Swamp Fire ** (1946, Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Crabbe, Virginia Grey, Carol Thurston) – Classic Movie Review 13,966

The 1946 American adventure film Swamp Fire is written by Daniel Mainwaring, and stars two screen Tarzans, Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe, pitted against each other in their one and only film for Pine-Thomas Productions.

Co-producer/ director William H Pine’s 1946 American adventure film Swamp Fire is written by Daniel Mainwaring (as Geoffrey Homes), and stars two screen Tarzans, Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe, pitted against each other in their first and, it turned out, only film for Pine-Thomas Productions, along with Virginia Grey and Carol Thurston.

A traumatised war veteran called Johnny Duval (Johnny Weissmuller) returns home to the Louisiana  bayous and attempts to rebuild his shattered self-confidence. He tries his hand at air-freighting and at a new love affair with Toni Rousseau (Carol Thurston), whom trapper Mike Kalavich (Buster Crabbe) also wants to get his pincers into.

The top action adventure cast is set adrift in this damp watershed of a melodrama. Weissmuller, in what turned out to be his first and last lead role as anything other than Tarzan or Jungle Jim, works well opposite his fellow swimming champ and matinée idol Crabbe (Flash Gordon).

Even if they work well together, director William H Pine fails fully to harness the talents of the two macho males, and is better known for his ability to bring in films successfully on tiny budgets, rather than necessarily for their great quality. Nevertheless, Swamp Fire is written by the legendary Daniel Mainwaring (as Geoffrey Homes), and deserves a bit of attention and respect.

Filming started in October 1945.

Runtime: 69 minutes.

Release date: August 24, 1946 (New York).

Weissmuller was paid $75,000 but only made one film of his intended three-picture deal with Pine-Thomas Productions.

Cast: Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Crabbe, Virginia Grey, Carol Thurston, Edwin Maxwell, Pedro de Cordoba, Marcelle Corday, Pierre Watkin, David Janssen (uncredited) as Emile’s Eldest Son, William Edmunds, Charles Gordon, Frank Fenton.

Public domain film.

American novelist and screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring (February 27, 1902 – January 31, 1977) adapted his novel Build My Gallows High (1946) to film as Out of the Past (1947).

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,966

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