A plane carrying a wealthy couple and their baby crashlands in the African jungle; everyone except the baby dies. Monkeys take the child up in a tree; Tarzan and Jane will raise it as their own. Greedy relatives of the dead father come looking for survivors as to determine if they will receive the deceased's fortune (if there are no survivors, they get the fortune). Realizing that they could use the boy to line their pockets by claiming him as legal guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Lancing (Ian Hunter and Frieda Inescort) concoct a scheme with cousin Sande (Henry Wilcoxon) finding opposition with their uncle, Sir Thomas Lancing (a delightful Henry Stephenson). Thomas is held captive by his relatives as to keep his mouth shut, as the other Lancings work on the emotions of Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan; who was to leave the Tarzan series after this film) who does contemplate the safety (she thinks because Jane does not know that the Lancings are such monsters) of Boy (Johnny Sheffield), five years old and always evading crocodiles, rhinos, and lions (Boy even gets caught in a spider web with giant spiders crawling towards him). Will the Lancings force Jane to let go of her *son* and lead them down the path to home?
After three amazing Tarzan movies, I knew that the momentum would eventually have to subside, if even a little. This movie repeated similar scenes from the previous films, which, to be honest, at this juncture was starting to tire me. The natives of "Tarzan and His Mate", the hunters that kill and eat lions, are given a name, the Zambeles, and they are the tribe that pose a threat to Jane and other whites who find themselves in the wrong neck of the woods. Yep, that elephant stampede, with Tarzan as the leader, is used as a rescue device yet again, this time losing a bit of its luster because there was this feeling of "been there, done that", although it was neat seeing Boy riding a small elephant, accompanying the rampaging herd. Boy gets to head after Tarzan instead of Cheetah, the orangutan, which was a change of pace and rather heroic considering the danger that awaits him such as a lion chasing after him up a tree. The more suspenseful scenes come from Boy getting himself into perilous situations like walking into the aforementioned spider web, nearly riding a large lily pad into a waterfall, and almost suffering the crush of a rumbling rhino. These scenes are important to establish the terror that is omnipresent regarding life in the jungle, and we know they play a major factor in Jane's decision to possibly hand the kid over to the Lancings. Like in previous Tarzan films, a secondary character, who develops a plan to ruin the greedy white villains' goal of securing wealth through nefarious means, is shot for attempting such heroism, and not long after this, those involved in such a crime run smack dab into a heathen tribe, their lives potentially suffering a karmic backlash. This film includes a nifty rescue for Tarzan who is left by Jane in a giant hole containing a small river, with Boy and Cheetah leading elephants to push over a tree that would help our hero climb out so he could, in turn, save Jane and company from the Zambele tribe. I do think the scene where Jane is speared seems "off", as if her intended fate seemed more realistic than what was eventually filmed when Tarzan reaches her, but I understand the logic of the studio in changing the result. I do want to see Maureen O'Sullivan again, even if this particular film doesn't quite give her as meatier a role as in past Tarzan films.
After three amazing Tarzan movies, I knew that the momentum would eventually have to subside, if even a little. This movie repeated similar scenes from the previous films, which, to be honest, at this juncture was starting to tire me. The natives of "Tarzan and His Mate", the hunters that kill and eat lions, are given a name, the Zambeles, and they are the tribe that pose a threat to Jane and other whites who find themselves in the wrong neck of the woods. Yep, that elephant stampede, with Tarzan as the leader, is used as a rescue device yet again, this time losing a bit of its luster because there was this feeling of "been there, done that", although it was neat seeing Boy riding a small elephant, accompanying the rampaging herd. Boy gets to head after Tarzan instead of Cheetah, the orangutan, which was a change of pace and rather heroic considering the danger that awaits him such as a lion chasing after him up a tree. The more suspenseful scenes come from Boy getting himself into perilous situations like walking into the aforementioned spider web, nearly riding a large lily pad into a waterfall, and almost suffering the crush of a rumbling rhino. These scenes are important to establish the terror that is omnipresent regarding life in the jungle, and we know they play a major factor in Jane's decision to possibly hand the kid over to the Lancings. Like in previous Tarzan films, a secondary character, who develops a plan to ruin the greedy white villains' goal of securing wealth through nefarious means, is shot for attempting such heroism, and not long after this, those involved in such a crime run smack dab into a heathen tribe, their lives potentially suffering a karmic backlash. This film includes a nifty rescue for Tarzan who is left by Jane in a giant hole containing a small river, with Boy and Cheetah leading elephants to push over a tree that would help our hero climb out so he could, in turn, save Jane and company from the Zambele tribe. I do think the scene where Jane is speared seems "off", as if her intended fate seemed more realistic than what was eventually filmed when Tarzan reaches her, but I understand the logic of the studio in changing the result. I do want to see Maureen O'Sullivan again, even if this particular film doesn't quite give her as meatier a role as in past Tarzan films.