The New Adventures of Tarzan

Exceptionally dumb, even for a movie serial. They went to Guatemala to "film" this. Much ado about nothing.

The carnage in this film is appalling. A machine gun is set up and mows down literally dozens and dozens of angry Guatemalan "natives." Why are they angry? Because white people have come into their territory to steal a religious symbol from them. One of the packers is murdered, but his death isn't missed by anyone, not even Tarzan. The film begins with Tarzan fighting and killing a lion, and later on he fights and kills an alligator, but he hasn't even got a scratch on him from these encounters. The natives spared the surviving pilot, but no mention is made of the two passengers and what happened to them. The idea that Tarzan, lord of the jungle, would allow the murder of so many natives without showing any remorse would seem to contradict his responsibility as "lord of the jungle." Compare this concept with the film "Tarzan and the Amazons," where the intruders are justly punished and Tarzan protects the "lost' civilization. I appreciate the interpretation given by Bruce Bennett of an articulate Tarzan, but the writers of the screenplay have a lot to answer for in their stereotyping of native peoples who make good target practice.

Or mad, and a bit interesting, take your pick. Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett is a good, athletic Tarzan, rather oddly at home in Africa, Latin America and England, equally comfortable in a loincloth or jungle fatigues, and even (in the final episode) fancy dress. His Tarzan cry is especially memorable, sounding as if he has just trapped his testicles in his desk drawer.

Unlike many serials, the plot develops in nearly linear fashion rather than repeatedly cycling round, and the Guatemalan locations are fascinating and well-used. The animals that Tarzan fights look less like pyjama cases than usual. There is a lot of evidence of cutting and rewriting, so it would be a stretch to say that it all made sense.

Some of the major characters disappear after Chapter Four for no obvious reason, only to reappear in the final summing up (the serial certainly improves when the cast is slimmed down; they are not missed). George, the comedy relief, degenerates from someone capable of machine-gunning dozens of natives to death early on, into a babbling cretin in the later episodes. He is literally unable to pick up a valuable clue without dropping it into the nearest river, or to walk in a straight line without falling into a cunning trap. And to cap it all, the final scene takes place at a party where everyone is dressed as a Tyrolean gypsy - why?

I have to review what I see and sad to say other than interesting location cinematography in Central America, there's not much to recommend The New Adventures Of Tarzan.

Edgar Rice Burroughs who was personally involved in the making of this film would have been better to have left it in the hands of the professionals at MGM who while they changed his legendary character knew how to make a film. They would also have advised him to not shoot on location as they did in Trader Horn. The production costs nearly bankrupted MGM and the costs here rendered impossible any kind of profit.

In addition what I saw on TCM was a cut down feature film taken from a movie serial. The serial ran over 4 hours and the film 75 minutes. You can't make anything coherent from that.

Bruce Bennett is quite the well built Tarzan. He's starring in this under his real name of Herman Brix, the same name for which he won a Silver Medal in the Shotput in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Later when he became Bruce Bennett he learned his craft as actor and is best remembered for The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre and Mildred Pierce as an actor.

I'm sure Bennett did a bit of cringing when he saw this film or was reminded of it in the 100 years of life he had on planet earth.

I bought this on DVD and became an instant Herman Brix fan. Though his acting is somewhat stiff (to be generous), I can see why Edgar Rice Burroughs--Tarzan's creator--found Brix to be the "perfect" Tarzan. His build is spot-on, and he excels in the action scenes. If only he made more Tarzan films. Though this entry appeared in both serial form and as an edited feature, I recommend the serial version. The feature version is simply too choppy to have any story thru-line. However, the editing is slow with story pacing to match, in the serial. If you're a Tarzan fan (of the books, especially)--you'll find that this Tarzan is not the mono-syllabic dunce Hollywood liked to dish up--a welcome take on the character.

I watched the serial over several days--it's simply too long to take in one sitting--and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It takes some patience to keep your finger off the fast-forward button, but each chapter featured an action sequence that was usually worth watching. It's not for general consumption--most would find the quality too low to be very entertaining, but if you're a Tarzan fan, this is one worth checking out. Brix is quite an acrobat--he performed some moves that simply astonished me.

The sound is pretty scratchy in parts and some of the dialog is unintelligible...so keep your remote handy to pump up the volume from time to time.

If the other Tarzan Serials are almost as good, I want them in my DVD collection, too.