Spanish title: Tarzan el Temerario (Tarzan the Reckless One)
Stars: Johnny Weismuller, Brenda Joyce
Directed by: William Thiele
Distributor: Distribuidora Sotomayor (for RKO Radio Pictures)

"Tarzan defies enemy agents… in a hot-bed of intrigue and danger!"

This story involves Tarzan having to get his ‘jungle fever’ remedy
(trust me, white boy, there ain’t no cure for jungle fever) from a lost
jungle, so that Jane, while working as a nurse, can save folks from
falling ill. Nazis and Sheiks intervene and Cheetah serves up the
giggles – you know the rest.

This has to be one of the most abused lobby cards in our collection, what with torn corners, a healthy rip up the middle, a pencil mark or two, a coffee stain, and to top it all off, the original printing run was off-center and was mis-cut along the top.

But dude… it’s freakin’ Tarzan giving heck to fake Sheiks! How can you not like that, pinholes or not?

The design itself is fairly dreadful, but that’s usually the case with Distribuidora Sotomayor releases of the WWII era. They’ve basically gone for black and white with one background color thrown on top. all the art is cut’n'pasted from photo publicity stills, and there’s a load of blank space that just kills any idea of flow.

Heck, they even left the file number inscription on the bottom right corner of the still image; Tarzan say, "Sloppy!"

Spanish title: Los Tambores de la Muerte (The Drums of Death)
Stars: Clay Moore, Phyllis Coates, Johnny Spencer, Roy Glenn
Directed by: Fred C. Bannon
Distributed by: Distribuidora Sotomayor, for Republic Pictures

"Jungle thrills and voodoo madness in the heart of the dark continent – a Republic super-series!"

We don’t see a whole lot of Distribuidora Sotomayor lobby cards around, but more’s the pity, as this is one high quality piece of promo art. Nice thick card stock, dramatic comic book-style art, stark colors (even if they only budgeted for one in this case)… you can just imagine kids lining up for hours to get their ‘jungle thrills’.

This series was directed by Fred C. Bannon, who enjoyed a lengthy career as a maker of pulp film. With titles such as Zombies of the Stratosphere, Radar Men from the Moon, Flying Disc Man from Mars, and Federal Agents vs Underworld Inc, you just know the guy was hired for his willingness to work on the cheap, rather than what skills he brought to the table.

The story in this series, which had a working title of Robin Hood of Darkest Africa, focuses on a group of nice upstanding people who go to an African territory looking to win a mining concession so they can pull uranium out of the ground. Only, they’re constantly foiled in their attempts by a trading post operator who just won’t leave well enough alone and seeks the uranium for an unnamed evil government. Cliffhangers ensue. 

The entire 12-part series was shot over three weeks for a budget of around $160,000, as was the way with Republic serials, and though the Saturday morning matinee fare usually featured copious amounts of stock footage and woeful cliffhangers, this one actually shows a little commitment to quality… at least compared to others of its ilk.

The card art is fantastic – it’s done in a comic book style with nothing more than black and white with a splash of red to fill out the design. As a result, it’s a real eye-catcher… though the ‘native’ in the still image seems to resemble a corn-fed Mississippi boy more than a Masai warrior.

For those interested in Distribuidora Sotomayor, their address is listed as Reforma 503, S.A. – that’s all I’ve got.