Nonureva Really Surprised!

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Michael_Elliott Tarzan and the Amazons (1945) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Johnny Weissmuller's ninth time playing Tarzan has him and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) welcoming home Jane (Brenda Joyce) who also brings with her some archaeologists. They soon learn of a secret tribe of women (led by Maria Ouspenskaya) and ask Tarzan to take them to the ladies. He refuses but Boy agrees to take them not realizing that some of the men in the group have bad plans for them. This entry is certainly a step up from the previous, TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY but it's still a long ways off from the early films when the series was still with MGM. With that said, if you enjoy "B" movies and especially those with Tarzan, there are enough good moments here to make the film worth sitting through at least once. As you'd expect, the real highlight comes from the good-hearted performance of Weissmueller. No one would ever call him a great actor but what he lacked as an actor perfectly made him suitable to play Tarzan. If you've seen any of his future Jungle Jim movies then you know his line delivery was pretty poor but when you play Tarzan this actually helps things. Weissmuller might have played this role eight times before but it's clear he's still having fun with it and this certainly comes across and is quite apparent to the viewer. Sheffield is also pretty good in his role as Boy and shares a lot of chemistry with Weissmuller. Joyce certainly isn't going to make anyone forget Maureen O'Sullivan but she's cute enough in the part and her flirtatious ways with Tarzan were quite charming. The supporting cast includes Ouspenskaya (THE WOLF MAN) who is sadly underused, Barton MacLane and Henry Stephenson. For the majority of the running time we get the cheap thrills one had come to expect from the series. These range of lions going on the attack to the crocodiles who are constantly swimming after someone to do damage only to have Tarzan step in. These type of thrills are things we've seen before but they still work here. What doesn't work too well is that there's about 15-20 minutes where the viewer has to just sit still and listen to Tarzan refuse to help the men. There's a long stretch where nothing much happens and the film starts to drag here before finally picking up with the action packed ending. The female tribe run around in skimpy clothing for some sex appeal but I was curious how a group of all ladies were able to reproduce when none of them had ever seen a man.

MartinHafer Johnny Weissmuller made a name for himself as Tarzan at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio. However, and I am not sure why, Weissmuller and 'Boy' (Johnny Sheffield) jumped from this prestige studio to the less than stellar RKO--where the budgets shrank considerably as did the quality. The scripts got a lot more weird and the films became chock full of poorly integrated stock footage and animals that often weren't even African. Additionally, 'Jane' (Maureen O'Sullivan) remained at MGM and a new leading lady needed to be found. After having the character be 'off on vacation in England' or 'helping with the war effort' in a couple films, RKO decided to re-cast this character with Brenda Joyce--who bore little similarity to O'Sullivan.Early in the film Tarzan happens upon an Amazon lady who is being chased by leopards. She's injured her leg and Tarzan insists on carrying her back to her Amazon city. However, apparently it's taboo to either leave the town or enter it if you are an outsider. Fortunately, the Amazon Priestess knows that Tarzan can be trusted and apparently he's the only outsider they ever let leave the city alive.A bit later, Jane arrives from one of her many trips and brings with her some friends. Unfortunately, these hunters turn out to be headed for disaster when they see a bracelet left by the Amazon who Tarzan rescued--and they decide to try to find this Amazon kingdom themselves! But, Tarzan wisely refuses to help them--especially since some of them (Ballister in particular) are real jerks! Oddly, Ballister is played by Barton MacLane--the same actor who re-appears in "Tarzan and the Huntress" but he plays a different character--even though he dies in "Tarzan and the Amazons"! Considering that these two films were only made a couple years apart, you do wonder why they chose him for both films. And, now that I think of it, Henry Stephenson (a wonderful character actor) was also in "Tarzan Finds a Son!"--and was killed in that film--yet appears in this one a few years later! Despite these odd casting problems, this film actually turns out to be a pretty good one--though they never explain how a group of very white women happened to be living in the heart of Africa! The film lacks the bad stock footage of some of the other RKO Tarzan films and at least the black natives are black--and not Mexicans like in the studio's last film in the series (well after it had 'jumped the shark'). In addition, the film is well written and quite entertaining--one of the last ones like this in the series.

dbborroughs Jane is back! Tarzan and Boy head off to pick her up on the boat from England. Along they way they save an Amazon from some big cats. Injured in a fall, Tarzan takes her home and talks his way out of being forced to stay. The meeting with Jane is as expected and after some introductions of new friends Jane, Boy and Tarzan head home. Unfortunately there are ripples from an Amazon bracelet that Cheetah found and Jane's new friends end up with. It sets them on a trip to the Amazon city...or would have had Tarzan agreed to take them. Tarzan refuses because he knows its all about the gold. Boy doesn't realize whats at stake and helps them find the city...and great danger.Large scale Tarzan film looks in many ways more spectacular than the earlier and much larger budget MGM films. Its just cool that we have so many neat locations like the tree house, the river station and the Amazon city. It looks really cool and makes it feel like a solid adventure.There is a maturity to this film that is missing from many of the other films. What I like about the film is it deals with the effect of Jane's being away and her return after years, there is the maturing of Boy and his need to learn more than Tarzan can teach him and there is the hardening of Tarzan as he watches coldly as some of the bad guys die horribly. Its several levels above what was happening in the MGM films and much better for it.Worth searching out.

gerdeen The politics of this movie struck me like a thunderbolt a few years ago. Even as a child, I had found something odd about it. But finally I realized as a middle-aged man what was wrong: The empire of the Amazons is a xenophobic, brutal, collectivist dictatorship.It's not at all like the gentle lost civilizations in other Tarzan movies. It's a robotic workers' paradise, a Stalinist mini-state plopped down in the primeval heart of Africa. It's the kind of place Tarzan normally would hate, but he is its staunch ally. He practically grovels. And the villains are greedy men obsessed with gold. They're not saints, certainly, but are they any worse than the people Tarzan throws in with? And to cap it all off, the high priestess is played by the most famous Russian actress in America at the time, Maria Ouspenskaya.I can't cite all the evidence without spoilers, but just look at this movie for yourself. They are everywhere.What's up here? Consider the timing. This movie was made in 1945, the last year of World War II, the apex of U.S.-Soviet cooperation. American movies were celebrating the Soviet system, with the active encouragement of the U.S. government. All this would change soon, but in 1945, Josef Stalin was a hero in Hollywood.Are the Amazons the Soviets? Are the gold-seekers the forces of capitalism? I think so. With the kind of strong left-wing views permeating Hollywood at the time, it wouldn't be so ridiculous to have a Red screenplay in the jungle.This doesn't alarm me, and it probably sailed over most viewers' heads. (Nothing like pretty girls to take your mind off politics.) But I find it a very cogent theory, and I'm certain I wasn't the first person to think of it.Please don't write me off as a kook. Look and see.