Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

Anything with Johnny Weissmueller as Tarzan doesn't disappoint and that includes when he first appeared and all things subsequent to that. He was and is the definitive Tarzan even though his character, story lines and adventures can be flawed and dated. It doesn't matter because the spirit of it all is captured quite nicely allowing the imaginations of the viewing audience to do the rest. Normally I would object to the Director taking this approach but back then it helped capture the audience and hold them making them come back for more. I was amazed to see so little clothing on Jane in this film no doubt making it a must see more than once back in the day LOL. Of course today, they have taken nudity to ho-hum heights even perverting it where it becomes distracting and tactless and not entertaining so much. To me, it cheapens the movie going experience and sells short both the viewer and actors. As to the animals in this movie, they religiously obey Tarzan and are literally at his beck & call. He watches over them and they reciprocate quite nicely. In Tarzans element, he is fearless and he should be for nothing in his world threatens him. That's why he hates guns as they allow inferior men to compete in the world of real men. They have a Tarzan collection of all of Johnny's films of which I own and highly recommend too. BTW...he took some of his money and built himself a nice little home with a swimming pool that circles the property. Pictures can be scene online if searched. Man that must have been fun to say the least. Recommend a meal or snack while watching with a tasty drink for maximum enjoyment. Let your inner Tarzan (or Jane) out to play....

Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) decides to return to the African jungle on a safari to secure the tusks in the elephant graveyard, along with a partner, Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanaugh) and 50 slaves. Martin loves women and has spent everything he had to support the safari, so the ivory is top priority but he's more than a bit interested in Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) when she and Tarzan show up to help guide them to the elephant graveyard (not knowing their plans to rape the bones of the dead elephants, the graveyard a sacred place he respects wholeheartedly). When Tarzan learns from Jane what Harry and Martin's true intentions are, he'll not carry them all the way; Martin, desperate, shoots an elephant, the expedition following the wounded animal to the graveyard. Tarzan, though, has a whole fleet of elephants at his disposal, using them to charge upon Harry and Martin's men, who have tusks in hand, not allowing them to carry off what belongs in the graveyard. So Martin will see no alternative than to get rid of the nuisance standing in the way of a fortune, Tarzan.Plenty of eyepopping Pre-Code moments such as Jane's animal skins bikini, her underwater naked swim with Tarzan, the hinting of adultery between Martin and a rich man's wife on the boat ride into Africa, Martin's sexual innuendo with Jane, the tent silhouette of a naked Jane trying on a dress Holt bought for her as a gift to wear (hoping to convince her to come back with him to England), some stunning savagery by two sets of heathen tribes (the regular cannibal tribe Gibonas show up again to take out some of Harry and Martin's men with spears; they also butcher another nefarious duo of white American hunters who stole Harry's map to the elephant graveyard and took some of his slaves), one particular tribe hunt and eat lions (using one of Harry's men as bait for the lions who follow the sound of their horns blowing loudly), with Tarzan using his knife on save missions to kill a crocodile attempting a death roll (actually knocking Jane across the head with its tale, her remarkably able to recover from such a blow), a rhino rumbling towards Jane (and killing Cheetah (the older Cheetah, which is a man in a costume), and a lion (that also threatens Jane).I've used lots of descriptions for O'Sullivan in the past for my user reviews regarding two other Tarzan movies, but in this film she's just plain sexy. This movie goes out of its way to point out just how sexy Maureen is; three men covet her, and it is understandable why. She has lots of qualities, besides her beauty, such as class, courage, vibrant personality, intelligence, resourcefulness, and loyalty to the man she loves. Like in other Tarzan movies, there are those outsiders who want to "take Jane back to a civilized world", and while she does have a hankering to return, we see that she is content living in the jungle. Also, the jungle is both presented at times as idyllic and dangerous. There is *always* a threat; see the different times Cheetah, the younger orangutan, has to evade the pursuit of a tiger or lion (or rhino). Jane is the very definition of "damsel in distress", although, to her credit, she defends herself the best she can (see her at the end, using flames to ward off a lion and tiger drawing closer to her) until her hunky hero in the loin cloth arrives, knife from sheath to the rescue. Plenty of jungle adventure and suspenseful ordeals for Tarzan and Jane in "Tarzan and His Mate". As expected, Martin cannot just shoot Tarzan, lie to Jane that he saw her man losing a battle with a crocodile, and go unharmed for his misdeeds. As far as unpredictable delights, you have Cheetah riding an ostrich, a hippo carrying a wounded Tarzan to shore from the river where he landed after being shot, and angry apes (men in costumes) hurling boulders at Harry's men as they were climbing up the mountain barrier, Mutia Encarpment.

Tarzan and His Mate was the fourth significant Tarzan movie overall (going back to Elmo Lincoln's portrayal in 1918) and the second one that featured Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. This incredible movie has so much excitement that one practically has to be strapped to his seat or else become part of the action! Fantastic battle sequences present an awful burst of African carnage and also feature wild-beast fights to the death, whether humans are pitted against humans, humans against animals or animals against animals. There is even an "artistic" Pre-Code nude swim. Asian elephants, though smaller than the African, are used because of their easier handling. One can easily spot the plastic coverings that are used to wrap their smaller ears. Jane Parker's jilted lover Harry returns with his charming but devious hunter friend Martin to locate the ivory-rich elephant graveyard (fictional) that Harry had visited earlier (Tarzan the Ape Man, 1932), when he was the sole survivor. Martin tells Harry that they must succeed, as "I am broke." But Harry and Martin's map is stolen by another pair of white hunters, who get a jump start on the "legitimate" group, taking even 50 of their baggage bearers. Undaunted, Harry and Martin make their final preparations and begin the tortuous 14-day journey through swamp, high ground, jungle, and waterfall. Martin exemplifies his character early-on when he cold-bloodily shoots to death a bearer who refuses to tread onto the Mutia Escarpment, a land inhabited by the fearless Gabonee. As the hunters approach the Mutia, they find that the "illegitimate" expedition has been wiped out, dispatched by the Gabonee. The latter soon attack, and in an absolutely massive blood-letting scene, use various means to kill off the bearers by the score (this sight must have been horrifying to 1930s theater-goers). The leaders and surviving bearers scarcely escape the fierce Gabonee, who have white-painted heads and fear neither modern weapons nor men, black or white.The expedition has barely recovered by this reverse when it moves into the high ground. More bearers plunge to their deaths after falling from a perilous precipice. Suddenly boulders are flung at them from above by mountain apes, and still more men die until the aggressors are called off by Tarzan's coming. Jane soon follows, and introductions are made. Noticing that Martin has sustained a left arm wound from a poison-arrow, Jane sucks out the blood. Martin smiles lustfully. At camp Harry (encouraged by Martin) tries fruitlessly to entice Jane to return to the modern world by giving her feminine finery and jewelry. Carried away by Jane's beauty, Martin rapaciously kisses her fully on the lips, before she pushes him away. She blames herself equally. Jane's famous nude swimming scene with Tarzan follows (the actual swimmer is a double). Soon there is trouble with river hippos, and fights between Tarzan and a lion, and between Tarzan and a rhino. The rhino's attack results in the demise of Big Cheetah, although Little Cheetah survives. Later on the Ape Man tackles a nearly prehistoric-sized crocodile.When Tarzan discovers that the intention of the explorers is not hunting but ivory taking, he refuses further help. True to form, Martin fires upon and wounds an elephant, knowing the dying beast will lead the hunters to the graveyard. But after they arrive, they are blocked by Tarzan and a large herd of elephants. To extricate the safari from a difficult situation, Martin deviously feigns a change of heart, saying that he realizes Tarzan's noble aim of leaving the grave-site intact. Later, while Tarzan is searching for food he is shot by Martin. Tarzan, though, is saved by a hippo, and then afterward revived by a large group of chimpanzees. Meanwhile Martin tells Jane that Tarzan was surprised and eaten by a crocodile. Understanding that she would be alone in the jungle, Jane reluctantly joins the expedition that has taken as much ivory as could be carried. Little Cheetah catches up and demonstratively tries to take Jane away to Tarzan. "Tarzan's alive," says Jane.Just then they hear the sound of JuJu drums. Quickly the fierce JuJu surround the safari. Jane tells Harry and Martin that they can make a run and seek refuge at nearby high rocks, and that their escape may be facilitated because the JuJu do not know guns. Nevertheless, although they shoot their way out, they sustain absolutely frightful losses. Only Jane, the two white hunters, and two black African bearers make it to the rocks. But a dropped ammunition box lies on the ground near the unmoved JuJu, out of the survivor's reach. Then the JuJu, with their loud horns, summon lions, of which vast numbers arrive. Little Cheetah escapes in order to fetch help from Tarzan. Faithful bearer Saidi bravely tries to retrieve the ammo box, but is captured and tied up to a stake. And, in a poignant scene unusual for the time, white Harry heroically dies trying to save the life of a doomed black man. The lions soon get the last bearer and now-regretful Martin; there are no expedition survivors. Meanwhile the chimps led by Cheetah return and attack the JuJus in the trees, knocking them to the lions below. Thinking quickly, temporarily unprotected Jane lights a quick fire to separate her from the lions. But she has little fuel, and when the fire subsides she briefly lies down motionless to confuse the animals. Her rescue is complete when Tarzan arrives with his elephant allies that attack the lions. Surprisingly, some of the lions counterattack. The elephants, though, crush them and give chase to the survivors. In the end Tarzan and Jane happily lead the elephants, carrying the ivory, back to the graveyard. The nine star-rating applies to the 103-minute version, better than the 93-minute version, but slightly shorter than the 105-minute version that apparently circulates. Alhough this is a great movie, it is too violent for younger viewers.

(Warning! This contains spoiler!) The costume Jane wears is just a loincloth, of the same type Tarzan wears. It consists of a belt and a piece of cloth that goes between the legs and with enough material to allow for a flap in front and another one in the back. Therefore, Jane's costume does not consist, as erroneously pointed out, of just two flaps hanging from a belt and nothing underneath. The pubes are perfectly well covered; most of the area of the buttocks is also covered. This inner part of the loincloth that goes between the legs is no narrower than the thong bathing suits or thong underwear, and certainly no narrower than a g-string garment. If you were to look at it from the side, the loincloth would look roughly like a letter M: the two vertical lines make out the front and back flaps and the two slanted lines make out the "thong." In the scene with the lions, near the end of the movie (starting at 1:38:13), Jane's pubes are not exposed at all. The thing is that the movie is black and white and in the scene mentioned the "thong" shows up very pale gray and it may look as if it does not exist at all, so people say "Jane's pubes are exposed." Well, nothing of this sort. Examine other scenes where the "thong" is clearly shown: • At 24:31 Jane jumps and lands into Tarzan's arms. You can see the loincloth's inner portion as the back flop has moved sideways to Jane's right and uncovers the inner portion. • At 54:43, as the leopard approaches, Jane gets up. A bit of the right part of the "thong" is revealed. • At 55:22 (scene with the crocodile, as Jane flips and turns, the "thong" shows clearly. Also at 55:35-39. • At 1:26:14, as Jane and the hunters run from the tribe, her back flap lifts up and the "thong" shows clearly. • Just after the scene with the lions, Jane climbs onto the rocks and at 1:38:48 you can see a bit of the "thong" from underneath.Each of the few times the "thong" shows lasts very little. And the pubes are always concealed.