Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film still has a lot of charm and strength after all these years. While sort of clumsily directed from a thin but intriguing plot, the film is visually wonderful, ambitious in scope and has a magnetic performance from Johnny Weissmuller. He gives Tarzan so much depth and realistic psychology. Its fascinating to watch an actor fit a charismatic and complex role. This performance reminded me of James Dean and Heath Ledger's strange screen power. Johnny uplifts the film but its solid on its own. Very romantic and thrilling even today, even if its a bit childish and undercooked. You couldn't have Chris Reeves as Superman without this film and you wouldn't have superhero films as we know them without Superman: The Movie. "The Ape Man" is a pioneering classic in its genre.

About 10 years ago I initiated campaign to build and sustain a Website on the Internet. The reasons for this initiative were two, maybe three. Firstly, I made an unsuccessful career in Academia and University which bolstered for ten years or so my ambition and energy in the field. Second, I was unsuccessful as playmate and marriage candidate which left me a lonesome dove in middle age. Third, because I had always a large family around and was obsessed with the elderly and the procreation on my brother's side. So willy-nilly I departed with my illusions to become a hero in real life and plunged into the imaginary. In the time elapsed I realized that I have become not only older but wiser - that means, I understood that "globalization" is the state of art being connected while the previous level called "totalitarianism" was sponsored by isolated people and societies. Consequently, today Internet has become more important than Movies or Books taken separately and has exempted our culture for future 21st century.I now give realm to Tarzan and his author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The author (ERB) has been my favorite reading since my early age in the 1970s when I studied both Bulgarian and English languages. My mastery in those two languages is equal although I live in Eastern European country by default. In those years before end of Cold War my time was occupied by gathering Movies and Books and associating with Friends. Now in my 50s the last component is missing and I am left alone with myself and whatever artifacts of Culture modern age has to provide in order to survive. Otherwise it will disappear like Dinosaurs and World Wars.After those gloomy memories let me present my Tarzan collection (on 6 double-sided DVDs, 12 movies in total with Johnny Weissmuller). The guy was sort of a hero now-a-days people like Arnold Schwarzenegger have become. He has also similar biography saying he was born in America while in fact he came from Banat, Austro-Hungary (formerly). Weissmuller was trained swimmer and won 5 gold medals for US Olympic team (1924-1928). He then became a Movie star in 1930s and 1940s, keeping constantly in good physical shape because the Tarzan films expounded on the image of semi-naked white ape-man as apotheosis of American supremacy over Germans and other Human Races. Johnny Weissmuller died age 80 leaving the Tarzan legacy to other actors not one of which could beat his productivity or expressionism.Edgar Rice Burroughs adapted to screenwriters format themes from his Tarzan's novels (originally 24 books dealing with this hero). He also wrote several other series of books all of which dealing with imaginary worlds, the most popular being about John Carter of Mars (originally 11 books that follow adventures of dying Captain during the Civil War whose soul transcend on the Red Planet to become there a Warlord of galactic civilization). The recent movies on John Carter aren't half intriguing as the books themselves.Finally, have a list of the 12 original Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller the way they appeared chronologically: TARZAN, THE APE MAN (1932) TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934) TARZAN ESCAPES (1936) TARZAN FINDS A SON (1939) TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (1941) TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE (1942) TARZAN TRIUMPHS (1943) TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY (1943) TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS (1945) TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD WOMAN (1946) TARZAN AND THE HUNTRESS (1947) TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS (1948)

From the 1930s-1950s, there were a long succession of jungle pictures in theaters. And, for the most part, they sucked. These films featured grade-z actors and directors, significant use of bad stock footage (often of Asian or South American locations even though the films were supposedly set in Africa) and dumb writing. Because of this, after a while I stopped watching them--they are very dull indeed. However, MGM's "Tarzan the Ape Man" is an exception I am going to make--after all, instead of the usual poverty row studio, this one was made by the most prestigious studio on the planet. Instead of lousy actors, MGM pulled out their A-game with Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Hamilton (at the time a big star--though mostly forgotten today except for his role as 'Commissioner Gordon' on TVs "Batman") and C. Aubrey Smith. And, not surprisingly, they cast a new actor as Tarzan--as it would be hard to accept an actor with an established reputation as a jungle savage! So, they obtained the services of Olypmic champion swimmer Johnny Weismuller to play the lead. I couldn't wait to see a good jungle film! Would this fit the bill? The film skips the story of the Greystokes being lost in Africa with their young baby who would grow up to be Tarzan. Instead, it begins many years later when an African expedition happens to find the young man---quite by accident. But before Tarzan meets the entire expedition, he meets Jane and they hit it off in some cute scenes.On the negative side for this film, there is STILL the significant use of stock footage--some of which clearly doesn't fit the film (such as the scenes where they show various tribesmen who are filmed in very different locations than where the action is set). And, unfortunately, there are some guys dressed up as chimps--something that just looked cheap (though these were a bit better than the usual chimp suits). There also is a fake crocodile that looked pretty silly (conversely, the fake hippos in this same scene were pretty good). And, because of all this, I just can't understand reviews that gave the film 10s. On the positive, despite the cheesy stock footage, the acting was lovely and the script very good. These were able to make up for a lot of the film's deficiencies. The mountain hiking scene is very impressive for 1932--and a very nice use of trick photography and matte paintings. Also, a few real animals were used on the sets--such as a hippo and baby chimps and fights with real live lions--not dead stuffed ones (which I HAVE seen in other Tarzan films). It clearly skimped a bit here and there, but also did have impressive touches a better budget would allow. As a result, the film is significantly more watchable than the usual jungle film--including many of the later non-Johnny Weismuller films. It's worth seeing, as it's among the very best of the Tarzan films--if not the best.By the way, the follow-up film, "Tarzan and His Mate", is a notorious movie. That's because it features a very, very risqué nude swimming sequence--one that ran afoul of the new toughened Production Code (in an effort to make movies more family-friendly. This very nude scene was anything but family-friendly)! And, by the time it was ready for release, the code was being strengthened--and these changes forced the scene to be severely edited. Recently, the edited footage has been restored--and it is rather hot--even by today's standards--and certainly not what you'd expect in what is seen as a kids' film. Both this risqué and the previous film excel, however, as they are quite romantic--something that CAN'T be said of other jungle epics!Also, in "Tarzan the Ape Man", they use Asian elephants. While I am usually a stickler for realism (especially since the animals often shown in jungle films are just the wrong species for Africa), I don't object to this in this particular case, as African elephants are a lot more dangerous and I wouldn't want the studio to use these beasts (though some circuses have--at much greater risk).

I'm sure I saw bits and pieces of "Tarzan, the Ape Man" on television when I was a kid, but I never really paid much attention to it. I just recently checked out the DVD from my local library, and I was amazed to discover what I had been missing all these years.This movie made me feel like a young boy, craving excitement and adventure. This first installment in the MGM Tarzan movies delivers big time. Yes, the special effects and interweaving of the stock footage looks a bit dated, but remember that this film was only made three years after the first "talkie" (i.e. a sound picture, not a silent movie). There are certain techniques that obviously stem from the silent movie days. But to me, this just adds to the charm.The animal footage is excellent. For the first time in a long time, I was actually on the edge of my seat during a movie. The CGI effects today are amazing, but they're so overdone (most of the time). The thrills and suspense in "Tarzan" are heightened, because you know everything you see is physically tangible, not an actor reacting to a green screen.I still don't know how they did some of those scenes without anyone getting hurt. Swinging from the treetops, wrestling with lions, wrestling with leopards, being chased by wild animals--all of these things make for great entertainment and adventure.I should also mention that the relationship between Tarzan and Jane is one of the most captivating I've ever seen in a movie. It's very understated, yet very sexy. Today, they would ruin the story by making the couple have sex after five minutes. But because the sexual chemistry is only hinted at, the entire relationship is one of Jane flirting and Tarzan pursuing. It just builds and builds. This romance actually has excitement to it. Definitely one of the best screen romances of all time.Despite a few minor shortcomings in the special effects of the time, this is a thrilling movie. Great adventure, great excitement, great entertainment. Don't miss it!