Le mystère de Tarzan

Pretty good second RKO Tarzan feature has the jungle man and his son Boy still going it alone in the absence of Jane, who remains in London nursing the wounded soldiers of WWII. Her most recent letter asks that Tarzan bring some jungle fever medicine to her, so he, Boy, and Cheeta travel across the desert to honor her request. Along the way, father and son meet a tough traveling lady magician named Connie (Nancy Kelly) who winds up tagging along with them and becomes the latest substitute for the missing Jane character. Though unlikable at first, she gradually settles in as a more amiable companion. Soon, the travelers become stranded in an Arab city where Tarzan gets jailed for stealing a stallion, and Connie becomes framed for murdering the son of a Shiek and is sentenced to death by hanging. In this film are more old familiar actors like Lloyd Corrigan (as the Sheik), Robert Lowery (the Prince), and Otto Kruger as another Nazi leader named Heinrich who is hiding out under the name of Hendrix. This entry also features giant jungle creatures, including a huge spider who snares Boy in its web, and man-eating plants. We're also treated to more of Cheeta's zany antics as well. **1/2 out of ****

Tarzan's adventures at RKO continue in his second film there (eighth overall for Johnny Weissmuller). Having not been recast yet, Jane is once again absent. She's in England helping with the war effort. Yes, this is another WW2 Tarzan film, although much less controversial than the last one. This time, instead of slaughtering invading murderous Nazis who deserved every bit of what they got, Tarzan is sent by Jane on a mission to find plants needed to make a malaria serum. He takes Boy and Cheeta along and they journey across the Sahara desert, where they are joined by a spunky American magician (Nancy Kelly). They also encounter Nazi spies, man-eating plants, stock footage prehistoric lizards, and a deadly giant spider.

This one's a little different from previous entries in the series. It seems full-on aimed at kids with more fantastic elements and comic relief. But it's all good and the change in setting is nice. A solid cast for this one backing up Weissmuller and Johnny Sheffield -- Otto Kruger, Robert Lowery, Lloyd Corrigan, and Joe Sawyer. Pretty Nancy Kelly seems to be channeling Barbara Stanwyck at times. She's a lot of fun and even gets to sing "Boola Boola." Another enjoyable entry in the series, which lost something in production values when it left MGM but kept the adventure and charm of the earlier films. As was often the case, Cheeta steals the show.

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.

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.

When I was growing up and Tarzan pictures were shown regularly on a local television station every saturday morning, this is the one I and my friends would wait for: the one with the giant spider. It's not the best of the series otherwise, but has an interesting locale (North rather than sub-Saharan Africa), and a non-Jane leading lady for the big guy (Nancy Kelly). I can't recall whether Tarzan and Miss Kelly get together romantically, but she was a most attractive woman and a nice change of pace for the series, which was beginning to run out of gimmicks. Otto Kruger makes a pretty good, refined villain; his small, slight stature contrasts interestingly with Weisssmuller's. But it's the spider most people remember best from this film, and it's big, furry one with a sticky web and eight disturbingly agile legs. I've never cared much for arachnids, and don't know anyone who does, and so just watching the movie was both a trial and a thrill, as I could only hope I would behave with such bravery and resourcefulness as the swinging hero of the film were I caught up in a similar circumstance.