Tarzan Escapes (1936)

Arriving in Africa from England are handsome medical student William Henry (as Eric Parker) and his attractive sister Benita Hume (as Rita). They are on the continent to find cousin Maureen O'Sullivan (Jane) and bring her back to civilization, where they hope she will claim an inheritance of half a million pounds. Living among the apes by choice, Ms. O'Sullivan mated with jungle man Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan) in "Tarzan and His Mate" (1934). Jane's cousins consider themselves lucky to find safari guide John Butler (as Captain Fry), but he secretly plans to cage Tarzan and display him as an exhibit... Not much happens here that hasn't happened before, some of it even in the previous MGM Tarzan adventures. The plot about bringing Tarzan and Jane back to civilization by hook or by crook didn't work before, and it won't work again. The title "Tarzan Escapes" should be comforting. As this installment was released after the enforcement of the Hays Production Code, MGM had O'Sullivan wear a much more modest costume. This isn't a total loss, however, as O'Sullivan is still sexy and beautiful. This was noticed by writer/director John Farrow, one of those brought in to patch up production problems.***** Tarzan Escapes (11/6/36) Richard Thorpe ~ Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, William Henry, Benita Hume

Nasty hunter Captain Fry (John Buckler) leads an expedition to Tarzan's stomping ground with the aim of capturing the ape-man and exhibiting him in England. Unaware of Fry's nefarious intentions, Jane's cousins, Eric and Rita (William Henry and Benita Hume), tag along for the journey hoping to convince their relative to return to England in order to help them claim the fortune that has been left to them in a will.It's back to the Mutia escarpment for more jungle action in the third of the Weissmuller Tarzan films; unfortunately, this time around, much of what made the first two films so much fun—the gloriously un-PC violence and steamy sexuality—is missing thanks to the introduction of the Hays code, Hollywood's moral guidelines.So instead of Maureen O'Sullivan giving us an eyeful in her animal skin bikini, we have her wearing a much more demure dress, and when the film gets down to the dispatching of native bearers, much of the nastiness happens off-screen; the film also suffers due to a troubled production which saw much of the original film being re-shot and re-edited. It all amounts to a rather tame offering that lacks the thrills and spills of Weissmuller's earlier outings as the affable ape-man (even the nasty execution via tree that horrified me as a child was less gruesome than I remembered).Still, the film remains fairly watchable thanks to the chemistry between Weissmuller and O'Sullivan, some funny antics from Cheetah the Chimp (she teases lion cubs, attempts to ride a zebra, and laughs as comedy relief Rawlins tries to master swinging on a vine), the impressive sight of Tarzan's 'town-house' (complete with elephant powered elevator!), and one particularly bizarre scene featuring a weird dodo-like bird (which I presume must have been performed by a man with no legs, walking on his hands in a feathered suit!!!).6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

A strange entry in the MGM series, 'Tarzan Escapes' eschews a predictable plot and at times wants to be a serious melodrama about Tarzan and Jane's relationship. Well, as serious as any such plot could be, anyway. The film reportedly was re-shot extensively because of excessive gore, and there are hints of such in the released version, both in the way certain natives are killed and in a cave where large, deadly lizards dwell. Perhaps all of this and more contribute to the weird way the film progresses, alternating between the aforementioned Tarzan/Jane soap opera and much jungle violence. There is also excessive comic relief provided by Herbert Mundin. Over the course of the series, particularly the episodes with Johnny Weismuller and Maureen O'Sullivan, it's made clear time and again that Tarzan and Jane are madly in love. One can certainly see why the Apeman is ape over Jane, but why on earth Jane feels the same for him is never adequately explained. No matter how many times she tries to explain it, it just doesn't make sense that a beautiful, sophisticated English woman should prefer living in a tree, barefoot and wearing a skimpy animal skin, with a monkey and a guy who has a vocabulary of about twenty words. It is hinted at, sometimes pretty heavy-handedly, that the jungle love they share beats a one-night stand in London any day, so maybe that's it. In any event, their unbreakable if inexplicable bond is tested in 'Tarzan Escapes,' when Jane agrees to return to England briefly with her two cousins to deal with some legal matters regarding a will. Tarzan doesn't take it well at all; he's convinced she's dumping him for good and will never return. He mopes around the jungle while Cheetah tries to cheer him up. Meanwhile, Captain Fry (John Buckler), leader of the safari, has plans to kidnap Tarzan and take him back to England as a circus attraction. Yeah, right. Give up that crazy dream. Fry eventually runs afoul of a dangerous tribe; Tarzan comes to the rescue and saves them all but realizing Fry's treachery, forces him back into a cave where those killer lizards reside, and that's the end of Fry. Though things were not nearly as standardized as they would be in later MGM films, we see the beginnings of recurring ideas and situations, such as the elaborate treehouse and its Flintstones-style amenities, like the elephant-operated elevator. (Why Tarzan needs an elevator when he can just run up the tree ten times as fast is another good question. It must be for Jane.) The production still bears the creakiness of early 30's film-making, despite an impressive use of varied sets and locales; there was a very noticeable change starting with the next film in the series. From then on, the MGM polish became unmistakable and would remain for the rest of the run. 'Tarzan Escapes', perhaps because of its extensive reworking, stands apart from other entries in the series and taken on its own terms, is very much worth seeing.

Let me say two things right off the "bat:"1 - This is one of the better Tarzan films; 2 - The title is a misnomer. Tarzan doesn't get trapped anywhere to escape from until the last 20 minuets and he isn't in a cage long enough to warrant that title.This film also is noted for it being chopped down a bit at the last minute. Apparently, a scene or two was a little too scary for preview audiences (giant bats in a swamp, for instance) so they edited it out at the last minute. They didn't re-shoot the material to make the transition smooth, so there are a few holes in the story's last 15 minutes. But it's nothing major and doesn't detract from the interesting adventure.Slowly browsing through the recently-released "Tarzan Collection" DVD pack has made me appreciate these films all over again. They were really great entertainment. There were very few, if any, boring lulls in these films and some of the African wildlife footage is still amazing to this day!Tarzan Escapes is considered one of the best in the series, even if some parts were cut. It's very entertaining with the typical mix of adventure, humor, good guys vs. bad guys, romance and the like. In this film, elephants are the heroes, coming to the defense of Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller).; the humor is provided by a member of the safari team ; Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) doesn't appear the first half hour and the action ends with some great film-noir like photography in a swamp (minus the bats). Along the way are an assortment of wild animals and birds, always interesting to view. It's a fast-moving 89 minutes.