Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
SparkMore
n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.
Lucia Ayala
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
grahamcarter-1
In 1932 M.G.M's Tarzan, The Ape Man cost $652,675 to make, and took $2.54 million at the box office. Ideas for scenes in a follow up toyed with the idea of a fight with a huge mechanical crocodile, and a spectacular jungle fire. For the day it was to be complex, involving such devices as matte paintings, miniatures, split screens, and rear projection. The Hollywood Reporter announced that W. S. Van Dyke (director of the first Tarzan) was to co-direct with Art Director Cedric Gibbons. By July 1, 1933, Van Dyke was dropped from the project, and Gibbons was announced as the film's sole director. In September 1933 however, the Hollywood Reporter announced that Jack Conway was to take over the direction of one of Gibbons' units.Cedric Gibbons was the house Art Director at M.G.M, so, how did he come to be assigned the job of directing Tarzan & His Mate (and as you shall soon find out), end up not directing it, and yet still get credit? I've wondered if because his surname is Gibbons, they thought it would be a good gag. The 'Gibbon' is a lesser ape, and a great master of brachiation. This is the act of swinging from branch to branch for distances up to 15 metres at speeds of up to 56 km/h. They are the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, non-flying mammals. Makes me think of Tarzan.Filming on Tarzan & His Mate began August 2nd, 1933. Joining Weissmuller for the sequel were Rod La Rocque (who had just appeared in S.O.S. Iceberg, co-starring Leni Riefenstahl), Murray Kinnell and Frank Reicher (one of 17 films he appeared in 1934!). Problems soon developed. After 3 ½ weeks of shooting, the first unit was shut down; Gibbons had shot a lot of excess footage, and costs were spiraling. When it resumed, Gibbons was no longer the director. In his place was Jack Conway as dialogue director with James C. McKay directing a number of animal sequences. In August the Hollywood Reporter announced that Rod La Rocque had been pulled from the cast, and replaced by Paul Cavanagh in the role of Martin Arlington, 'because of miscasting'. The roles of Tom Pierce and Van Ness were changed, and Frank Reicher and Murray Kinnell were replaced by Desmond Roberts and William Stack, respectively. M.G.M had spent $1,279,142 on the production. In early April 1934, after previews the film had fourteen-and-a-half minutes cut. Although a hit, it did not earn as much as the first Tarzan film in the United States. Internationally it was a huge success, despite the fact that it was banned in Germany by the NAZI's on the grounds that it showed a "Nordic man in brutal surroundings."Tarzan & His Mate is a direct sequel to Tarzan, The Ape Man (1932), with the film picking up a year after the events of the previous film. Jane is happily living in the jungle side by side with her "husband." The first film began with a safari arriving in Tarzan's jungle, and during the rest of that picture Jane learns about Tarzan. In the sequel a safari arrives in Tarzan's jungle, and during the rest of the picture we learn about Jane.Harry Holt from the first movie returns to Africa looking for ivory. His friend the cad Martin Arlington joins him. Holt's intention is to return Jane to "civilization," not that she's particularly interested. Arlington attempts to murder Tarzan when he refuses to help them find a fortune in ivory at the elephant's graveyard. They confront wild animals and the 'Men-Who-Eat- Lions' tribe. With the help of his jungle companions Tarzan protects his land from the evils of these greedy 'civilised' men.The film is remembered today largely because of O'Sullivan's revealing costumes; mainly a halter-top and loincloth that leave her thighs and hips exposed. As Jane is a 'lady' from England (not Baltimore as in the novel), her wearing such an outfit is particularly provocative, symbolising her casual sexuality. In this pre-Hayes Office film Jane sleeps in the nude, swims nude, at one point is stranded nude in the jungle, and she is seen nude in silhouette by other men when dressing in a well lit tent.The scene that caused all the commotion is the so-called 'underwater ballet' sequence. Tarzan and Jane swim after Tarzan pushes Jane in the water, her clothing being ripped from her by a tree branch as she falls leaving her completely nude. When she rises out of the water, Jane flashes a bare breast. Hypocritically though it was okay for dark skinned extras; witness the topless 'native' girls at the start of the film. The new Production Code Office blew its top. O'Sullivan's scant costume was too provocative. And the swimming scene had to go; interestingly Dolores del Rio, the wife of Cedric Gibbons, had a risqué nude swim in Bird Of Paradise (1932), a sequence that is said to have inspired this one.By April 24, 1934, all prints of Tarzan & His Mate were changed. The New York Censors also insisted that the scene involving Arlington lowering his body into a portable bathtub be eliminated as well!The trade papers of the day were full of stories of the long and complicate shoot; 'The Hollywood Reporter' declared the production schedule on Tarzan & His Mate (six months), was the longest in cinematic history! I think it was worth it; it may not be as important a document of the time as Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph Of The Will the following year, however I have rarely had as much fun re-watching a film as I had with Tarzan & His Mate.
bkoganbing
Tarzan And His Mate was the second of MGM's Tarzan series and we find Maureen O'Sullivan settled down to jungle bliss with Johnny Weissmuller without benefit of clergy. In the first film Tarzan The Ape Man, Jane after her father died decided to stay with Tarzan and her guide and suitor Neil Hamilton went back to civilization.Now Hamilton is back with a partner, wolfish Paul Cavanaugh who is in business with Hamilton to discover the elephant's graveyard, that legendary place where the elephants go to die and there's tons of ivory to be picked up. That's a lot of piano keys. He's hoping to enlist Tarzan's help with Jane's help.As it involves old friends she gets Tarzan to agree. Hamilton still likes her, but keeps a distance. Not Cavanaugh who is acting in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition. This is the only Tarzan film I remember where Tarzan's domestic bliss is threatened.Lots of Trader Horn stock footage is used and effectively. Best scenes involve Tarzan taking on a rhino and the final climax where O'Sullivan, Cavanaugh, and Hamilton are all threatened by lions being sicced on them by a hostile tribe. Nicely done if a bit way out.Tarzan And His Mate also features the famous nude swim scene with Weissmuller and O'Sullivan. When the Code came in this scene was edited out, but fortunately restored for these less puritanical times. Definitely one of the better Tarzan features.
Scarecrow-88
Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) decides to return to the African jungle on a safari to secure the tusks in the elephant graveyard, along with a partner, Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanaugh) and 50 slaves. Martin loves women and has spent everything he had to support the safari, so the ivory is top priority but he's more than a bit interested in Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) when she and Tarzan show up to help guide them to the elephant graveyard (not knowing their plans to rape the bones of the dead elephants, the graveyard a sacred place he respects wholeheartedly). When Tarzan learns from Jane what Harry and Martin's true intentions are, he'll not carry them all the way; Martin, desperate, shoots an elephant, the expedition following the wounded animal to the graveyard. Tarzan, though, has a whole fleet of elephants at his disposal, using them to charge upon Harry and Martin's men, who have tusks in hand, not allowing them to carry off what belongs in the graveyard. So Martin will see no alternative than to get rid of the nuisance standing in the way of a fortune, Tarzan.Plenty of eyepopping Pre-Code moments such as Jane's animal skins bikini, her underwater naked swim with Tarzan, the hinting of adultery between Martin and a rich man's wife on the boat ride into Africa, Martin's sexual innuendo with Jane, the tent silhouette of a naked Jane trying on a dress Holt bought for her as a gift to wear (hoping to convince her to come back with him to England), some stunning savagery by two sets of heathen tribes (the regular cannibal tribe Gibonas show up again to take out some of Harry and Martin's men with spears; they also butcher another nefarious duo of white American hunters who stole Harry's map to the elephant graveyard and took some of his slaves), one particular tribe hunt and eat lions (using one of Harry's men as bait for the lions who follow the sound of their horns blowing loudly), with Tarzan using his knife on save missions to kill a crocodile attempting a death roll (actually knocking Jane across the head with its tale, her remarkably able to recover from such a blow), a rhino rumbling towards Jane (and killing Cheetah (the older Cheetah, which is a man in a costume), and a lion (that also threatens Jane).I've used lots of descriptions for O'Sullivan in the past for my user reviews regarding two other Tarzan movies, but in this film she's just plain sexy. This movie goes out of its way to point out just how sexy Maureen is; three men covet her, and it is understandable why. She has lots of qualities, besides her beauty, such as class, courage, vibrant personality, intelligence, resourcefulness, and loyalty to the man she loves. Like in other Tarzan movies, there are those outsiders who want to "take Jane back to a civilized world", and while she does have a hankering to return, we see that she is content living in the jungle. Also, the jungle is both presented at times as idyllic and dangerous. There is *always* a threat; see the different times Cheetah, the younger orangutan, has to evade the pursuit of a tiger or lion (or rhino). Jane is the very definition of "damsel in distress", although, to her credit, she defends herself the best she can (see her at the end, using flames to ward off a lion and tiger drawing closer to her) until her hunky hero in the loin cloth arrives, knife from sheath to the rescue. Plenty of jungle adventure and suspenseful ordeals for Tarzan and Jane in "Tarzan and His Mate". As expected, Martin cannot just shoot Tarzan, lie to Jane that he saw her man losing a battle with a crocodile, and go unharmed for his misdeeds. As far as unpredictable delights, you have Cheetah riding an ostrich, a hippo carrying a wounded Tarzan to shore from the river where he landed after being shot, and angry apes (men in costumes) hurling boulders at Harry's men as they were climbing up the mountain barrier, Mutia Encarpment.
MartinHafer
This installment of Tarzan finds a group of hunters heading to Africa in search of riches. One of the men is nice-guy Neil Hamilton from the last film and another (Paul Cavanagh) is a guy who turns out to be a vicious scumbag--who not only wants riches at any cost but to take Jane for his very own. Can Tarzan manage to protect the jungle from plunder as well as spare Jane from this cad? I am a huge fan of so-called 'Pre-Code Movies'--films that featured plots and story elements that were strictly forbidden after a newer and tougher Production Code was enacted with the Hollywood studios. Why? Well, despite the notion that sex was discovered in films in the 1960s, many films in the early 1930s (and earlier) had amazingly adult content--something pretty amazing considering that films had no rating system and anyone could see them. For instance, the original "Ben Hur" had several nude scenes (interesting for a Biblical epic, huh?!), abortion and adultery were often discussed (and often portrayed as fun or sophisticated) and language was a mite salty (in "Parachute Jumper", Frank McHugh gives someone the middle-finger).So why do I mention all this? Well, "Tarzan and His Mate" was one of the last films that pushed these boundaries until decades later and caused a huge stir when it was released. It seems that MGM wanted to appeal to all audiences--rural and urban--religious and not. So, they released three different versions of a famous nude bathing scene. Up until recently, the most explicit of these versions was thought lost but has recently been discovered and restored to this DVD print. And, if you see it, you are bound to very very shocked. While the scene was actually amazingly beautiful and artistic, it did show a lot--enough that you could see that the stunt actress had shaved herself (and I am not talking about her legs!).However, this is not the only sexed up or adult portion of the film. Well before the safari meets up with Tarzan and Jane in the middle of Africa, there are HUGE numbers of very violent scenes--and some are possibly more troubling to parents than the famed nude scene. In a battle with cannibals, there are arrows sticking out of people's heads and knives plunging into bodies (with copious amounts of blood). And, after evading these nasty brutes, the group is then set upon by apes (actually, just guys in chimp costumes) and the animals begin tossing people off the mountain to their very explicit deaths! Finally, late in the film, practically everyone is eaten by lions! Clearly, this is NOT a G or PG or possibly even PG-13 rated style of film! So, apart from being shockingly sexy and violent, is the film worth seeing? Absolutely. Would you let a kid see it? Possibly, as it's rather artsy and not especially prurient. But, it certainly is something you'd want to think twice about before showing kids or your mother-in-law--especially since there is LOTS of Jane throughout the film. Considering that a huge number of jungle films were made over the decades and most of them used tons of stock footage (often of animals not even from Africa!), this MGM production is terrific. Even with guys dressed as apes and a rather fake looking crocodile and rhino, you can't help but admire the good and appropriate footage that they used. Plus, the production values of this and all the Johnny Weismuller Tarzan films were so much better than those of the cheaper Tarzan series--of which, frankly, there were too many. Plus, apart from this, the film is very well acted and written--possibly even better than the previous film in this series, "Tarzan the Ape Man". Plus, I appreciated how the film made you think and care about the animals and conservation--something you didn't often see in these jungle epics.By the way, the film makers tried to make the Asian elephants they had look like African elephants. While I appreciated their using prosthetic trunks and ears to make them look like the real thing, in hindsight it really didn't work--the ears look pretty goofy. While I am usually a huge stickler for such details, I can appreciate them not using African pachyderms as they are notoriously difficult to train and are unpredictable--much more so that the smaller and gentler Asian ones.
