Tarzan's Three Challenges

Infobox Film
name = Tarzan's Three Challenges
writer = Robert Day
Berne Giler
based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs
starring = Jock Mahoney
Woody Strode
Ricky Der
Tsu Kobayashi
director = Robert Day
producer = Sy Weintraub
music = Joseph Horovitz
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = June 1963
runtime = 92 mins.
language = English
preceded_by = "Tarzan Goes to India"
followed_by = "Tarzan and the Valley of Gold"
imdb_id = 0057560 |

Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963) is a followup to 1962's "Tarzan Goes to India". The movie was Jock Mahoney's second and final turn as the apeman, was produced by Sy Weintraub, written by Robert Day and Berne Giler, and directed by Robert Day. The film was released in June 1963.

Plot

Tarzan is summoned to an unnamed Asian country to protect Kashi (Ricky Der), the youthful heir to the throne, from his evil uncle, Khan, played by Tarzan veteran Woody Strode. In the course of the film Tarzan must compete against Khan in three tests of strength.

First is an archery contest. Then Tarzan stands between two tall posts, grasps handles which are attached to two ropes which run over the top of each post and are attached to buffalo. When the buffalo are driven apart, Tarzan is lifted into the air and stretched. He passes the test by not letting go of either handle. Third, he and Khan are asked to answer a question designed to test their wisdom. When Tarzan triumphs all three times, he and Khan undergo a fourth challenge.

Tarzan kills Khan when they face each other with sabers on a net suspended above vats of boiling oil.

Production Notes

The movie was filmed near Bangkok, Thailand and in the jungle near the Chiang Mai province.

Some scenes were shot in the Temple of Buddha's Footprint, the first film ever granted permission to shoot at this holy site. Crew members and cast removed their shoes and shot in almost total silence.

Midway through the film, Mahoney contracted dysentery, dengue fever and finally pneumonia. His weight plummeted from 220 pounds to 175 pounds. Some critics, noting how thin and weary he appeared in some action scenes, said it undermined the film’s credibility. English Stuntman Ray Austin made the 120 ft dive for Mahoney at Begor Bridge.

Forty-four years and four months old when the film was released, Jock Mahoney became the oldest actor to portray the apeman.

References

Essoe, Gabe. Tarzan of The Movies, 1968, published by The Citadel Press.