The surprise of this famous antique, the real Tarzan foundation pic in spite of a film history going back to the ‘teens, is what a rattling good adventure it still is. Often beautiful, with leftover African footage from TRADER HORN/’31 set alongside painterly trick matte shot landscapes, it’s all kept in constant motion in W. S. Van Dyke’s pacey direction. Maureen O’Sullivan, comely daughter of African explorer C. Aubrey Smith, joins him and partner Neil Hamilton on a hunt into forbidden territory to find the legendary Elephant Graveyard with its fortune in ivory. But Hamilton’s crisp elocution isn’t enough to keep them safe from jungle danger, especially those river alligators & hippos. Yikes! No, only the yodeling call of Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan can help. And he’ll claim O’Sullivan’s Jane in return. (The story is at times remarkably like next year’s KING KONG.*) Add on a bit of back & forth between civilized gents; wild beasts (real except for a few men in Great Ape suits); a wonderful rescue of a young elephant by Tarzan & his elephant work force; plus Cheetah, the best actor in the pic (chimp or human); before a truly terrifying climax involving a savage tribe of dwarfs. (Not pygmies, we are told, apparently blacked-up midgets though not in stylized BlackFace makeup. So, less or more objectionable? ) Absurd, exciting, sexy, unmissable.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: With a lighter touch, fantastic tone & fewer scares, the sequel TARZAN AND HIS MATE/’34 is to the original as FRANKENSTEIN/’31 is to BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN/’35.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Before KING KONG, Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack made CHANG/’27, a fictional African adventure made with documentary techniques and an obvious influence here, especially for its climactic elephant stampede.
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