Tarzan the Ape Man

This is the first of the MGM Tarzan films featuring Olympic medalist Johnny Weismuller in the titular role. It is new out on DVD, in a box set that contains the first six (out of twelve) that he would make. His co-star in these first six films (though I think she disappears in the latter six) is Maureen O'Sullivan, one of the greatest beauties Hollywood ever knew. They are the perfect Tarzan and Jane. Tarzan the Ape Man is extraordinary. The second film of the series, Tarzan and His Mate, is an acknowledged masterpiece of the adventure drama, but I'd almost rank Ape Man aside with it. It is beautifully done in every way, fun and exciting, but also at lengths gentle, charming, and downright erotic. There's a long scene where Tarzan and Jane play in the water. It's so sweet and so sexy. There's hardly any background music to the film, which sets it apart from many in its era that overused their musical scores. Long scenes are played out silently. There is no attempt to make up for a lack of dialogue. Of course, since this is the first time Tarzan meets men (at least white men), he doesn't speak much except for a few grunts to his chimpanzee buddies. It's quite amazing how much attention and care is put into the way Tarzan behaves, how he has become chimp-like. I also begin to notice with this film how good an actor Johnny Weismuller is. Tarzan the Ape Man is really a wonderful film. The new box set is absolutely a must-have. 10/10.

Johnny Weissmuller,the former Olympic champion in swimming,makes his debut as Tarzan.The movie spawned a lot of sequels and Weissmuller continued as Tarzan for 11 more films during the next 16 years. I had seen this early and somewhat primitive talkie a couple of years back and found it hard to sit through.I decided I'd give it another chance and was surprised at how much more I enjoyed it.Weissmuller is stunning, he fits the part excellent and looks amazing.There's screen charisma by the thousands.Maureen O' Sullivan as Jane really made the role her own.The African footage, shot during the making of "Trader Horn" is exciting and must have been worth the ticket on its own back in the thirties.There's some bad rear-projection used,but it doesn't spoil the movie if you don't let it bother you. So enjoy this entertaining film.

This week I also watched the first two entries in the MGM Tarzan series by way of Warner's elegant 4-Disc Set. I actually took some persuading to purchase these films (the very positive online buzz is what got me), and I finally relented some time ago thanks to a generous 20% sale on the part of Deep Discount DVD!

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by them: solid (though primitive) production values, a bevy of exciting action sequences, and gleeful doses of eroticism and sadism made for great (if somewhat repetitive) fun. Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O' Sullivan created a wonderful (and spontaneous) rapport and generally inhabited their roles very nicely, making them the screen's definitive incarnations of these characters.

TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934; ***1/2) edges the original slightly because of the former's (necessary) tendency towards exposition: the sequel dives straight into action (though, curiously enough, it still takes quite a bit before Tarzan makes an appearance!) but also features lecherous villainy from Paul Cavanaugh and even takes time to develop the lovable personality of Cheetah (especially in a lengthy sequence where it is beset by assorted creatures while journeying through the jungle to alert Tarzan of the [invariably] impending danger)…and then, of course, there's that famous nude swimming scene! The lion-infested finale, too, is every bit as remarkable as the pygmy sequences at the climax of TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932; ***) – if anything, it's even more ambitious.

It's a pity, therefore, that the special effects (once considered ground-breaking) have not withstood the test of time: innumerable back-projection shots, the conveniently-placed (and thinly-disguised) series of trapeze which allow Tarzan to swing from one tree to the other, all-too-fake snakes and alligators, the rotoscoping of lions into a scene to make them appear as if they were fighting elephants, etc. Unfortunately TARZAN AND HIS MATE (and probably all the others that follow) took a ridiculous turn by having Jane mimic the famous Tarzan cry/yodel, which I felt to be an unwise decision on the part of the studio! Still, I do look forward to the rest of the series, hoping that they're at least as entertaining (even if reviews claim production values got progressively more lavish, and thus unrealistic, and the plots cornier).

I hadn't seen Johnny Weissmuller's debut film Tarzan The Ape Man for many years so I was struck by the fact that Neil Hamilton and Maureen O'Sullivan got first billing with Weissmuller down the opening credits in an 'introducing' category. As if no one in America, let alone the movie going public didn't know who Johnny Weissmuller was.

The fuss over swimming champion Michael Phelps is nothing compared to what Johnny Weissmuller's celebrity was like. In the Roaring Twenties when each sport seemed to have an icon that became a legend, Weissmuller was that for swimming. The records he set in the Olympics stood for many years, with today's athlete conditioning methods I can only speculate what he could do today if he were alive and in his prime.

Still Louis B. Mayer was nothing if not cautious in protecting an investment in a non-actor to be a lead in a major film. He kept Weissmuller's dialog to grunts, guttural jungle utterings, and a few choice words that Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane teaches her new jungle man toy.

With tons of footage left over from MGM's African location film of Trader Horn, Tarzan The Ape Man had all the background needed to make the film look good. It's fairly obvious that when you see shots of Neil Hamilton and Maureen O'Sullivan they're shot against a background of real natives. They never got further to Africa than Toluca Lake in the shooting.

It's also obvious that Weissmuller couldn't act at all which was why he was only given grunts and dialog of one and two words. Later on he did become a competent enough actor. But quite frankly who cared when they saw him in a loin cloth.

Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane Parker comes to Africa to visit her father C. Aubrey Smith and she finds that Smith and his partner Neil Hamilton are planning an expedition into some unexplored territory in search of the fabled elephant's graveyard. A lot of loose ivory to be picked up there without the danger of actually trying to kill the beasts. Hamilton's interested in her, but when white jungle man Tarzan rescues O'Sullivan, Hamilton doesn't have a prayer.

Tarzan The Ape Man is still an exciting adventure film even to today's more sophisticated eyes. And Weissmuller and O'Sullivan's appeal as a romantic couple is timeless.

All right so they haven't got the dialog from Romeo and Juliet, who cares?

Jane Parker goes into the jungle and meets the man of her dreams. A long running movie series is born.

All kidding aside this is a really good adventure film of the sort that they don't make any more. The first of the MGM series, though not the first Tarzan movie, nor the only Tarzan film made during the same period (Edgar Rice Burroughs had deals with several producers) this is the film that broke box office records and spawned ten million "Me Tarzan, you Jane" jokes.

The film was made to cash in the previous years Trader Horn, a jungle picture that MGM had produced. Wanting to feed a public that wanted more as well as to make use of the hours of location footage shot for that film. The ape man was the perfect choice.

The plot has to do with Jane arriving in the jungle to see her father and then going of to find the elephant grave yard. Along the way is carried off by Tarzan and the rest is the movie. Its an exciting ride (especially if you forgive the creaky special effects and ape suits).

A perfect film for a rainy afternoon