THE STORY Nazi paratroopers invade the hidden city of the lost civilization of Palandrya with plans of mining the jungle of its minerals and natural resources to aid Hitler's war effort. Tarzan rescues Schmidt (Rex Williams) their radio operator, who later shows his true colors by shooting at Cheetah who has stolen a radio part. Boy's elephant saves the day by pushing the villain off a cliff. 

Palandryan princess Zandra (Frances Gifford), white princess comes to Tarzan for help from the invading Nazis but reluctant Tarzan becomes involved only after the Nazis shoot him and capture Boy. Zandra revives the wounded Tarzan who growls the immortal line: "Now Tarzan make war!" Tarzan reaches Boy but both he and Zandra are captured by the Nazis who plan to put them before a firing squad the next morning. Cheeta frees them and they lead the Palandryans in an assault on the Germans. Tarzan chases the Nazi colonel into the jungle where he falls into a trap and is killed by a lion. With the Nazis defeated all returns to normal.

Characters: Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
 

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THE MOST VIOLENT OF ALL TARZAN FILMS?
by Calvin Bowes

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The body count in Tarzan Triumphs is 14. This has to be the most violent of all the Tarzan films. In this I am only counting those killed by Tarzan or his friends, not the people of Polandria. 

1. Two are killed as birds deliberately fly into their plane. 
2. The next two are brutally killed as Tarzan leads them into a lake filled with cannibal fish.
3. One more is killed by Bully the elephant as he pushes a Nazi off a cliff. 
4. The next one Tarzan kills in cold blood, as he jumps out of a tree and throws a Nazi off a cliff 
5. Another Nazi is killed by Tarzan lowering a rope behind him and pulling him into a tree high above. He then lets go of the rope and the Nazi falls to his death. This death is in cold blood.
6. The next death is in self defense. As a Nazi is about to shoot Tarzan, he throws a knife into the Nazi's chest 
7. Tarzan then approaches a Nazi from behind and throws him off a building. 
8. As a Nazi walks below Tarzan throws his knife into the man's head 
9.  Cheeta has to get into the act as she shoots one Nazi on a roof top. She shoots him with a machine gun, then starts chuckling.
10. Now it's Boy's turn as he takes out a pistol and shoots a Nazi in the street below. 
11. The last Nazi is killed when Tarzan leads him to a lion pit and the Nazi is eaten alive.

Now this film is only 78 minutes long, which means for every 7 1/2 minutes someone dies at the hands of Tarzan  or one of his friends. And I can bet if the villains were not Nazis this film would never have passed the Hayes office review board. This is still one of my favorite Tarzan flicks, but I feel you must agree this is the most gratuitously violent of all of them.

Motion Picture Herald

Sol Lesser's first Tarzan picture for RKO Radio release under the present arrangement achieves without violence to the traditions of the series the overwhelming of a Nazi parachute troop by the jungle man, played again by Johnny Weissmuller, virtually single-handed. By a deftness of script writing accomplished by Roy Chanslor and Carroll Young, the Nazis are wafted down upon a peaceful community neighboring on Tarzan's fastness and their depredations at length arouse the peace-loving hero's ire. Quite a measure of suspense accrues during the development. The chimpanzee and elephant seen in previous Tarzan films figure again in the proceedings, although the beasts of the jungle are not summoned to participate in the killing on this occasion, the hero attending to that with a knife which he wields and hurls with equal dexterity.  Johnny Sheffield is seen as Tarzan's son, Frances Gifford as the girl in the film, not romantically related to the hero, and a cast of dependables attend to the other roles. William Thiele's direction maintains plausibility, although taking advantage of the liberties in that department supplied by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the designing of the Original Tarzan mythology, and the production measures up to expectations.

The Toronto Star

It was bound to happen sooner or later, of course. You might have known that eventually the Nazis would invade Tarzan's jungle and give it the benefit of protection by the Reich. But who'd have thought that Tarzan would turn out to be an isolationist and refuse to take action against the swastika until the heiling boys tried to take over his tree? That's the idea behind the plot that Sol Lesser has bestowed upon the ape man for the first of at least two pictures he's doing for R.K.O. Tarzan, who used to work out in the Metro jungle, has been taken over by another studio and, in the transition, has lost one wife, and gained another female companion. Jane is in London for a spell, visiting her mother and writing letters back to the jungle, discussing the war. That is the first her husband has heard of Nazis... but he meets them face to face when a beautiful princess appeals to him for help in driving them out of her grandfather's village.  The perpetually-youthful Tarzan (he's been swinging in and out of that tree for the past forty years) is still being played by Johnny Weissmuller, and Johnny Sheffield is carrying on as his son, Boy. Frances Gifford plays Zandra, giving the feminine touch in place of Maureen O'Sullivan, who theretofore has been Jane. The most interesting performer of all is perhaps Cheta, the ape, who seems to be forever laughing at or with her human companions. Audience note: The young man on our left (aged about 12) spent most of the film's running time perched on the edge of his seat in a fever of excitement. We thought, on one or two occasions, that he might explode.

Variety

First of the Sol Lesser "Tarzan" pictures with Johnny Weissmuller again in the title role proves beneficial to the series Metro initiated so successfully. Picture does not stack up against first two or three Metro produced, but tops later films in series. Tarzan Triumphs will please grown-ups as well as juves, provides bangup entertainment for action fans and is graphic illustration of what careful budget production-helming can do with a budgeted picture. More action than usual distinguishes latter portion of film, Tarzan's declaring war on Nazis who have kidnapped his son resulting in movement of serial  proportions. Screenplay by Roy Chanslor and Carroll Young gives good motivation to plot, and William Thiele makes the most of his direction. Photography is well handled by Harry Wild, Hans Peters' art direction is interesting and music by Paul Sawtell adds to the general overall interest.