88% (2) Tarzan and His Mate 104 min, Passed, [Action, Adventure] [Cedric Gibbons, James C. McKay, Jack Conway] [20 Apr 1934]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win & 1 nomination.
Actors: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Hamilton, Paul Cavanagh
Writer: Edgar Rice Burroughs (based upon the characters created by), James Kevin McGuinness (screen play), Howard Emmett Rogers (adaptation), Leon Gordon (adaptation)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: In the first sequel to Tarzan, the Ape Man, Harry Holt returns to Africa to head up a large ivory expedition. This time he brings his womanizing friend Marlin Arlington. Holt also harbors ideas about convincing Jane to return to London. When Holt and Arlington show Jane some of the modern clothes and perfumes they brought from civilization, she is impressed but not enough to return. Tarzan wrestles every wild animal imaginable to protect Jane but when he disallows the expedition from plundering ivory from the elephant burial grounds, it is he who takes a bullet from Arlington's gun. Jane eventually believes that Tarzan is dead but he is nursed back to health by the apes. As Jane and the returning expedition are attacked by violent natives, we wonder if Tarzan can rescue them yet again.
Rotten Tomatoes: This film's plot is set in motion by avaricious ivory hunter Paul Cavanaugh, who arrives in the African jungle in search of the fabled Elephant's Graveyard. Accompanying Cavanaugh is Neil Hamilton the former fiance of Jane Porter. Jane entertains notions of returning to civilization, but opts to stay with Tarzan.
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86% (2) Tarzan the Ape Man 100 min, Passed, [Action, Adventure, Romance] [W.S. Van Dyke] [02 Apr 1932]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 72%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win & 1 nomination.
Actors: C. Aubrey Smith, Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Hamilton
Writer: Edgar Rice Burroughs (based upon the characters created by), Cyril Hume (adaptation), Ivor Novello (dialogue)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: James Parker and Harry Holt are on an expedition in Africa in search of the elephant burial grounds that will provide enough ivory to make them rich. Parker's beautiful young daughter Jane arrives unexpectedly to join them. Harry is obviously attracted to Jane and he does his best to help protect her from all the dangers that they experience in the jungle. Jane is terrified when Tarzan and his ape friends first abduct her, but when she returns to her father's expedition she has second thoughts about leaving Tarzan. After the expedition is captured by a tribe of violent dwarfs, Jane sends Cheetah to bring Tarzan to rescue them...
Rotten Tomatoes: The original and definitive Tarzan sound movie -- following several silent films on the same subject -- stuck fairly closely to the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller was cast by MGM as the European boy who was raised by gorillas in the jungle after he and his parents were shipwrecked and his parents died. Three ivory hunters lead an expedition into the jungle hoping to find the Elephant's Graveyard. They are James Parker (C. Aubrey Smith), his daughter Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), and her boyfriend Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton). They lose one of their servants crossing the rugged mountains, and eventually, they are ambushed by the ape man. Tarzan is heard with his lusty yell, then jumps out of the treetops and snatches away Jane. He releases her, then she saves him from the retaliation of her father and Harry. Soon she is in love with Tarzan, swinging with him through the trees and teaching him English in the famous "Me Tarzan, you Jane" exchange. This Hollywood classic set the stage for innumerable sequels and remakes and an eventual television series. ~ Rovi
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84% (2) Tarzan's New York Adventure 71 min, Passed, [Action, Adventure] [Richard Thorpe] [01 May 1942]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Johnny Sheffield, Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Virginia Grey
Writer: Myles Connolly (screenplay), William R. Lipman (screenplay), Myles Connolly (from a story by), Edgar Rice Burroughs (based upon the characters created by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Circus owner Buck Rand kidnaps Boy to perform in his show. He forces a pilot to fly him, Boy and his animal trainer out of the jungle. Tarzan and Jane follow them to New York. At a trial over custody of Boy, Tarzan becomes violent and is jailed. With the help of the pilot's girlfriend Tarzan (who has since escaped, diving off the Brooklyn Bridge) finds the circus. He and the circus elephants complete the classic rescue.
Rotten Tomatoes: This final "Tarzan" entry from the MGM assembly line is arguably one the least effective of the series, though it certainly has its adherents. It all begins when Boy (Johnny Sheffield), adopted son of Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), is kidnapped from the jungle by crooked circus promoters Rand (Charles Bickford) and Shields (Paul Kelly) and spirted off to America. This requires Tarzan and his mate to adopt "civilized" clothes and head to New York City, with the troublesome Cheeta the Chimpanzee along for the ride. There are some amusing moments as Tarzan tries to acclimate himself with the Big Apple, and some less amusing ones as Cheeta gets hold of a powder puff and lays waste to an expensive hotel room. The film's highlight, Tarzan's leap from the Brooklyn Bridge, comes at the film's halfway point, and accordingly things slow down considerably during the final reels. Tarzan's New Adventure works better as a stunt than as an official series entry, but it is still preferable to some of the so-so RKO Radio Tarzan films which were to follow. One racially questionable sequence involving black comedian Mantan Moreland has been understandably removed from some TV prints. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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70% (2) Tarzan Escapes 89 min, Passed, [Action, Adventure] [Richard Thorpe, John Farrow, James C. McKay, George B. Seitz, William A. Wellman] [06 Nov 1936]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, Rotten Tomatoes: 71%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Benita Hume, John Buckler, Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan
Writer: Cyril Hume (screen play), Edgar Rice Burroughs (based upon the characters created by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Jane's cousins Rita and Eric Parker arrive in Africa searching for her. Their uncle has died and has left her half a million pounds provided she agrees to return to civilization. A professional hunter, Captain Fry, quickly agrees to escort them to the escarpment where rumor has it there there lives a great white ape. He's intrigued when told that the great white ape is likely Tarzan and his plan is to capture him and put him on display. When they all find each other, Jane agrees to return to London if only to ensure that her cousins get their late uncle's wealth. Fry manipulates Tarzan into believing that Jane will never return only to trap him. When Jane and the others are taken prisoner by warring tribesmen, it's left to Tarzan to rescue them.
Rotten Tomatoes: Produced under the working title The Capture of Tarzan, Tarzan Escapes was completely refilmed before release, eviscerating several blood-curdling sequences involving killer pygmies, torture murders and vampire bats. Wearing considerably more clothing than in 1934's Tarzan and His Mate, Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) have taken up residence in their gadget-laden treehouse, replete with animal-powered elevator. Two of Jane's British relatives (Benita Hume and Willam Henry) come calling, together with an underhanded hunter (Hugh Buckler) who plans to kidnap Tarzan and put him on display in London. The Lord of the Jungle is briefly subdued, but escapes just in time to rescue Jane and her family from hostile natives, who practice the jolly ritual of spread-eagling their victims between two bent trees, then splitting the unfortunates in two (a harrowing but tastefully filmed sequence, later excerpted in 1941's Tarzan's Secret Treasure). Other than this grisly finale, Tarzan Escapes was strictly family fare. The familial aspects of the film extended into the film's credits; among the screenwriters were John Farrow, husband of leading lady Maureen O'Sullivan, and Cyril Hume, brother of supporting actress Benita Hume. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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69% (1) Tarzan's Secret Treasure 81 min, Unrated, [Action, Adventure, Romance] [Richard Thorpe] [01 Dec 1941]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Johnny Sheffield, Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Reginald Owen
Writer: Myles Connolly (original screenplay), Paul Gangelin (original screenplay), Edgar Rice Burroughs (based upon the characters created by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Tarzan's jungle home, and his family, Jane and Boy, are threatened by men greedy for gold.
Rotten Tomatoes: Judging by the number of times it's popped up on TV, Tarzan's Secret Treasure was one of the most popular of the MGM "Tarzan" pictures, though it's hardly the best. This time around, a group of gold hunters invade the domain of Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) and Boy (Johnny Sheffield). Expedition leader Professor Elliot (Reginald Owen) is an honorable man, but his assistants Medford (Tom Conway) and Vandemeer (Philip Dorn) are scoundrels, while the party's aggressively Irish general factotum O'Doul (Barry Fitzgerald) remains an enigma until the final reel. Thinking they've done away with Tarzan, Medford and Vandemeer force Jane and Boy to lead them through the jungle to a hidden gold mine, only to be captured by a hostile tribe which specializes in literally tearing its captives apart (via tastefully gruesome stock footage from 1936's Tarzan Escapes). Will ol' Tarz revive in time to rescue his loved ones from fierce tribesmen and even fiercer crocodiles? Perhaps the "campiest" of MGM's "Tarzan" entries, Tarzan's Secret Treasure is chock full of laughable vignettes, one or two of them intentional. Best line: When Jane asks Boy what he's been doing all day, the plucky youngster, who's just survived a series of hair-raising perils culminating with his nearly being burned at the stake by superstitious natives, replies "Oh, nothing much."
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69% (1) Tarzan Finds a Son! 82 min, Passed, [Action, Adventure, Family, Romance] [Richard Thorpe] [16 Jun 1939]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Ian Hunter, Johnny Sheffield, Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan
Writer: Cyril Hume (screen play), Edgar Rice Burroughs (based upon the characters created by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: A young couple die in a plane crash in the jungle. Their son is found by Tarzan and Jane who name him Boy and raise him as their own. Five years later a search party comes to find the young heir to millions of dollars. Jane agrees, against Tarzan's will, to lead them to civilization.
Rotten Tomatoes: When a plane crashes in the jungle, Tarzan and Jane find the sole survivor; an infant. After raising Boy for five years, inheritance-seeking relatives come for him after they find out he is alive and living in the jungle. An ill-bearing tribe captures the trio of jungle-ites when they attempt to adopt the child, but handy--and vocally gifted--Tarzan calls in Elephants for aid in the form of a stampede. Maureen O'Sullivan requested to end her Jane stint in this film, but was denied and the end to Tarzan Finds a Son was reshot so her character could remain in subsequent Tarzan films.
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