The character of Joey Martin is an attempt to replicate that of Boy, the Ape Man's juvenile sidekick from several Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies. Joey is played by eleven year old Tommy Carlton, who makes his first and only screen appearance in this film.
Normally quite hairy-chested, Lex Barker was forced to submit to a full body wax in order to play the buffed version of Tarzan demanded by the producers. It was not until he abandoned the Tarzan role and went to Europe to film that his fans were finally allowed to see him as nature intended, with his chest hair intact.
This film is also known as Tarzan, the Hunted.