Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

About 10 years ago I initiated campaign to build and sustain a Website on the Internet. The reasons for this initiative were two, maybe three. Firstly, I made an unsuccessful career in Academia and University which bolstered for ten years or so my ambition and energy in the field. Second, I was unsuccessful as playmate and marriage candidate which left me a lonesome dove in middle age. Third, because I had always a large family around and was obsessed with the elderly and the procreation on my brother's side. So willy-nilly I departed with my illusions to become a hero in real life and plunged into the imaginary. In the time elapsed I realized that I have become not only older but wiser - that means, I understood that "globalization" is the state of art being connected while the previous level called "totalitarianism" was sponsored by isolated people and societies. Consequently, today Internet has become more important than Movies or Books taken separately and has exempted our culture for future 21st century.I now give realm to Tarzan and his author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The author (ERB) has been my favorite reading since my early age in the 1970s when I studied both Bulgarian and English languages. My mastery in those two languages is equal although I live in Eastern European country by default. In those years before end of Cold War my time was occupied by gathering Movies and Books and associating with Friends. Now in my 50s the last component is missing and I am left alone with myself and whatever artifacts of Culture modern age has to provide in order to survive. Otherwise it will disappear like Dinosaurs and World Wars.After those gloomy memories let me present my Tarzan collection (on 6 double-sided DVDs, 12 movies in total with Johnny Weissmuller). The guy was sort of a hero now-a-days people like Arnold Schwarzenegger have become. He has also similar biography saying he was born in America while in fact he came from Banat, Austro-Hungary (formerly). Weissmuller was trained swimmer and won 5 gold medals for US Olympic team (1924-1928). He then became a Movie star in 1930s and 1940s, keeping constantly in good physical shape because the Tarzan films expounded on the image of semi-naked white ape-man as apotheosis of American supremacy over Germans and other Human Races. Johnny Weissmuller died age 80 leaving the Tarzan legacy to other actors not one of which could beat his productivity or expressionism.Edgar Rice Burroughs adapted to screenwriters format themes from his Tarzan's novels (originally 24 books dealing with this hero). He also wrote several other series of books all of which dealing with imaginary worlds, the most popular being about John Carter of Mars (originally 11 books that follow adventures of dying Captain during the Civil War whose soul transcend on the Red Planet to become there a Warlord of galactic civilization). The recent movies on John Carter aren't half intriguing as the books themselves.Finally, have a list of the 12 original Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller the way they appeared chronologically: TARZAN, THE APE MAN (1932) TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934) TARZAN ESCAPES (1936) TARZAN FINDS A SON (1939) TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (1941) TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE (1942) TARZAN TRIUMPHS (1943) TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY (1943) TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS (1945) TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN (1946) TARZAN AND THE HUNTRESS (1947) TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS (1948)

I must say I was especially surprised at how much I loved this picture! Lavishly produced by MGM with some spectacular sets and dazzling adventure sequences, "Tarzan the Ape Man" certainly won me over big time. Johnny Weismuller would be forever typecast and appear in numerous Tarzan films, as the mostly mute, but impressively built Ape Man, who could communicate with animals in the African jungle, wrestle and defeat the likes of lions and tigers, swing from trees with ease, and swim incredibly fast (this skill needed when giant crocodiles are coming after you!) when needing to. Maureen O'Sullivan, a stunning petite beauty, would portray British daughter of an ivory hunter (played by C Aubrey Smith) Jane Parker in several Tarzan movies after this one. I thought some of her playful scenes with Weissbuller were quite erotic, such as when she falls into his arms while they are swimming (or up in a tree) or is whisked off her feet by Tarzan to be taken to safety. Neil Hamilton is her other more "suitable" potential love interest (a fellow hunter and colleague of Smith's James Parker), Harry Holt, who expresses his strong feelings for her before Tarzan comes on the scene. You get all kinds of jungle animals in this production, such as zebra and rhinos, with that always-present threat of lions and tigers roaming about looking to attack and eat their prey. I was stunned at how realistic Tarzan's battles with tigers (and a lion) were. The elephant charge at the end when Tarzan calls on them for help when the Parkers and Harry are held hostage by a menacing group of African dwarfs, dropping members of their party in a pit with an enraged gorilla, rampaging through the village is awesome. That one scene where Cheetah the orangutan is fleeing from the pursuit of a determined tiger is all kinds of suspenseful, done with no musical accompaniment (we know that if Cheetah is caught and killed that Tarzan will not know that his beloved Jane has been taken prisoner by the dwarfs, adding extra tension to the scene). Perhaps a bit long in the tooth, but the filmmakers get in all the essentials fans would come to expect from the Tarzan series. Weissmuller is quite a hunk and O'Sullivan is definitely his equal in regards to attractiveness—I can see why the pair was in such demand to make more of these movies. O'Sullivan must be given credit for having to carry Weissmuller in their many scenes together because of the Tarzan character's inability to communicate with her through spoken language. Plenty of harrowing escapes such as one instance where Parkers crew are attempting to paddle their rafts across a river as rhinos draw closer to them (and one raft is tipped over, with one African slave becoming croc din-din).

From the 1930s-1950s, there were a long succession of jungle pictures in theaters. And, for the most part, they sucked. These films featured grade-z actors and directors, significant use of bad stock footage (often of Asian or South American locations even though the films were supposedly set in Africa) and dumb writing. Because of this, after a while I stopped watching them--they are very dull indeed. However, MGM's "Tarzan the Ape Man" is an exception I am going to make--after all, instead of the usual poverty row studio, this one was made by the most prestigious studio on the planet. Instead of lousy actors, MGM pulled out their A-game with Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Hamilton (at the time a big star--though mostly forgotten today except for his role as 'Commissioner Gordon' on TVs "Batman") and C. Aubrey Smith. And, not surprisingly, they cast a new actor as Tarzan--as it would be hard to accept an actor with an established reputation as a jungle savage! So, they obtained the services of Olypmic champion swimmer Johnny Weismuller to play the lead. I couldn't wait to see a good jungle film! Would this fit the bill? The film skips the story of the Greystokes being lost in Africa with their young baby who would grow up to be Tarzan. Instead, it begins many years later when an African expedition happens to find the young man---quite by accident. But before Tarzan meets the entire expedition, he meets Jane and they hit it off in some cute scenes.On the negative side for this film, there is STILL the significant use of stock footage--some of which clearly doesn't fit the film (such as the scenes where they show various tribesmen who are filmed in very different locations than where the action is set). And, unfortunately, there are some guys dressed up as chimps--something that just looked cheap (though these were a bit better than the usual chimp suits). There also is a fake crocodile that looked pretty silly (conversely, the fake hippos in this same scene were pretty good). And, because of all this, I just can't understand reviews that gave the film 10s. On the positive, despite the cheesy stock footage, the acting was lovely and the script very good. These were able to make up for a lot of the film's deficiencies. The mountain hiking scene is very impressive for 1932--and a very nice use of trick photography and matte paintings. Also, a few real animals were used on the sets--such as a hippo and baby chimps and fights with real live lions--not dead stuffed ones (which I HAVE seen in other Tarzan films). It clearly skimped a bit here and there, but also did have impressive touches a better budget would allow. As a result, the film is significantly more watchable than the usual jungle film--including many of the later non-Johnny Weismuller films. It's worth seeing, as it's among the very best of the Tarzan films--if not the best.By the way, the follow-up film, "Tarzan and His Mate", is a notorious movie. That's because it features a very, very risqué nude swimming sequence--one that ran afoul of the new toughened Production Code (in an effort to make movies more family-friendly. This very nude scene was anything but family-friendly)! And, by the time it was ready for release, the code was being strengthened--and these changes forced the scene to be severely edited. Recently, the edited footage has been restored--and it is rather hot--even by today's standards--and certainly not what you'd expect in what is seen as a kids' film. Both this risqué and the previous film excel, however, as they are quite romantic--something that CAN'T be said of other jungle epics!Also, in "Tarzan the Ape Man", they use Asian elephants. While I am usually a stickler for realism (especially since the animals often shown in jungle films are just the wrong species for Africa), I don't object to this in this particular case, as African elephants are a lot more dangerous and I wouldn't want the studio to use these beasts (though some circuses have--at much greater risk).

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.