"Tarzan Escapes" is both a beautiful love story and great jungle adventure—I couldn't ask for nothing else since this movie even gives us the violence. This time we see Tarzan battling a crocodile, cutting it with his knife, the blood flowing in the river water. There are some recycled scenes that seem lifted from the first film such as a rescue consisting of a great elephant stampede, Cheetah the orangutan fleeing a lion, and Tarzan having to save Jane and her cousins from a savage native tribe.
What is unique about this one is the unwavering affection between Tarzan and Jane, their devotion to each other is touching and sweet. What is super cool, if totally unrealistic, is the architectural dynamo that is Tarzan and Jane's treehouse! They even have an elevator (made out of wood) with a rope that is pulled by an elephant's nose which allows people to be lifted up to the treehouse, not to mention, Tarzan has developed a water system and bridge that connects two treehouses. Oh, and Jane now can swing from vines, and her costume is an amazing patchwork of fabrics which cover all the bits, showing off her stunning figure and legs. She also has these amazing curly locks as if Jane had her own cosmetologist on standby in the jungle somewhere. Tarzan still wears the loincloth, bellows the familiar iconic yell, and remains language-impaired (but is getting better the longer he spends with Jane).
I think the best scene could be a POV shot as Tarzan draws closer to Jane (she looks adoringly right at us, to the camera, with director Thorpe also quickly showing Tarzan's face before he accepts her open arms), a flower in her hand released into the water next to her, obviously implying that the two are about to make love. There's this awesome scene where two elephants help Tarzan escape from a steel cage by bending the bars with their snouts!
The villain of this particular Tarzan movie is "great white hunter" Captain Fry (John Buckler, who would die in a car accident drowning the same year), who sees a profit in exploiting Tarzan's gifts with animals in England, making a potential alliance with a heathen tribe, which goes awry.
Maureen O'Sullivan, a sophisticated and gentle little beauty, has some marvelous scenes where she faces splitting from Tarzan, the very notion of such a separation anguishing, but important in her mind because to sign a "piece of paper" (she was willed a fortune but doesn't really have an interest in wealth because of her happiness in the uncivilized world with Tarzan) would provide her cousins Rita (Benita Hume) and Eric (William Henry) with a comfortable income and living. Herbert Mundin is Fry's bumbling, cowardly right hand man, Rawlins, completely utilized as a comic foil for not only Tarzan, but is the victim of monkey laughter as one orangutan gets the giggles when he attempts to swing on a vine. Tragic consequences for Rawlins when he discovers the sneaky, underhanded Fry's nefarious scheme; Fry, you just know, will get his comeuppance. There's this atmospheric swamp Tarzan will lead Jane and company through in order to escape the savage natives who fear the "ju-ju" of such a scary place with iguanas lurking about.
I would LOVE to see the original film before "Tarzan Escapes" was reshot (the crew and some cast members replaced) which has gained a notoriety for having been too graphically violent. That said, I found much to enjoy with this Tarzan adventure. The kid in me just eats this up. Some might find this a bit campy (considering Cheetah's antics and Rawlins' goofy bumpkin) and its romance story a bit sappy, but I really adore the casting of Weissmuller and O'Sullivan as Tarzan and Jane; their genuine chemistry I find irresistible. I thought Buckler was very good as the treacherous Fry because he seems like a trustworthy gentleman (you do see glimpses of a dark side like when he whips some of his African slaves), only to show his true greedy self which backfires on him; his fate is particularly disturbing as Tarzan will not allow him to follow them to safety. Seeing Tarzan and Jane grappling with the idea of being apart is really kind of gut-wrenching!
What is unique about this one is the unwavering affection between Tarzan and Jane, their devotion to each other is touching and sweet. What is super cool, if totally unrealistic, is the architectural dynamo that is Tarzan and Jane's treehouse! They even have an elevator (made out of wood) with a rope that is pulled by an elephant's nose which allows people to be lifted up to the treehouse, not to mention, Tarzan has developed a water system and bridge that connects two treehouses. Oh, and Jane now can swing from vines, and her costume is an amazing patchwork of fabrics which cover all the bits, showing off her stunning figure and legs. She also has these amazing curly locks as if Jane had her own cosmetologist on standby in the jungle somewhere. Tarzan still wears the loincloth, bellows the familiar iconic yell, and remains language-impaired (but is getting better the longer he spends with Jane).
I think the best scene could be a POV shot as Tarzan draws closer to Jane (she looks adoringly right at us, to the camera, with director Thorpe also quickly showing Tarzan's face before he accepts her open arms), a flower in her hand released into the water next to her, obviously implying that the two are about to make love. There's this awesome scene where two elephants help Tarzan escape from a steel cage by bending the bars with their snouts!
The villain of this particular Tarzan movie is "great white hunter" Captain Fry (John Buckler, who would die in a car accident drowning the same year), who sees a profit in exploiting Tarzan's gifts with animals in England, making a potential alliance with a heathen tribe, which goes awry.
Maureen O'Sullivan, a sophisticated and gentle little beauty, has some marvelous scenes where she faces splitting from Tarzan, the very notion of such a separation anguishing, but important in her mind because to sign a "piece of paper" (she was willed a fortune but doesn't really have an interest in wealth because of her happiness in the uncivilized world with Tarzan) would provide her cousins Rita (Benita Hume) and Eric (William Henry) with a comfortable income and living. Herbert Mundin is Fry's bumbling, cowardly right hand man, Rawlins, completely utilized as a comic foil for not only Tarzan, but is the victim of monkey laughter as one orangutan gets the giggles when he attempts to swing on a vine. Tragic consequences for Rawlins when he discovers the sneaky, underhanded Fry's nefarious scheme; Fry, you just know, will get his comeuppance. There's this atmospheric swamp Tarzan will lead Jane and company through in order to escape the savage natives who fear the "ju-ju" of such a scary place with iguanas lurking about.
I would LOVE to see the original film before "Tarzan Escapes" was reshot (the crew and some cast members replaced) which has gained a notoriety for having been too graphically violent. That said, I found much to enjoy with this Tarzan adventure. The kid in me just eats this up. Some might find this a bit campy (considering Cheetah's antics and Rawlins' goofy bumpkin) and its romance story a bit sappy, but I really adore the casting of Weissmuller and O'Sullivan as Tarzan and Jane; their genuine chemistry I find irresistible. I thought Buckler was very good as the treacherous Fry because he seems like a trustworthy gentleman (you do see glimpses of a dark side like when he whips some of his African slaves), only to show his true greedy self which backfires on him; his fate is particularly disturbing as Tarzan will not allow him to follow them to safety. Seeing Tarzan and Jane grappling with the idea of being apart is really kind of gut-wrenching!