Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

cjskama-956-515706 I agree with the other reviewers that this is not one of the better Tarzan movies. But about three quarters of the way through, I began to ask myself "where have I seen this before?" Then it struck me. This movie introduces three creatures that later appeared in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." TDM first presents a wild-spirited horse that cannot be tamed but will allow a person to ride it if asked. And Tarzan can summon this wild horse by whistling. Sounds a lot like Shadowfax. Then we have a dangerous multi-tentacled creature at the entrance to the jungle which later entraps Tarzan. This seems quite similar to the Watcher in the Water by the gates of Moria. Finally there is the huge cave-dwelling spider. As soon as I saw Boy caught in the spider's web, I remembered the image of Frodo caught by Shelob. Now, one coincidence I can dismiss. But three imaginary creatures in one movie that later appear in a different book? TDM came out in 1943, and according to Wiki Tolkien resumed writing LOTR in 1944. Coincidence? Watch TDM and decide.

MartinHafer When Johnny Weissmuller made the Tarzan films for MGM, they were amazingly good for what they were. They had decent stories and production values and were quite enjoyable. However, in the 1940s the series moved to RKO--a much lower-budget and lower-status studio. Weissmuller made this move, but poor old Maureen O'Sullivan was still under contract with MGM and was forced to remain behind and make GOOD movies (poor Maureen!). To explain her absence, the films made lots of lame excuses until several films later when they re-cast the Jane role--in the meantime, she was said to either be visiting family or helping out in the war effort! To put it quite bluntly, when "Tarzan Triumphs" (the previous film for RKO) debuted, it was obvious the series had peaked and was in a fast decline. After all, this previous film had the man of the jungle fighting Nazis!!! Here in "Tarzan's Desert Mystery", Tarzan helps a condemned lady prove her innocence and prevent the usurpation of the throne in a desert nation. I think the "Desert Mystery" from the title was actually referring to why Tarzan was in the desert in the first place AND why the film switched abruptly from jungle to desert scenes again and again (like an Ed Wood production). Overall, the film makes no sense and truly looks like a bad B-movie where, at the last minute, they just inserted Tarzan as a supporting character! And, they didn't really bother re-writing the film to explain any of this! Too bad, as the film did have Otto Kruger--a decent actor who should have been above making this sort of mess. Truly an awful Tarzan film--mostly because it never makes any sense.

Michael_Elliott Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943) ** (out of 4) Jane, who once again sends Tarzan a letter saying she isn't coming home, also asks her boyfriend to get a secret formula that can cure troops fighting in the war. Tarzan, Boy and Cheetah set out to do this but end up fighting Arabs. I found it incredibly difficult to stay awake while watching this film and it took several viewings to be able to do so. I thought the first forty-minutes of this thing were deadly dull and lacked any nice comedy or action. The female lead also wasn't very interesting, which hurt matters. The film eventually picks up at the end when Tarzan must enter a mysterious jungle full of living vines, prehistoric creatures and a huge spider. If only the entire film had taken place here. This is the first Tarzan I've actually been disappointed in to the point where I probably won't watch it again.

Chris Gaskin This is probably my favourite Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movie. In this one, Tarzan and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) set out across the desert to get a medicine from a particular plant to send to Jane who is in Britain helping the war effort. She needs it to help wounded soldiers to fully recover. On the way, they bump into Nancy Kelly who plays a magician. After escaping the Arab city, they reach the jungle where they discover time has stood still. The dangers they encounter trying to get the medicine are stock footage prehistoric monsters from One Million BC, giant man-eating plants, lions and, best of all, a giant spider whose web Boy gets trapped in. He escapes and the spider eats one of the baddies.All the stars in this movie take good parts, especially the two Johnnies and Nancy Kelly, who makes a good substitute for Jane.I enjoyed watching this movie and have seen several times. Watch it if you get the chance.Rating: 4 stars out of 5.