Beanbioca
As Good As It Gets
Crwthod
A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.
Matrixiole
Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
dougdoepke
Plot-- Two money-hungry Englishmen organize a safari to Africa to bring back prizes of elephant ivory and a reluctant Jane Parker. Trouble is she seems to prefer an apeman, a loincloth, and a cave to city sophisticates, evening gowns and country mansions. In the safari process, however, they overlook that even the jungle has its laws.Thanks TCM for showing the movie's uncensored version. I expect the morality watchdogs must have overdosed on 1934 viewing. But there's a heckuva lot more to the movie than bared female skin and two unmarried people living together. O'Sullivan's absolutely enchanting as Jane. Her charm even outshines herds of stampeding elephants and bands of chattering chimps. More importantly, I think I've got her bare hips memorized. Then too, add a man of few words, the lean and lithe Weismuller, to the movie mix. He's perfect as lord of the jungle, more at home in the wilds than in the city, traveling by swinging vine instead of clogged freeway. Then too, I detect a topical allegory lurking in the subtext. Something about living in harmony with nature rather than trying to plunder it. Sure, nature here is a creation of studio wizards at MGM, and not the real Africa. Still, the results are impressive as heck, even with backscreen projection and liberal use of matte. But since when did I go to adventure movies expecting documentary realism. That I'll leave to the textbooks and PBS. Actually, my favorite movie moment is when thoughtless chimp Cheetah decides to tease three baby lions, only to find that a muscular mother doesn't quite understand. It's an amusing little touch. Anyhow, if there's a better Tarzan movie, I haven't seen it, even if this one is an antique. Meanwhile, I'm off to the jungle with visions of loincloth Jane dancing in my head. Okay, maybe not, but it's still a big thanks to this great movie.
utgard14
This is one of those rare cases of a sequel surpassing the original. Not only is it better than the first film but it's better than any other Tarzan movie ever made. Following up from the first Tarzan, Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) returns to Africa a year later for ivory and also to try and convince Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) to return to civilization with him. Joining Harry on the expedition is ruthless ivory hunter and cad Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanagh). When Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) stops them from removing ivory from the elephant graveyard, Arlington decides Tarzan must be killed. The action is fantastic! The violence gets pretty graphic at times, too. The early scenes of Holt's expedition meeting one deadly obstacle after another is reminiscent of the wild island scenes in King Kong. Tarzan fighting a rhino, a crocodile, and a lion are awesome scenes. The jungle swinging stuff is lots of fun. The climactic battle involving the ivory hunters, natives, lions, apes, elephants, and our heroic couple is epic.Neither Tarzan nor Jane show up until over 20 minutes in. The first time you hear that distinctive Tarzan yell is always the most exciting part of a Tarzan movie. Jane even gets her own yell this time but it's decidedly less impressive. Weissmuller and O'Sullivan are perfect. Their chemistry is amazing whether they're being romantic or sexy or playful. The scenes of their idyllic domestic life makes living in the wilderness and crapping behind bushes seem positively charming. Jane has been teaching Tarzan to speak English in between movies so Weissmuller gets more lines this time around. Although still few words at a time. Maureen wears a skimpy thigh-bearing two-piece throughout the movie. In all the subsequent movies they would cover her up with a one-piece. The famous underwater swimming scene with Jane au naturel is a highlight. The much-discussed sexual content is among the raciest of any Pre-Code film. In addition to the amount of skin on display, there are the many allusions to Tarzan and Jane's healthy sex life.There's so much to love about this movie. Action, humor, drama, eroticism -- it's a classic in every way. After the enforcement of the Hays Code, the series would become less risqué but still a great deal of fun. The first two Pre-Code Weissmuller Tarzan movies still stand as the best.
Ben Larson
Scandalous! Pre-production code, this film has Tarzan and Jane sharing quarters even though they were not married, Jane running around in an outfit that barely covered her, and they even skinny-dipped. Tame stuff today, but it brought about an enforcement of the movie production code and the film was edited before release. Fortunately, the complete movie exists and we can see what all the hullabaloo was about.Seeing Tarzan fight the rhino or the crocodile was worth the price of admission. It was thrilling. Of course, with Jane, it seems he was always fighting something.The real stars of the movie were the animals, especially Cheeta.
Scarecrow-88
Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) decides to return to the African jungle on a safari to secure the tusks in the elephant graveyard, along with a partner, Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanaugh) and 50 slaves. Martin loves women and has spent everything he had to support the safari, so the ivory is top priority but he's more than a bit interested in Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) when she and Tarzan show up to help guide them to the elephant graveyard (not knowing their plans to rape the bones of the dead elephants, the graveyard a sacred place he respects wholeheartedly). When Tarzan learns from Jane what Harry and Martin's true intentions are, he'll not carry them all the way; Martin, desperate, shoots an elephant, the expedition following the wounded animal to the graveyard. Tarzan, though, has a whole fleet of elephants at his disposal, using them to charge upon Harry and Martin's men, who have tusks in hand, not allowing them to carry off what belongs in the graveyard. So Martin will see no alternative than to get rid of the nuisance standing in the way of a fortune, Tarzan.Plenty of eyepopping Pre-Code moments such as Jane's animal skins bikini, her underwater naked swim with Tarzan, the hinting of adultery between Martin and a rich man's wife on the boat ride into Africa, Martin's sexual innuendo with Jane, the tent silhouette of a naked Jane trying on a dress Holt bought for her as a gift to wear (hoping to convince her to come back with him to England), some stunning savagery by two sets of heathen tribes (the regular cannibal tribe Gibonas show up again to take out some of Harry and Martin's men with spears; they also butcher another nefarious duo of white American hunters who stole Harry's map to the elephant graveyard and took some of his slaves), one particular tribe hunt and eat lions (using one of Harry's men as bait for the lions who follow the sound of their horns blowing loudly), with Tarzan using his knife on save missions to kill a crocodile attempting a death roll (actually knocking Jane across the head with its tale, her remarkably able to recover from such a blow), a rhino rumbling towards Jane (and killing Cheetah (the older Cheetah, which is a man in a costume), and a lion (that also threatens Jane).I've used lots of descriptions for O'Sullivan in the past for my user reviews regarding two other Tarzan movies, but in this film she's just plain sexy. This movie goes out of its way to point out just how sexy Maureen is; three men covet her, and it is understandable why. She has lots of qualities, besides her beauty, such as class, courage, vibrant personality, intelligence, resourcefulness, and loyalty to the man she loves. Like in other Tarzan movies, there are those outsiders who want to "take Jane back to a civilized world", and while she does have a hankering to return, we see that she is content living in the jungle. Also, the jungle is both presented at times as idyllic and dangerous. There is *always* a threat; see the different times Cheetah, the younger orangutan, has to evade the pursuit of a tiger or lion (or rhino). Jane is the very definition of "damsel in distress", although, to her credit, she defends herself the best she can (see her at the end, using flames to ward off a lion and tiger drawing closer to her) until her hunky hero in the loin cloth arrives, knife from sheath to the rescue. Plenty of jungle adventure and suspenseful ordeals for Tarzan and Jane in "Tarzan and His Mate". As expected, Martin cannot just shoot Tarzan, lie to Jane that he saw her man losing a battle with a crocodile, and go unharmed for his misdeeds. As far as unpredictable delights, you have Cheetah riding an ostrich, a hippo carrying a wounded Tarzan to shore from the river where he landed after being shot, and angry apes (men in costumes) hurling boulders at Harry's men as they were climbing up the mountain barrier, Mutia Encarpment.
