Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Myles Connolly (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

May 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

In All The World No Thrill Like This!

Plot:

Tarzan and Jane go to New York to rescue Boy after he is kidnapped into a circus.

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Animal Trainer | Brooklyn Bridge | Jungle | Elephant

Cast

Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Jane Parker
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy
Virginia Grey	...	Connie Beach
Charles Bickford	...	Buck Rand
Paul Kelly	...	Jimmie Shields, Pilot
Chill Wills	...	Manchester Montford
Cy Kendall	...	Col. Ralph Sergeant
Russell Hicks	...	Judge Abbotson
Howard C. Hickman	...	Blake Norton, Tarzan's Lawyer (as Howard Hickman)
Charles Lane	...	Gould Beaton, Sargent's Lawyer
Miles Mander	...	Portmaster
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matthew Boulton	...	Portmaster (scenes deleted)
Wade Boteler	...	First Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Bill Cartledge	...	Messenger with Cablegram (uncredited)
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Ken Christy	...	Second Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Inez Cooper	...	Young Woman (uncredited)
Jules Cowles	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Marjorie Deanne	...	Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Dudley Dickerson	...	Porter (uncredited)
John Dilson	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
William Forrest	...	Inspector at Airport (uncredited)
Willie Fung	...	Sun Lee, the Chinese Tailor (uncredited)
Anne Jeffreys	...	Young Woman (uncredited)
Darby Jones	...	Swahili Chief (uncredited)
Eddie Kane	...	Eddie, the Headwaiter (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Hotel Doorman (uncredited)
Paul Kruger	...	Circus Roustabout (uncredited)
Eddie Lee	...	Sun Lee's Assistant (uncredited)
James B. Leong	...	Sun Lee's Measuring Assistant (uncredited)
Elmo Lincoln	...	Circus Roustabout (uncredited)
George Magrill	...	Circus Roustabout (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe	...	Second Cab Driver (uncredited)
Patrick McVey	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Harry Monty	...	(uncredited)
Mantan Moreland	...	Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
Dorothy Morris	...	Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Philip Morris	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
George Offerman Jr.	...	Bellboy (uncredited)
Ted Oliver	...	Policeman in Patrol Car (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Circus Roustabout (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	Mike, an Airport Clerk (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Circus Roustabout Driving Car (uncredited)
Natalie Thompson	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Policeman Telephoning (uncredited)
Jasper Weldon	...	Janitor (uncredited)
Dick Wessel	...	First Cab Driver (uncredited)
Florence Wright	...	Young Woman (uncredited)
Victor Zimmerman	...	Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Thorpe

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edgar Rice Burroughs		characters
Myles Connolly		screenplay
Myles Connolly		story
Gordon Kahn		uncredited
William R. Lipman		writer

Produced by
Frederick Stephani	....	producer

Original Music by
David Snell

Cinematography by
Sidney Wagner

Film Editing by
Gene Ruggiero

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Howard Shoup		(gowns) (as Shoup)

Production Management
Art Smith	....	unit manager (uncredited)

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

Art Department
Howard Campbell	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects (as Arnold Gillespie)
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Stunts
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Sol Levy	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Vera Van	....	singing voice: Virginia Grey, "I'm Through with Love" (uncredited)

Other crew
George Emerson	....	animal trainer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1942) (USA) (theatrical) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)
• ClassicLine (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (video)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Tarzan Against the World (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #5040) | Norway:7

Filming Locations:

Wakulla Springs, Florida, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This was the first film shown free to servicemen overseas. A 16 mm copy was sent to Iceland and shown 10 May 1942.

Goofs:

Continuity: Tarzan gives the spear to Boy handle up and blade down. When Boy takes it, next shot, it is reversed.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Boy: Cheetah! What is it?
Jane: Cheetah must be seeing things. What is it, Tarzan? What is it?
Tarzan: Uguna. Strange sound in sky. Big. Far off.
Jane: I don't hear anything.
Tarzan: Tarzan hear. Cheetah hear. Elephant hear.
Boy: Now I hear it. Like a great wind coming.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Brooklyn Bridge (1981)

Soundtrack:

I'm Thru with Love

Could this be the best Tarzan film of all time?

Ask anyone over the age of 30 who is the best Tarzan and you may receive several answers. Ron Ely would be a popular choice; so would Gordon Scott. But I'll lay good money that the top answer would be Johnny Weissmuller.

By the time Tarzan's New York Adventure came to be made, Weissmuller had made the loin cloth his own and something new had to be done. As sacrilegious as it sounds, it was the taking of Tarzan out of his own environment that made this the best in his long list of jungle capers.

The plot is unimportant. Tarzan's son is taken away to New York and he travels there, accompanied by Jane, to bring him back. But it's the way that the whole premise is handled that ensures that this film will remain in the memory (it's remained in mine ever since I saw it, aged 7). You know Tarzan will win but you don't expect the way that he does it.

Weissmuller was a fine actor with little to say. And here, he doesn't need to say much. There's action, drama, and humour - everything one needs. Even the effects (apart from an occasional speeded up film shot) are sufficiently effective.