Tarzan Escapes

All right, tie her up.

Make her fast.

Pull her in, boys.

Leave those.

They don't even know where they're taking themselves yet. Get it moving!

Ask him.

Pardon me, my good man, but we're looking for the residency.

We better be careful. They probably belong to some fighting tribes in the interior.

Here, here, here. Go on, you blighters. Off it. Go on. Off it, off it. The very idea.

That's the only language those poor heathens understand, sir.

Herbert Henry Rawlins, at your service.

Thank you so much. We're looking for the residency.

Residency or resident? Resident. Righto.

It so happens his nibs is at my employer's compound...

...checking out a shipment of wild animals.

Well, sir, how was merry old England when you left it?

- Well... - Yeah, a bit of all right, eh?

You, miss, how do you find your first go at Africa?

Grim enough, I suppose. But look at me, making you answer a lot of questions.

I'll bet you're just tired of talking. Well, anything you want to know, just ask me.

- Well, there was one... - Oh, here we are.

Excuse me, governor. Two young people from home wanna see the resident.

I'm the resident. Masters is my name.

How do you do? I'm Eric Parker.

- This is my sister, Rita. - How do you do?

Miss Parker, you're not exactly a usual sight around these parts.

Nor any parts, for that matter, I should say. My name is Fry. Captain Fry.

No, you fool!

Can't have my pet ripped up by a common cat.

- Your pet? - Yes, over there in that cage.

Like to see him?

He doesn't look like he needed protection.

Oh, no. He'd make short work of a common leopard.

Color of their hide seems to get into their dispositions.

- He's too valuable to be mauled, though. - I'm terrified of him.

Even with these bars between us.

Don't you worry, Miss Parker. I designed that cage myself.

Duralumin. I'll guarantee it'll hold anything.

We won't keep you any longer from your business.

Well, it's nothing private, Captain Fry.

Rita and I are just looking for something called the Mutia Escarpment.

Is that all?

My dear boy, perhaps you'd like us to arrange a visit to the craters of the moon.

I don't know what you're laughing at, but I assure you, it's a serious matter to us.

In Africa, the most serious matter is always the noonday sun.

Yes, it makes ladies and gentlemen talk a bit barmy-like.

Especially until they get a bit climaxed to it.

Since we seem to be so ridiculously green, perhaps you would point out what it is.

Well, first, the single approach to the Mutia Escarpment...

...is said to lie through the Gaboni country.

A cheery lot, the Gabonis.

- I've never seen one. Have you, Fry? - No.

Although I've seen victims floating down the river...

...after the Gabonis finished with them.

- Bring some drinks, Rawlins. - Yes.

Only the largest and most completely equipped safari...

...could hope to fight through.

And as you say, that's beyond the means of most people.

In the second place, from the native rumors of the escarpment...

...I should judge it quite impractical for even a large party.

They say it's like a long cloud in the distance.

Sheer cliffs 1000 to 1500 feet in height and running out of sight in either direction.

Bomba, limes.

But isn't there always a third place, Captain Fry?

Oh, yes, I was coming to that.

In the third place, no safari native could be induced to disregard the juju.

- What's juju? - Black magic, taboo, anything forbidden.

Oh, dear. Really.

When you've lived as long in Africa as Captain Fry, Miss Parker...

...you'll realize that there's a certain amount...

...of truth underlying all native superstitions.

What is the nature of this particular superstition?

- Well... - A race of great apes. With a leader.

A very capable leader, too, with power of life and death over the entire jungle.

The oddest thing, according to these stories, is his color.

- His color? - White.

Blimey. A white gorilla?

Do you believe this?

Well, I believe that up there, where no white man's ever been before...

...waits someone, or shall we say, something...

...mysterious and formidable natives fear. A thing that doesn't want to be disturbed.

There you have it, Miss Parker. Cliffs, savages and the taboo.

A combination nobody could beat.

But one man did beat it, Mr. Masters. A white hunter named Harry Holt.

Oh, yes, I remember the fellow.

Claimed to have discovered the Elephants' Graveyard, didn't he?

Yes, Holt's real motive then was very much what ours is now.

Mr. Masters, we have reason to believe...

...that our cousin Jane is alive at this moment...

...above the Mutia Escarpment, living among the great apes.

There you are, governor. The monks have been known to carry off a native woman.

Yes, but the leader isn't an ape. Now, Holt was quite clear on that point.

The leader is a man, a white man. And Jane is staying there by her own wish.

Admitting this extraordinary story to be true...

...would you be good enough to explain...

...what you hope to accomplish even if you should find your cousin?

Well, you see, our father and Jane's father had a third brother, Uncle Peter.

He was extremely wealthy and rather difficult.

When he took it into his eccentric old head to die last spring...

...he left half of his fortune of nearly a million pounds...

...to the London University for the purposes of entomological research.

- Come again, miss? - Bugs.

The second half he left to Jane, providing she was alive...

...and could be induced to return to civilization.

Otherwise, the bugs get the whole million.

And if you succeed in bringing this good news to your cousin...

...you hope to profit to some extent.

Well, I've staked every penny I've got on it.

And if we fail, it means, amongst other things...

...that Eric won't finish his medical studies.

Well, if you're in a position to adequately equip a safari...

...under the direction of a well-qualified man, Captain Fry, for instance...

But then, you heard Captain Fry's opinion of the whole enterprise.

If you and your brother care to join me...

...I'll be making safari for the Mutia Escarpment at 7:00 tomorrow morning.

Bomba!

- Captain Fry... - Don't waste your time thanking me.

You'll need to get properly outfitted before you leave tomorrow.

Captain Fry, before we accept your very kind offer...

...would you mind telling us why you made it?

We'll say I need a vacation with just a touch of adventure thrown in. Just that.

We'll be ready at 7:00 tomorrow morning.

Well, hang me.

The biggest blooming hunter in the whole blinking continent...

...turning himself into a glorified tourist guide.

And all for the sake of a dash of adventure.

Oh, come off it, governor. What's the idea?

Gonna try and catch you that mythological white ape?

- You're right. - Thank you.

You're right for the first time in 10 years.

We're making safari at 7:00 tomorrow morning.

Knock down the steel cage and box it to go.

- Don't stand there like a... - Fool?

- Right. Get going. - Yes, sir.

Look at those.

I say, aren't they awful-looking creatures?

- We land here, Bomba. - Yes, bwana.

Well, that's what I meant.

- Bomba, those four top boxes. Look alive. - Yes, bwana.

But, Captain Fry, this place is a bog.

I'm sorry. I didn't choose it myself. Get ashore, please.

Come along, Rita.

- Not that way, Miss Parker. - Well, why not?

Ever chuck a stick into a hornets' nest? That's our route.

The swamp will cover our tracks and it's the right direction, as far as I can judge.

Well, you'll get through all right, Miss Parker.

Pretty squashy going.

Oh, well, I like paddling.

Eric, look.

Wouldn't shoot if I were you. They won't bother us if we don't bother them.

There's no sense in advertising our presence.

If it's all the same to you, Mr. Parker, I'd like to keep it a secret.

- Look at them all. Isn't it amazing? - This is certainly a hunter's paradise.

You haven't seen anything yet.

Oh, look at that lot!

They're handy little things to have about the house.

And all of those. Oh, aren't they grand?

Captain Fry.

There's your Mutia Escarpment, Mr. Parker.

All right, push them along, Bomba.

Stir them up with that kaibok.

Captain Fry!

Juju, bwana.

Oh, why not take a tip from their natural instincts, sir, and let the whole thing go.

- I mean, this is Gaboni country. - Right.

Till I think of a way to push these boys, it looks like we'll stay here.

We camp here, Bomba. No tents. Send one of the boys for water.

Why, you little...

What is it?

You pretty creature.

Thank you so much. I'm sorry I was such a nuisance.

Well, I'd rather not have to do any more shooting while we're around here.

- Water yet? - Water not yet, bwana.

Send another boy.

Gabonis. Get the men ready to move.

Still clear on the juju side. We'll cross the river and make a run for it.

Get them together, Bomba.

Hey, we won't leave that. Quickly!

- What was it? An animal? - Whatever it was, we should be grateful.

Grateful to the Gabonis too, I suppose, what's left of us.

We've got no choice now.

Get the men started, Bomba. We're going up.

Men say no go, bwana. Men say juju.

All right, let them stay. See how they like the Gabonis.

That was a close thing.

Blinking close.

Blimey. I wouldn't climb another step, not even to get up to heaven.

Maybe you're nearer than you think.

We camp here, Bomba. Tents.

We're not gonna make permanent camp here, are we?

The escarpment's a bit too big to comb end to end...

...for your cousin and her white ape friend.

So we shall have to devise some means to get them to come and visit us.

How on earth are we going to do that?

That's a matter to which I've given considerable thought.

I'll figure it out.

Supposing he does come and try and set his friends free...

...isn't he liable to be a bit unpleasant?

That's a question I shall better be able to answer by tomorrow morning.

- What do you say, Rawlins? - I never spoke, sir.