Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Cyril Hume (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 June 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

Super Story of a Super Man ! The Titan of all Tarzans . . . Giant of all jungle thrills . . . worth the years it took to make !

Plot:

Tarzan's jungle home, and his family, Jane and Boy, are threatened by men greedy for gold.

Plot Keywords:

Jungle | Heir | Stampede | Greed | Inheritance

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Jane Parker
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy (as John Sheffield)
Ian Hunter	...	Mr. Austin Lancing
Henry Stephenson	...	Sir Thomas Lancing
Frieda Inescort	...	Mrs. Lancing
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Mr. 'Sandee' Sande
Laraine Day	...	Mrs. Richard Lancing
Morton Lowry	...	Mr. Richard Lancing
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gavin Muir	...	Pilot (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Thorpe

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edgar Rice Burroughs		characters
Cyril Hume		screenplay

Produced by
Sam Zimbalist	....	producer

Original Music by
William Axt		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Leonard Smith		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Gene Ruggiero
Frank Sullivan

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dolph Zimmer	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Urie McCleary	....	associate art director
Glen Barnes	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Stunts
Harry Monty	....	stunt double: Johnny Sheffield (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Sol Levy	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Delos Jewkes	....	voice double: Tarzan's yell (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (as Loew's Inc.)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus  elephants for stampede provided by (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Tarzan in Exile (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #5299) | Norway:7 (1959)

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In the original script Jane was to have died (Maureen O'Sullivan wanted out of the Tarzan series). Fan protest forced a last-minute rewrite in which Jane recovers from her near-fatal wound, admitting she had been wrong to disobey Tarzan.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mr. Richard Lancing: Wildebeest again.
Mrs. Richard Lancing: I think we've seen about a million today.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Pulp (1972)

One of the best Tarzan films.

What is it about the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films that seem to be as entertaining today as they were when first released. In this installment a plane crashes in Africa and the only survivor is a baby which is rescued by a gang of Chimpanzees. Old Cheetah quickly gets control of the infant and swings back to Tarzan and Janes place and presents his find to the man of the treehouse. Tarzan and Jane adopt the child naming him simply "Boy" and quickly he is grown from baby to a five year old in the form of Johnny Sheffield complete with his own jungle yell. Outsiders from the civilized world who are boys blood relatives show up and that means trouble. Jane, Boy and his (evil) relatives wind up as captives of a hostile tribe and Tarzan with Cheetah and the help of most of Africas Elephant population arrive in time to save the day. This film is now sixty years old but doesn't seem dated or tired. Perhaps it's Weissmullers simple dialog and acting which did it. "Cheetah find" is his answer when Jane questions where the baby came from. "Food" is what he tells his guests who have lunch in the treehouse and asks him what the name of the fruit that they are enjoying is. When the baby won't stop crying Tarzan sticks an over sized (what looks to be) chicken leg in the infants face thinking maybe something to eat will do the trick. Perhaps it was Weissmullers swimming scenes which did it or the antics of Cheetah or maybe the classic Tarzan yell. Whatever it was the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films seem to be the best and this is one of them.