heart, tricks his way into the Tarzan household and sets his murderous sights on Jane (Brenda Joyce)...

After a few not particularly impressive movies, its great to see the Weissmuller Tarzan series back on form at last with possibly the ape man's most satisfying adventure since Tarzan and His Mate: not only do we get an enjoyably silly premise, impossibly wicked villains, and an exciting finale, but we also see leopard men performing daft dance routines, Cheetah playing a flute and charming a rubber snake, Tarzan grappling with hairy wrestler Tongolo the Terrible (played by professional wrestler 'King Kong' Kashey), four pretty teachers almost eaten by crocodiles, and an exciting chase scene in which Tarzan prepares deadly booby traps for his pursuers.

A hugely entertaining slice of escapist jungle fun, I rate Tarzan and the Leopard Woman 7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Johnny Weissmuller's physique was incredible in this film. The 41 year old Weissmuller had trained and worked out his body to it's best since the MGM days. His pecs are huge and his abs nicely cut and defined. RKO obviously noticed as they cut his loincloth down to it's scimpiest in years. Johnny's newfound athletic prowess found him getting into more physical scenes such as wrestling Tongolo, fighting the leopard men and being heavily scarred by their claws and being tied to a post with his awesome body on display to the luscious Lea (Acquanetta). Equally lovely is Brenda Joyce as Jane. The scene where Lea confronts Tarzan with her claw is very erotic and chilling. Tarzan has never faced such evil torture before in a film. Johnny is up for the challenge,however with his spectacular torso. Easily the best of the RKO Tarzans.

I was 7 when I ran 2 miles to see this film. It was an 'A' so I had to ask an adult to take me in ( Would you do that today?) It was a terrific film and frightened me to death. I ran all the way home looking over my shoulder. Although I have seen other Tarzan films this was the best. There has never been an actor who could yodel like Weismuller . Whatever happened to Boy did he appear in any other movies? As a child I was always worried that Tarzan would fall as he swung through the jungle. He never seemed to test the creepers before using them. I wish this super film would appear on TV today. The scenery may have been a bit shaky in parts and the wildlife tame but it was a really enjoyable film and made a lasting impression on me. When ever someone asks me my favorite film I always answer Tarzan and the leopard Women.

This is my favorite Tarzan film.There is more action and exotica than most of the RKO films contained.Johnny Weissmuller looked super in the film,He had dieted and toned up.His pecs are huge and his chest cavity has great definition.He also works real hard in this adventure having a nasty fight with the leopard men and facing torture from Lea.Brenda Joyce as Jane was a beautiful girl with a gorgeous figure.She worked very well with the two Johnnys.Young Johnny had also acquired a nice athletic build and has a fight with Kimba,the leopard woman's brother.Acquanetta as Lea had to be one of the sexiest actresses of the time-not only is she voluptuous but has a very sensual walk.As gl 259 noted-the scene where Lea prepares to scar Tarzan's chest with her claw is exremely chilling and erotic.Never fear,however,Tarzan-with Cheta's help defeats Lea and her evil tribe.All in all a top-notch Tarzan with plenty of action.glamour and excitement.

Tarzan and the Leopard Woman is a Tarzan adventure from 1946.It's directed by Kurt Neumann.In the story Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan faces a tribe of leopard-worshippers.These people are dressed in leopard skins and they kill in the jungle using their fake claws.The tribe is led by Queen Lea, the high priestess (Acquanetta).Tarzan and his family live a rather peaceful life in their jungle home.But he knows the travellers killed near Zambezi were not killed by leopards.Then one day Queen Lea sends her brother Kimba, played by Tommy Cook, to Tarzan's place.Tarzan and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) do not trust this kid.But Jane, portrayed by Brenda Joyce, gets a bit too close to him.And she faces danger when she's alone in the house with him.One day Tarzan and a caravan of four teachers (Iris Flores, Lillian Molieri, Helen Gerald and Kay Solinas) get captured by the Leopard people.This is a very good Tarzan adventure.It offers plenty of great action.It's thrilling to watch Tarzan and those pretty teachers being chased around the jungle.Cheetah offers some comedy.This is a must-see for every Tarzan fan.