Between White Shadows of the South Seas and Eskimo (see September 9), MGM sent director W. S. Van Dyke, along with crew and actors, to “darkest Africa” to film Trader Horn. It was the first such expedition by a major Hollywood studio, and MGM spared no expense on the super-production. The result is a film that retains its visual excitement to this day, while being dated in its naiveté, as well as in its typical racism taken to ridiculous extremes. In their quest for “undiluted realism,” Van Dyke and cameraman Clyde De Vinna focus primarily on the locale, with its spectacular obstacles to humans and its amazing variety of wild animals whose fights for survival are captured on film, seemingly at some risk; and only secondly on the story of Trader Alfred Horn (Harry Carey) and his two companions in their attempt to rescue a “white goddess” from the most savage of African tribes. Among his many credits (including the Thin Man series), W. S. Van Dyke II was Tarzan's greatest director.