Despite the film flopping at the Box Office, the film has
been considered by critics and historians to be superior to the first Tarzan
film. As a matter of fact, this was the only Tarzan film to be placed in the
"National Film Registry", even though the first film is considered a
classic. This sparked my curiosity to watch the film after hearing all the
praise it’s been given. And I feel like it would be unfair not to give my
thoughts on it given its reputation. After all, it did come with my DVD copy of
the first movie. Does this sequel really surpass original, or is it in the very
least similar like the first film except this time we see Maureen O'Hara
wearing an outfit almost as revealing as Weissmuller's? ON WITH THE REVIEW!
A year later after Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) decided to live
in the jungle with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller). Jane's previous suitor Harry
Holt (Neil Hamilton) returns to the jungles of Africa to once again find the
elephant burial ground and sell the ivory with his partner
Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanagh). The two encounter Tarzan and Jane on their
expedition who are still living happily together, with the hopes that Tarzan
will lead them there. Jane convinces Tarzan to do so, without realizing their
intentions, eventually leading treachery. The plot and structure are almost near
identical to the first film. We get ten minutes of exposition about the same
destination. The characters are shown to be fighting against obstacles before
meeting the title character. We get many scenes of Tarzan either fighting
wild-life or interacting with Jane. Jane gets into a love...square. One of the
men tries to kill Tarzan leaving him to be severely wounded. And the climax
involves Tarzan recusing the characters from a native tribe. It's easy to
pinpoint how the story is going to unfold.
The only big difference when it comes to the plot is that Jane
is happily living in the jungle with Tarzan that is one of the strengths that
this film has over the first one. As intriguing as their relationship was in
the last film, a good half of it was seeing Jane looking scared and confused
around Tarzan's presence. Which is undoubtedly understandable given how the two
are from totally different worlds. The problem is that there weren't enough
scenes of them showing mutual feelings for each other. In this film, they're now
inseparable. Seeing them cuddle, swing on vines, and swim is incredibly sweet
to watch given how close they always are. O'Sullivan and Weissmuller genuinely
look like they're madly in love with each other who both live for the thrill of
adventure. Admittedly as cute as they are, they have become a little less
interesting. In the first film, though we know that Tarzan was deeply in love
with Jane, we never fully knew what he was thinking due to his wild nature,
which made him a bit of a danger to Jane and the characters. Now that Tarzan is
officially with Jane who has been tamed by her, he no longer has that intense
edge that he used to have. It's not necessarily a bad thing by any means, it's
just Tarzan no longer acts as vicious when people cross-him in the last film
now that Jane is holding his leash. Jane who I considered to be one of the
strong female heroines of her time despite still getting in trouble has
definitely evolved. While keeping her man under control, she takes great pride in living in the jungle with the love of exploring, performing daring stunts while
making a jungle call (that's far from sounding inhuman from Tarzan's), coming
up with strategies, and fighting back on a few occasions. With that said, there
are many times when she needs to be saved by Tarzan. I get that the film needs
to have scenes of Tarzan being heroic, but how she gets in trouble seems
forced. There's a sense that she can escape from the animals that are after her
(with the exception of the climax) since we've already seen scenes demonstrating
her psychical strength, and yet for the sake of having an action scene with
Tarzan, the film decides to have her act foolish or make her suddenly weak. Her
being vulnerable in the original made sense because she never experienced the
jungle before. After spending a year living in the wild, you'd think she'd be a
little more independent. Despite a few things that have weaken the characters,
they're still overall very charming to watch, making the kid inside me wish
that I was out exploring the jungle with them. Furthermore, it does offer some
interesting insight into the characters about society outside the jungle. In an
attempt to woo Jane away from the jungle, Harry brings material that can only
be found from her homeland. As Jane is happily reliving some of the fine things in life
that she left behind, we witness Tarzan interacting with some of the items.
This idea is a fantastic way to explore both of the leads outlook of civilized
society due to how one left it behind, while the other never experienced it. The
downside is, this whole idea is used up in one scene since the film wants to
play itself safe by following the same formula from the first film.
The supporting characters are as minimal as they are before.
Neil Hamilton is still cool to watch as Harry, whose character has grown to be
more supportive and understanding. Becoming more of an ally than a rival.
That's not to say that he doesn't still have feelings for Jane. However, he
wouldn't go through the lengths of attempting to kill Tarzan after everything Tarzan
has done for him and Jane. For the film feeling the need to have an antagonist
the same way how the film needs to put Jane in countless danger despite
appearing that she can take care of herself, we have Harry's partner Martin
filling in the position. Right from his first appearance in the film, despite
being good friends with Harry, you can tell that this guy is bad news.
Throughout the film, he's shown coldly killing people for selfish reasons
without any second thought, while making the moves on Jane. Paul Cavanagh's
gives a good performance, appearing to be a better rival than Harry was when he
first met Tarzan. Unfortunately, he's forgettable for how shoehorned in he
feels as a villain who's not really that riveting as a character. He's just the
typical greedy hunter who just wants the money and the woman. And yeah, that
whole love square that Jane gets involved in doesn't have too much value to the
plot either since there is no tension that is felt between the three men that
want to be with Jane. Most of the actions that Martin takes are more toward
gaining the ivory than winning Jane's heart. And suppose that Tarzan truly is
out of the way, what does Martin plan to do with Harry since he loves Jane too?
Like the love triangle in the first film, it just exists for the sake of
having a rivalary. The supporting cast wouldn't be complete without Tarzan's monkey
companion Cheeta, only instead of one we discover that Cheeta now has a baby.
Though Cheeta was cute and helpful in the first film, Cheeta and baby Cheeta
leave more of an impression for being given a little more to do. As we're given
some moments of them looking cute or doing something silly, they have plenty of
scenes of them aiding Tarzan and Jane. Not just by reviving them, or running to
get help by escaping numerous obstacles, but by going as far as to jump right
into the middle of the danger to defend them.
The film definitely has its fair share of dangers compared
to the amount of action that went on in the first installment. It's actually in
many ways more impressive for how gigantic the scenes are put together with the
characters facing higher stakes. In the climax to the first film for example,
the characters were captured by a tribe where they are forced to fight against
a big gorilla for their amusement. The climax involves a tribe too, only it
doesn't involve a person wearing a ridiculous ape costume that would be
suitable for a buddy comedy with Abotto and Costello, or Crosby and Hope. We're
watching people being slowly tortured as Jane and the others watch in fright,
to having Tarzan and his animal friends fight both the natives and a whole
swarm of lions that their opponents have summoned. As awesome as it is to see
Tarzan fight against wild animals (the highlight is the scene when he fights an alligator), it's really the scenes for whenever the
characters have to outrun and fight against tribes that are filled with the right amount of tension and excitement
that you could want from an adventure film of this kind. From a special effects
standpoint, like the first film they use a variety of different kinds of
effects that are hit and miss. There's not much to say about them in comparison
because they pretty much have the same pros and cons. Nevertheless, even when
they do look hokey and dated, the action presented is still exciting enough to overlook the flaws.
The most impressive effects come from the scenes that
wouldn't get passed other films after the pre-code era. This was the last of the Johnny
Weissmuller Tarzan films before the Hays Code would control Hollywood films. Before the code would affect the other films, this film takes what they were able to get away with from the first film and take it to a whole
new level. I've talked about how surprised I was to see a high body count of
stabbings that were happening in the last film. This film doesn't have the same
body count of stabbings compared to the last film, it's worse, we're seeing
blood really gushing out of the people and animals that are being cut open.
There was blood in the first film but it wasn't nearly as grotesque as this.
One particular shot that shocked me is when we see a tribe member gets brutally
stabbed in the back as we watch blood ooze out up close to the frame. This is
the kind of imagery I would expect to see in a slasher film, not in a classic
30's adventure film aimed for families. As if watching people being stabbed and
tortured doesn't give kids enough nightmare fuel, Harry and Martin come across
rotting corpses filled with blood and bugs earlier in the film!
The suggestive material that's shown in this film doesn't
get any family friendlier either. It was already touchy in 1932 to have a lead character who
is half-naked. Now the film has both stars showing too much skin, as Jane has
traded in her jungle outfit for a skimpy halter top and loin cloth exposing her
hips and thighs. And since this is the last of the pre-code Tarzan movies, this
is the only film in the series to show Jane wearing her revealing costume as
she would go on to wear a costume showing less of her skin to appease the Hays
Office after the code was enforced. Jane's outfit isn't the only thing that dirty
old Hollywood is using to capitalize on her sex appeal. The most iconic scene
in the film is the beautifully shot and choreographed underwater sequence of
Tarzan swimming with a butt-naked Jane. It's already shocking to see a film
this old look so gruesome, now we're staring at Jane's butt and breasts for 4
minutes? This film doesn't hold back with getting away with as much risky
material as possible. The crazy part about this whole scene is that there were
three different versions of this sequence being shot. The reason for this was
to give each state in the U.S. a choice of which version of the scene to
screen. All prints were later removed due to controversy and were lost. Luckily the original
version was discovered in the vaults of MGM and can now be shown on modern
copies of the film. What fascinates me about all this is this isn't the only
time in the film where we see a woman topless. Earlier in the movie when Harry
and Martin are sitting outside planning the safari, behind them you can see a
bra-less native woman walking past them. It's not easy to spot, but it's still
there.
If there was one thing that certainly aged poorly in the
first Tarzan film was its depictions of Africans. If the body count didn't
involve endangered animals, it was people of color who died in the harsh
jungles in Africa. When they weren't played as victims from both nature and the
people they work and slave for, they were portrayed as a savage tribe by little
men covered in blackface. This film, unfortunately, doesn't stray that far away
from the racism present in the first film. To give the first film some sort of
credit, at least the African's weren't killed by the people they work for.
Martin at one point flat-out murders one for refusing to go into forbidden
territory. I get it! I know he's the bad guy. Yet for some reason, Harry doesn't
seem that upset by his action of taking a man's life. Then again, Harry makes
the same racist excuse as Jane did of Tarzan being like their kind for being
white. At the very least, the film was merciful enough to spare us from seeing
tribes in blackface.
Overall Thoughts
The film is just as good as the first film by containing the
same elements that worked and didn't work in the first film, making it a little difficult for me to say that it's better than the first film. The plot is
similar that only has a few subplots that either don't go anywhere or have a
reason for existing. Weissmuller and O'Hara are still very pleasant to watch
even though the film makes Tarzan too tamed and Jane foolishly vulnerable. Harry and both Cheeta's
are likable supporting characters, but Martin is forgettable for how
uninteresting of a foe he is. The effects are a mixed bag, yet it's still
inventive to see so much creativity being brought to the action scenes, as some
of them still hold-up. The action is as riveting. And the film takes risks like
the first film to keep it from being a standard adventure film. It's the same reasons why I consider the first film to be
good, just with new flaws, so why does it get more attention than the first
film? Well, a few reasons. Tarzan and Jane interacting in the jungle as a happy
couple are more pleasing than seeing Jane constantly feeling afraid of Tarzan.
The risks that the film takes are higher than what was shown in the first film
by showing more gore and skin that still has the ability to shock given the
film's age. The action looks grander as the stakes feel higher than the first
film. And though the portrayal of Africans hasn't aged well in this film
either, it feels less insufferable by comparison since the film doesn't decide
to distastefully have white actors in blackface. So for those reasons, I fully
understand why this film has a bit more of a reputation. Still, I urge people to
watch the first film for a background on the characters and seeing the many
things that made the first film good that its sequel was successfully able to
improve upon. They're both classic fun adventure films that deserve to be seen.
Perhaps in the future, I may review the rest of the sequels from time to time.
After all, the lines that were spoken from the audio-animatronic of Jane on
"The Great Movie Ride" is none of the dialogue heard in the first two
films. It could simply be that her dialogue was never from any of the films and
that they got a sound-a-like to voice her since they did the same for the John
Wayne audio-animatronic. But if you listen to how crude the audio sounds for
when Jane speaks, it seems most likely they used archive sound-footage from the
films. So while I've finally seen the Tarzan films, I still have yet to see the
film that was supposedly used on the ride.
