Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author who created Tarzan, produced this film (edited from a serial) which he hoped would be a more accurate interpretation of his character than the series being produced at MGM at the same time. Deep in the jungles of Guatemala lies The Green Goddess, an idol worshiped by a primitive tribe. The totem contains both a valuable cache of jewels and the formula to a powerful explosive which could change the shape of warfare as we know it. One Major Martling of Africa (Frank Baker) is travelling to Guatemala to find the Goddess and make sure it's deadly secret does not fall into the wrong hands; on the other end of the scale of virtue is Raglan (Ashton Dearholt), a mercenary who has been hired to find the Green Goddess and the formula. En route to Guatemala, the men encounter Lord Greystoke (Bruce Bennett), a British nobleman who was lost in the jungles as a child and learned to fend for himself in the wilds, where the animals and natives called him Tarzan. Greystoke is searching for the whereabouts of his friend d'Arnot when he hears of Martling's urgent mission, and Raglan's plan to use the Green Goddess for evil purposes. featured material from the first half of the serial Burroughs produced; the second half was compiled into the feature .