This plot comes from “Tarzan and the City of Gold,” the 16th novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan series. It has Athne, Cathne, Nemone, and this climactic lion hunt, which so far is differing greatly from the book. I’m not going to spoil the book’s ending just yet. (BTW, the book gave this hunting lion a name—Belthar.)
ERB gave Tarzan a lion for a companion: Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion. Jad-bal-ja appeared in ERB Tarzan novels 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17 and 26, and in comic books and strips. There was even a silent movie with him, based on his first book appearance. So not all lions are bad.
No, ERB’s novels (and I’ve read the first 22) were rife with sexual tension and women frequently on the verge of losing their chastity. Every “bad” woman who ever met Tarzan instantly lusted after him. But actual sexual activity was never mentioned or even implied in the books, and newspaper comics were bowdlerized even more.
Tarzan is definitely a cat person ERB’s ninth Tarzan book was “Tarzan and the Golden Lion.” The lion was Jad-bal-ja, and he reappears to save Tarzan in a later book, “Tarzan and the City of Gold” (ERB #16)
Ah, yes, “The Great Race” (1965). Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood, and Peter Falk. Delightful farce, along with “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” (1965) and “Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies” (1969).
Karma or kismet? You decide.