Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942) - Tarzanarama, part 4

Prankster · Tue Sep 26, 2006 6:16 pm

I hadn't planned to watch so many of the Weismuller Tarzans, but darned if they aren't pretty entertaining. Formulaic and sometimes contrived, but entertaining. And the "Tarzan collection" complies two movies on each disc, so I've basically been compelled to watch them all. I'm not going to review Tarzan's Secret Treasure; it has its charms, but it's basically more of the same (the usual whiteys show up and learn from Boy that there are gold nuggets all over the nearby river; scheming and moral conflict ensue). The movie's main innovations are in a cute native kid, a stereotypical comedy relief Irishman named O'Doul, and the fact that the de rigeur swimming sequence and the de rigeur elephant stampede/native battle climax are all combined into one--yes, that means SWIMMING ELEPHANTS.

It's the next Tarzan movie that gives us what, in a sense, we've been waiting for since the series began: Tarzan travelling to civilization and KICKING ITS ASS.

Just another day on the African escarpment with Tarzan, Jane, Boy and Cheetah, by which I mean that some more ruthless and unethical poachers land nearby. At this point I think Tarzan's "remote lost world" ought to charge tickets; it would do wonders for the local economy. Tarzan's rage and annoyance at their arrival is palpable, and at this point, who could blame him? However, Boy's still intrigued by civilization and can't resist heading down to the plane. The poachers were only here to collect lions for a circus in New York, but when they see Boy's knack for doing a little routine with the elephants, the circus man Buck Rand gets a greedy gleam in his eye. In very short order, Boy gets hustled into the plane, Tarzan and Jane come running to save him, and the native attack arrives almost an hour early. in the confusion, Tarzan and Jane are apparently killed, giving the more conflicted white people license to take off with Boy.

But of course Tarzan and Jane are fine, and almost immediately set out to get their son back--Tarzan in particular looks believably desperate to get Boy back RIGHT NOW. But of course they're going to have to do a montage-trek across Africa, swap gold nuggets for a plane ride and some "civilized" clothing (Tarzan, needless to say, isn't crazy about having to wear a suit, though I suspect that after six films Weissmuller was eager to wear something besides a loincloth on screen).

Tarzan, who of course is going to be at a disadvantage once they get to New York, agrees to shut up and do things Jane's way, but as we all know, the way of the jungle is way more effective. After wreaking havoc in a hotel, a cab and a ritzy nightclub that provides them with their main lead (actually, Cheetah's the one who causes most of the problems--why exactly did they bring her along?) things take a bizarre twist as the film becomes...a legal drama? Yes, without ever having seen Boy, Tarzan and Jane are forced to hire a lawyer to extract him from a bond the circus owners have posted with the immigration service, and we get a couple of scenes where Tarzan takes the stand. In fact, the system seems to be working at getting Boy back ("Law good," grunts an appreciative Tarzan) until Jane lets it slip that he's techncially not their biological son. Suddenly their case looks a whole lot shakier, and a frustrated Tarzan gets Jane's permission to FREAK OUT ON EVERYONE'S ASSES. He pitches the prosecuting attorney into the witness stand, jumps out a window, and clambers away across the rooftops (some surpisingly effective stunt work here). He quickly tracks Boy to the circus and is thrown in a cage for his troubles, but of course, Tarzan keeps his elephant-stampeding powers in reserve.

Although I'm guessing taking Tarzan and his brood to New york was probably motivated by external factors like cheapness and the desire of Weismuller and O'Sullivan to ditch the loincloths, the fact is this is exactly the kind of thing the series needed. The whole formula was getting pretty stale by this point, and besides, this moves things a little closer to the Burroughs mythology and expands Tarzan's experiences a little bit (I don't care how happy they are up there, you can't convince me Jane at least wouldn't appreciate a bit of a change of scenery after years of living in the wildest depths of the jungle.) Watching Tarzan do his vine-swinging schtick from cables and ladders in an extended sequence is surprisingly thrilling, even in 2006, and there's even a bit of social commentary in Tarzan's brush with the modern (in 1942) world.

From what I understand, the next movie features Tarzan vs. the Nazis AND the queen of a lost civilization. Looking forward to it!

Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942) - Tarzanarama, part 4

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