Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938)

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Executive producer: Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises Production. Not copyrighted. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release through Principal Productions: 3 June 1938. U.K. release through Associated British Film Distributors. 72 minutes.SYNOPSIS: After recovering the idol called the Green Goddess from the Dead City, Tarzan and his friends begin the arduous trek back to civilization. After many adventures, they finally reach Greystoke Manor where it seems certain Tarzan will soon wed Ula Vale. NOTES: Number 14 of the 46-picture "Tarzan" series. COMMENT: A cutdown of the last half of the twelve-chapter serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), which goes some way towards explaining the film's jerky continuity (which is occasionally awkwardly bridged by inter-titles, though there still remain some odd gaps in the narrative). Kull's direction is nothing special and no great strains are placed on the acting skills of the cast. Mr Bennett's performance is more physical than mental, Miss Holt is reasonably attractive, and Mr Sargent contributes a bit of slapstick fun. The other players are no more than serviceable. Behind-the-camera personnel likewise rate as slightly behind the Hollywood norm. Still, for all its technical shortcomings, this Tarzan is a lively movie with plenty of pace and action filmed against real backgrounds in Gautemala (sometimes ill-matched with obvious African stock footage). If the Boys' Own story seems somewhat juvenile and the characterizations never more than rudimentary, it must be remembered that the film was produced by none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs himself in an attempt to show his public exactly how Tarzan should be portrayed on the screen. Bruce Bennett's Tarzan is no illiterate ape man, but a well-spoken, literate daredevil, actively championing the causes of world peace and justice. True, physically, he's almost superhuman in his ability to survive various perils virtually unscathed, but this cliffhanger excitement is part and parcel of Burroughs' books. And here it all comes to grand action finale on board a storm-tossed sailing ship. That episode alone is worth the price of admission.

Tarzan holds a gypsy-themed party at his Greystoke estate after returning from an expedition. He gets an old Gypsy fortune teller to narrate the story of his latest adventure. Along with Major Martling, Tarzan tried to retrieve the Green Goddess, an ancient Mayan relic that is being used as an idol by a small clan of worshippers in the Dead City in Guatemala. An unscrupulous explorer has stolen the statue in the hope that he can use an ancient secret formula hidden in it to manufacture a super-explosive that has the potential to change warfare forever. Tarzan & his companions get into various situations in order to stop the formula from getting into the wrong hands.Tarzan and the Green Goddess was a feature-length (at only 72 minutes long) reedit of some episodes of the old serial The New Adventures of Tarzan. It featured a good performance by Bruce Bennett, who plays Tarzan in a rather unique fashion – this is the only time on film that you see a Tarzan who speaks English articulately & appears to be well-educated (although his Tarzan yell sounds like a stoned coyote). As far as the rest of the feature is concerned, the original serial was far better. It omits the spectacular theft of the idol & instead has plenty of cheap theatrics & cheaper action scenes. Although the scene where Tarzan faces off with a lion was slightly exciting, the rest of the film was one-dimensional & the idea of the hero going to all the trouble to obtain the secret formula only to have his female companion burn it in the end was kind of stupid. The worst aspect was the villain, played by Ashton Dearholt, who made a pathetic & often-put-upon villain.

I have seen a ton of Tarzan films recently--most of them the classic Johnny Weissmuller films. So, when I watched "Tarzan and the Green Goddess" the difference between this film and the rest was obvious. Not only was this a bad movie, but it was a pretty dumb one. Now I am not saying that the other Tarzan films were perfect...it's just that "Tarzan and the Green Goddess" is about as far from perfect as you can get!!! Below are a small number of the seriously screwed up things about this film: 1. Tarzan is in Guatemala. Freakin' Central American GUATEMALA!! 'Nuff said! 2. Despite being in Guatemala, you see stock footage of mountain lions and lots of African animals! 3. Despite being raised in the jungle by apes, this Tarzan is nearly as well-spoken, mannerly and polite as John Gielgud! Apparently this Tarzan went to charm school and was raised by English apes! 4. The story was original a 12-part serial. However, some geniuses decided to chop it apart and create an all-new movie from these parts. As a result, the story is often incomprehensible and dumb. Perhaps part of what they cut out were the 10 years or more Tarzan spent in charm school.The bottom line is that this is a bargain basement Tarzan--and the writers seemed to have complete contempt for the material and the audience. See it at your own peril.Oh, and at one point in the film they talk about the Mayan ruins at Quirigua. This is a real place and I have visited there myself--it's pretty cool. However, I saw no evidence of any Mayan explosive devices like they had in the film--and, by the way, it IS a Mayan ruin, not Aztec (which they called it in the movie).UPDATE: Apparently this film and "The New Adventures of Tarzan" were pieced together using portions of the SAME movie serial. Both are pretty bad--but at least the picture quality and sound in "Tarzan and the Green Goddess" were a bit better. Also, for more on these films and how they relate to the MGM series, check out the Wikipedia page for the movies.

"Tarzan and the Green Goddess" is a reasonable condensed version of a longer serial, providing watchable light entertainment. It has a number of rough edges as a result of this format, with a sometimes choppy pace, and other stretches where the action gets somewhat repetitive. But there is enough going on to hold your attention, and Herman Brix (as he was then billed) is solid enough in the lead role.As Tarzan, Brix (whom a lot of us always think of as Bruce Bennett) cannot come up to Johnny Weismuller's performance in the role, but he does give the character some life. Both Brix's approach and the story also bring out the other side of the character's nature, beyond his rugged jungle life.The story focuses on a Central American artifact and a secret code that goes with it, with the plot mostly a series of confrontations with the bad guys. As others have pointed out, there is some unintentional humor added through the footage of African animals in a story that is supposed to be set in Guatemala.An interesting aspect of this feature is that here the heroine (played by Ula Holt) is presented as more of an equal to Tarzan than usual. Overall, things fit together well enough to make it work all right as light viewing.