"Buster Crabbe Action Series ... Tarzan the Fearless (1933) ... VCI Home Video"
VCI Entertainment and Principal Pictures present "TARZAN THE FEARLESS" (1933) (86 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs novel with originally 15 Chapters of vintage serial episodes loaded with action sequences, now recut to 86 minute feature film --- relive those thrilling days when Buster Crabbe took us into the jungle with suspenseful excitement every time... the Buster Crabbe serials were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s ... don't miss any of the Buster Crabbe features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his screen time in Hollywood USA --- don't miss a single spine thrilling episode..return next week to this local theater for another episode of action and adventure that will keep you thrilled until the next chapter.

Under Robert F. Hill (Director), Sol Lesser (Producer), Walter Anthony (Screenwriter), Ford I. Beebe (Screenwriter), Basil Dickey (Screenwriter), George Plympton (Screenwriter), Harry Neumann (Cinematographer), Abe Meyer (Musical Direction/Supervision), Sam Wineland (Music Director/Composer), Carl Himm (Editor) ------ the cast includes Larry "Buster" Crabbe (Tarzan of the Apes), Jacqueline Wells (Mary Brooks), E. Alyn Warren (Dr. Brooks), Edward Woods (Bob Hall), Philo McCullough (Jeff, villainous safari guide), Matthew Betz (Nick, villainous safari guide), Mischa Auer (Eltar, High Priest), Frank Lackteen (Abdul), Symona Boniface (Arab Woman), George de Normand (Guard), Carlotta Monti (Priestess of Zar), Darby Jones (Head Bearer), Al Kikume (Warrior) . . . . . . our story is taken from Burroughs' novel, "Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar", as Tarzan must rescue Jacqueline Wells our heroine from native slave traders and keep thieves from stealing the "pretty pebbles" that make up the jeweled city of Opar ... the High Priest Mischa Auer is the main villain who will stop at nothing and by whatever means to get the jewels and kill Tarzan in the process ... but what of the bounty hunter Philo McCullough who has placed a price on the Ape Mans head "Dead or Alive" ... Buster Crabbe is in great shape and his performance for the times is convincing, even though Johnny Weissmuller was the most popular Tarzan, Crabbe looked the part and even had a better screen presence ... Crabbe's role in a 1933 Tarzan serial, also issued as a full length movie "Tarzan the Fearless", launched a successful career in which he starred in over one hundred movies ... this would be the only film in which Crabbe starred as Tarzan ... In the 1933 movie, "King of the Jungle" the 1941's "Jungle Man", and the 1952 serial, "King of the Congo" he played generic "jungle man" roles in the Tarzan mode ... Buster's next major role was as "Flash Gordon" in the popular "Flash Gordon" serial (a role he reprised in two sequels) ... other roles followed "Buck Rogers" and "Billy the Kid" a B-Western series with his sidekick actor Al St. John as Fuzz Q. Jones.

Special footnote, actor Buster Crabbe graduated from the University of Southern California and won the 400 meter freestyle in which he medaled in the 1932 Olympics, went to work for Paramount in "King of the Jungle" (1933), next role was "Tarzan the Fearless (1933), Crabbe returned to Paramount Pictures was featured in Zane Grey Westerns which were well received, then came the roles that made him a household word "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers" at Universal Picture Serials (1936-1940), meanwhile PRC Studios was looking for a leading hero "Billy the Kid" and "Billy Carson" in the 1940's B-Western series and ran its course for six years, later made several televison appearances and appeared in a series "Captain Gallant and the Foreign Legion" (1955-1957).....

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIOS:
1. Buster Crabbe (aka: Clarence Linden Crabbe II)
Birth Date: 2/17/1907 - Oakland California
Died: 4/23/1983 - Scottsdale, Arizona
2. Edgar Rice Burroughs (Author)
Date of birth: 1 September 1875 - Chicago, Illinois
Date of death: 19 March 1950 - Encino, California
3. Robert F. Hill (Director)
Date of birth: 14 April 1886 - Port Rohen, Ontario, Canada
Date of death: 18 March 1966 - Los Angeles, California

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western double features with Buster Crabbe:

BUSTER CRABBE WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURES:
1. Vol. 1 - Western Cyclone/Sheriff of Sage Valley (1942-43) (VCI #7213) (DVD)
2. Vol. 2 - Fugitive of the Plains/Fuzzy Settles Down (1943-44) (VCI #7299) (DVD)

Ask Amazon.Com to carry the above Buster Crabbe titles
if they are not available as of yet...you can order
and pick up your copy now from VCI Entertainment.

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "Tarzan the Fearless" (1933) - Buster Crabbe, the
digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more
high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and
B-Westerns...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment where there
are plenty of copies available on DVD and VHS, stay tuned once again for top
notch action mixed with deadly adventure from the "King of Serials" VCI...just
the way we like 'em

Total Time: 86 min on DVD/VHS ~ VCI Home Video ~ (10/24/2000)

Buster Crabbe in one-third of a Tarzan serial (really)
As is the case with several Tarzan films from the 1930s, "Tarzan the Fearless" was originally released as a 12-part serial. The interesting historical footnote is that theater were given the option of showing the first four chapters edited together as a feature film to get kids interested in the serial and apparently many theaters showed the "film" without ever airing the rest of the serial (or even the trailer for the next exciting episode). Apparently all that is left is the "film," which explains why "Tarzan the Fearless" is a prime candidate for the bottom of the heap of Tarzan movies. Tarzan is played by Buster Crabbe, who won the gold medal in the 400-meter free-style at the 1932 Olympics, one of three formers Olympians to play the Lord of the Jungle that decade.

The story (or the first third of it since the rest of the serial is apparently long gone) begins with Dr. Brooks (E. Allyn Warren), studying ancient tribes in darkest African when he is captured by the people of Zar, the god of the Emerald Fingers. Tarzan aids the doctor's daughter, Mary (Jacqueline Wells) in trying to find and rescue her father, along with everybody else who has fallen captive to Eltar, the High Priest of Zar (Mischa Auer). However, "Tarzan the Fearless" pretty much ends before it gets interesting after about 85 minutes, which is a blessing.

Keep in mind that this is a 1933 film, which means pre-code and explains the reason Tarzan's loin cloth is the skimpest you have ever seen (hopefully). Crabbe, whose previous film role was Kaspa the Lion Man in the Tarzan ripoff "Lord of the Jungle," is given little to do and is also in the running for the least articulate Tarzan of all time. So if it was not for purient interests, there would probably be no interest in this particular Tarzan movie at all.