I absolutely loved the Johnny Weissmuller/Maureen O'Sullivan Tarzan movies when I was a kid. They seemed so fantastical, so adventurous. Of course, they ARE fantasies. Jungle life is not that idyllic, and no human has Tarzan's superhuman abilities, including his control over animals. But I don't remember seeing this one back then, and I certainly don't remember the nudity from it (it was probably cut for commercial broadcast). Wowza, Hollywood certainly pushed the limits before that old prude Hayes clamped down. Just look at the nude swimming scene! Even if O'Sullivan's body double was wearing "something" sheer, she was indeed nude for all practical purposes. It only made sense, given the "outside civilization" setting, but as I said, there were obviously people who wouldn't stand for it, and no subsequent movies had such a scene. Neither did they have anything like the scene where O'Sullivan's loin cloth separates from her body, and you can clearly see what's underneath it. Even if she was wearing some sort of "appliance" there, one is certainly getting an eyeful.
Something else I was never aware of back then was how repetitive the films were. I was made aware of this by watching several of the films consecutively. The identical scene showing Tarzan fighting a giant crocodile is shown in three different movies. We also see the scene of him fighting a rhino repeated. Except for the film where Tarzan goes to New York, the plot formula is the same as well:
Devious white men intrude on Tarzan's jungle paradise.
Tarzan proves to be correct in his mistrust of the civilized white men. The white men's greed/violence/treachery puts Tarzan/Jane/Boy in jeopardy.
The white men and Jane/Boy get captured by hostile African tribe, which violently kills the white men.
Tarzan rescues Jane/Boy from tribe, making use of his extraordinary control of elephants/apes.
All ends well.
It works well enough. Weissmuller had very limited acting skills, but it's ok, because he wasn't asked to do much except look the part. O'Sullivan's acting is very good. Good chemistry with Weissmuller. Love her accent. She was luminously beautiful, and it certainly helped that her outfits showed so much of her.
Something else I was never aware of back then was how repetitive the films were. I was made aware of this by watching several of the films consecutively. The identical scene showing Tarzan fighting a giant crocodile is shown in three different movies. We also see the scene of him fighting a rhino repeated. Except for the film where Tarzan goes to New York, the plot formula is the same as well:
Devious white men intrude on Tarzan's jungle paradise.
Tarzan proves to be correct in his mistrust of the civilized white men. The white men's greed/violence/treachery puts Tarzan/Jane/Boy in jeopardy.
The white men and Jane/Boy get captured by hostile African tribe, which violently kills the white men.
Tarzan rescues Jane/Boy from tribe, making use of his extraordinary control of elephants/apes.
All ends well.
It works well enough. Weissmuller had very limited acting skills, but it's ok, because he wasn't asked to do much except look the part. O'Sullivan's acting is very good. Good chemistry with Weissmuller. Love her accent. She was luminously beautiful, and it certainly helped that her outfits showed so much of her.