Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Jan 11, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
W.S. Van DykeRelease Date(s)
1932 (December 12, 2023)Studio(s)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Loews, Inc. (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: B
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: A
Review
Tarzan the Ape Man is the first sound film adaptation of the jungle man novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Starring Johnny Weissmuller as the title character, the film establishes the template that would prove popular in movies and on television for years to come.
James Parker (C. Aubrey Smith) and business partner Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) run a trading post in Africa and are eager to learn the location of the elephants’ graveyard, a large repository of valuable ivory. Legend has it that when elephants feel the end is near, they go off to this secret place to die. Inquiries of local natives prove fruitless.
Parker’s daughter, Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan), arrives intent on savoring a new environment, adapting to an exotic locale, and leaving civilization behind. Treasure hunting is far from her priorities, but when her father and his partner get a hint from a dying native and resolve to try for the treasure once more, Jane insists on going with them.
An expedition with plenty of native trackers and bearers is soon put together. The trek takes them up a steep mountain, down a river filled with hippos and crocodiles, through treacherous jungle, and into a lethal encounter with savage dwarves. Along the way, enemies and accidents pick off many of the black natives but somehow spare the three white people—the two business partners and Jane.
Tarzan doesn’t make his first appearance until over a half-hour into the film. His entrance is spectacular, as he swings from vine to vine, tree to tree, whooping the famous Tarzan yell. His first act is to rescue Jane and the two traders from the dwarves. He’s obviously intrigued by the visitors to his domain, particularly Jane, and swoops her up into the trees. Initially terrified, she calms down when she realizes that this white jungle man doesn’t intend to harm her. She even teaches him her name and finds out his. A bond develops, and she ultimately comes to be his protector from the perils of the jungle and from her well-meaning father and Holt.
Tarzan the Ape Man uses so much stock footage of various African tribesmen in their distinctive attire and wild animals that, at first, it seems very much like a documentary. In a few scenes, actors perform in front of rear-projected images. The early special effect is obvious today but may have been a marvel in the 1930s, enabling many viewers to see actual film footage of the Dark Continent for the first time. The bulk of the film, however, was shot mostly at MGM, where docile animals such as zebras roamed through scenes and tame Indian elephants were “made up” with large ears to look like untrainable African elephants. Completely phony-looking men in gorilla costumes perform several stunts. A standout co-star is Cheetah, a chimpanzee whose expressions and body language are incredible. He’s quite the scene stealer.
Tarzan’s agility and strength set him apart from both Holt and Jane’s father. He’s the one who comes to the rescue when things get difficult. Once Tarzan enters the film, the plot unfolds almost entirely in visuals. Director W.S. Van Dyke keeps the action flowing, with one adventure after another.
Weissmuller was a champion swimmer but neither an animal trainer nor an acrobat. In Tarzan’s fights with lions and other wild animals, Weissmuller is replaced by a stand-in, and an aerialist doubles for him in the swinging scenes.
It’s hard to discuss Weissmuller’s acting since Tarzan cannot communicate with language aside from a few words he learns from Jane. Most of his performance is necessarily physical. His prime expression is curiosity. Everything is new to Tarzan, and he’s learning as events transpire around him, with only his instincts, skills, and awareness of danger to depend on. When someone takes a shot at him and the bullet hits a tree limb close to his head, he doesn’t flinch, since guns and bullets are completely unknown to him. In subsequent films, Weissmuller would have a wider vocabulary.
Maureen O’Sullivan’s Jane is convincingly strong-willed, resourceful, and kind. Jane seeks something other than a staid, routine life and she certainly gets it. O’Sullivan exhibits intense fear when Jane is scooped up by Tarzan under the nose of her father, but comes to see the ape man as an innocent, totally unaware of anything outside of his world. Seeing a child-like wonder in Tarzan that belies his masculine physique and courage, she recognizes the humanity in him and appreciates his lack of civilization’s baggage. He’s pure and unspoiled, and she’s attracted. Her glances clearly suggest something more than friendship is brewing within her.
Tarzan the Ape Man holds up even after over 90 years. With so many nature documentaries on TV shown in color, the animal sequences no longer have the impact they must have had when initially seen, but the story still intrigues. There’s definite sexual tension when Tarzan spirits Jane away from the expedition. What’s he up to? The film was pre-Code, so this tension was built into the story. Jane is torn between her father and her new savior, just as Tarzan is torn between the fair beauty and his jungle-bound freedom. The follow-up film, Tarzan and His Mate, would push boundaries even further, showing Jane swimming nude and both Tarzan and Jane wearing very brief loin cloths.
Tarzan the Ape Man was shot by directors of photography Harold Rosson and Clyde De Vinna on black & white 35 mm film with spherical lenses and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Sharpness varies from scene to scene. Much of the stock footage lacks the clarity of the studio-filmed footage. For the modern eye, this is distracting and calls attention to the dual sources. Rear projection is used a great deal to simulate the presence of actors in actual jungle settings. A matte shot suggests that the expedition members are walking on a high, narrow mountain ledge. Maureen O’Sullivan looks typically MGM-beautiful in the early scenes and becomes more disheveled and less glamorous as her Jane copes with jungle life. Weissmuller’s athleticism is on view as he climbs trees, swims away from man-eating crocodiles, and deals with killer dwarves.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are an available option. Dialogue dominates the first 20 minutes of the film, with ambient jungle sounds more and more apparent as the story proceeds. Dialogue doesn’t always come through clearly, likely due to the age of the source material. Occasional brief moments of native languages are interspersed. Hyenas, chanting natives, a native drum beating, and Tarzan’s famous call add flavor to the jungle setting. There’s no musical score except for the opening and closing sequences.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from Warner Archive include the following:
- Tarzan: Silver Screen King of the Jungle (79:59)
- I Wish I Had Wings (7:03)
- Moonlight for Two (6:54)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:43)
Tarzan: Silver Screen King of the Jungle – This documentary features comments from actress Maureen O’Sullivan, Johnny Weissmuller’s son, Olympic swimmer John Naber, and several film historians. It offers an overview of the life of author Edgar Rice Burroughs, the origins of the Tarzan character, Tarzan in silent pictures, and extensive information on the preparation and filming of the 1932 version. Tarzan the Ape Man was shot at MGM in Culver City and at Silver Springs, Florida, partly for financial reasons and partly because of bad on-location experiences the studio faced when shooting in Africa for Trader Horn (1931). Much of the stock footage in Tarzan the Ape Man was shot by MGM during production of Trader Horn. Unlike the original Burroughs story, no mention is made in the film about Tarzan’s origins as the apeman. Cheetah, the chimpanzee and comic sidekick of Tarzan, developed a dislike for Maureen O’Sullivan and would bite and scratch her at every opportunity. Weissmuller’s movie career and his later films are noted. He played Tarzan in 12 movies from 1932 through 1948. The individual Weissmuller/Tarzan films are discussed in detail, covering storylines and co-stars. O’Sullivan starred as Jane only in the first six films. Other actresses took on the role in subsequent pictures.
I Wish I Had Wings – In this 1932 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Rudolf Isling, an expectant father rooster fetches Dr. Stork, who delivers a basket full of white chicks and one little black one, who gets crowded out of the food. After singing the title song, he manages to improvise a pair of wings and fly over the chicken coop, but regrets it when he’s chased by a mean scarecrow.
Moonlight for Two – In this 1932 Merrie Melodies cartoon, also directed by Rudolf Isling, Goopy Geer is a hillbilly dog courting another dog to the dance. On the way, their buckboard crashes and becomes a wheelbarrow. Trouble occurs at the dance when a bear brandishes a shotgun, but everything turns out all right thanks to a walking stove.
Tarzan the Ape Man may pale when compared to more modern adventure films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it still holds fascination, whether from the mystique of a white jungle man who befriends wild animals or from the clash of worlds when Tarzan meets and is entranced by a pretty woman. A statement at the beginning of the Blu-ray notes that the film reflects biases and attitudes of the time, which may disturb some viewers. However, there’s an innocence to the film, and its overall tone is not at all mean-spirited.
- Dennis Seuling