Sunday, June 17, 2012

Tarzan season one starring Ron Ely

Ok so it aint HERCULES...but it's news I wanted to share...this set came out in March 2012. I just found out about it and am gonna hunt it down on ebay and obtain one. Now Tarzan may be a far cry from HERCULES but they happen to have ties....Gordon Scott for one....the sixties for another. HERCULES and TARZAN films were quite popular movie fare back in those days. The Weintraub TARZAN films of the sixties starring Gordon Scott and Jock Mahoney as well as MIke Henry are among my favorites. This series was produced by the same production company. One can hope that soon those films will be released in an official capacity. I have them all on DVDR's but...it aint the same. I always wondered why TARZAN having been a household name in the hero biz for over a century there is such a long wait for these movies. See below the copy from Amazon for the DVD set.
Premiering on NBC in 1966, Edgar Rice Burroughs' immortal creation, Tarzan, took to the nation's TV screens for the first time. Still in the capable hands of producer Sy Weintraub, the TV Tarzan (Ron Ely) continued the more recent (and more authentic) interpretation of Lord Greystoke as a sophisticated, articulate jungle adventurer as seen in the Tarzan films of Gordon Scott, Jock Mahoney and Mike Henry. Also carried over from the big screen was young actor Manuel Padilla (Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, Tarzan and the Great River), now playing the jungle lord's kid sidekick alongside Cheetah, the simian one.The first half of his inaugural season finds Tarzan rescuing seeing-eye lions, endangered leopards, and pampered princes while battling man-eaters, despots and deadly arachnids in this 4-Disc, 15-Episode collection. Guest stars include former Tarzan Jock Mahoney, Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols, Woody Strode, and Russ Tamblyn.Then Ron Ely continues his memorable run as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan in the second half of his first season. This 16-Episode, 4-Disc collection sees the Lord of the Jungle and his stalwart second bananas, Jai the jungle boy (Manuel Padilla) and Cheetah the chimp, facing off against some of their most formidable challenges alongside a bevy of powerhouse performer guest stars.Stage and screen legend Julie Harris makes her first appearance as the imperiled, imperious missionary Charity Jones and Maurice Evans makes his memorable debut as Sir Basil Bertram. And the action continues to heat up with volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, phantom dinosaurs and more fantastic jungle menaces. Adding their talents to the drama and the dangers are Susan Oliver, Chips Rafferty, Gia Scala, Sally Kellerman and Jack Elam.