Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Cyril Hume (adaptation)

Release Date:

2 April 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

A Glorious New Thrill!

Plot:

A trader and his daughter set off in search of the fabled graveyard of the elephants in deepest Africa, only to encounter a wild man raised by apes.

Plot Keywords:

Jane | Tarzan | Ape | Africa | Elephant

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Neil Hamilton	...	Harry Holt
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Jane Parker
C. Aubrey Smith	...	James Parker
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Cutten
Forrester Harvey	...	Beamish
Ivory Williams	...	Riano
Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan

Also Known As:

Tarzan, the Ape Man (USA) (review title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Netherlands:AL | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

When Johnny Weissmuller was approached to play Tarzan, he was under contract with BVD to advertise its underwear and swimming trunks. BVD strenuously objected to its spokesman appearing in just a loincloth - the company only wanted him to appear wearing its product. In return for letting Weismuller play Tarzan, MGM allowed BVD to run ads featuring the studio's contract players in BVD swimsuits (including Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow and Marie Dressler). (source: "Tarzan of the Movies" by Gabe Esso)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jane falls in the precipice, she stays hanging in the rope, clearly in a free space. In following shots she appears with a boulder behind her.

Quotes:

Jane Parker: Thank you for protecting me.
Tarzan: Me?
Jane Parker: I said, thank you for protecting me.
Tarzan: [points at Jane] Me?
Jane Parker: No. I'm only "Me" for me.
Tarzan: [points at Jane] Me.
Jane Parker: No. To you, I'm "You."
Tarzan: [points at himself] You.
Jane Parker: No...
[Thinks for a second]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Man with One Red Shoe (1985)

Soundtrack:

Romeo and Juliet Overture

Tarzan The Ape Man/Tarzan And His Mate

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).