TARZAN'S GREATEST CHALLENGE (1969) Steve Hawkes + Kitty Swan
1040DVD
Steve
Hawkes is Tarzan with Jungle Girl played by Kitty
Swan
Original
Spanish title: TARZAN EN LA GRUTA DEL ORO [Tarzan in the Golden
Groto]
director: Manuel Cano
starring: Steve Hawkes · Kitty Swan · Jesus Puente · Luis Marin · Krista
Nell · Fernando Sancho
Two gangsters
promise an arsenal of guns to a native tribe in exchange for information
about a secret gold mine. A jungle girl named Irula is captured and tortured
because the tribe thinks she knows where the gold can be found. Tarzan
single-handedly rescues the girl and takes her back to her home with cave
dwelling Amazons. Of course, this is only the beginning of a heated conflict
that pits Tarzan and the women against gangsters and the mercenary native
tribe, further complicated by the involvement of an old prospector and
his worldly daughter.
Written
by Umberto Lenzi (as Santiago Moncada) and fellow filmmaker Joaquin Romero
Marchent, this one stars Kitty Swan and Steve Hawkes in the two major
roles. It was his first role in a jungle actioner while Kitty Swan headlined
in both GUNGALA
and GUNGALA:
NUDE PANTHER. Steve Hawkes emigrated to America as a teenager
from Croatia. He grew up in South Florida with a love for exotic animals
and body-building. This was his debut project, helmed by Spanish director
Manuel Cano, shot in Central America and the Everglades swampland west
of Miami.
Steve
followed this movie with turkey-monster exploitation film BLOOD
FREAK in 1972. Both he and Kitty Swan were tapped to make another
Tarzan film in 1974, again for director Cano, to be shot entirely in Florida.
Initially, that project was called Tarzan and the Rainbow,
later changed to Tarzan and the Brown Prince. During the
shoot, both Steve and Kitty were severely burned in an on-set accident,
putting an end to their acting career.
Ms Swan - at age 26 dropped completely from the limelight. Mr Hawkes,
left filmmaking and opened a Tarzan attraction/animal sanctuary in Loxahatchee
Florida (10 miles outside West Palm Beach). He made headlines in 2004
when his pet tiger Bobo escaped from the compound and was shot (and killed)
by the Fish and Wildlife Commission. Mr Hawkes attempted to sue the state
for murder, but lost the case. Eight years later - in a supposedly unrelated
incident - two tigers and a leopard were removed from his park due to
incorrect federal permits.
A Spanish
film in English language; widescreen format (16:9), totally uncut version
(75 minutes), DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT. Extras include
trailers.
Jungle
Adventure and Violence/Nudity
for Mature Audiences
