TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: W. S. Van Dyke
Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan,
C. Aubrey Smith, Forrester Harvey,
Neil Hamilton, Doris Lloyd, Ray Corrigan
In his first outing as Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller swings through the trees, fights lions and crocodiles, makes the acquaintance of dishy Jane Parker and leads a couple of ivory hunters to the secret elephants' graveyard. Weissmuller had the physique of an Olympic athlete (he'd been one) and a feral quality that was tamed fairly quickly in the Tarzan adventures that followed. In this movie, he also has the advantage of not talking very much. (Delivering dialogue was not Weissmuller's most accomplished skill.) Period racism aside, this picture and "Tarzan and His Mate" are still the top of the line for Tarzan movies, thanks to Weissmuller's animal presence, O'Sullivan's saucy sense of fun, and a lot of leftover footage shot in Africa for "Trader Horn".
