A Companheira de Tarzan

I often half-jokingly refer to "Tarzan and His Mate" as the "T2" of the 1930s, simply because it's packed with special effects, action, and spectacle of the big budget variety that I usually associate with modern films. Sure, some of the visuals look duff now - there's heavy use of rear screen projection and rubber animals - but there's also amazing sights like elephant stampedes, monkeys fighting tigers, hapless people tumbling off cliffs, and a huge elephant graveyard that must rank among the most memorable movie sets of all time.

Never mind the spectacle, though; the best part is the script. Maureen O'Sullivan has a surprisingly wonderful role as Jane. In fact, she carries the movie, since all Tarzan can really do is yodel and swing. She has to fend off the advances of two unsavory ivory hunters who want to lure her back to civilization. Tarzan is doubly threatened by these seedy guys - they want to kill his elephants AND they want his woman. This dual conflict keeps the movie cooking.

There's an amazing amount of violence in the film, including some spectacular battles with nasty tribesmen and knife fights with huge beasties. You'll even get to see a corpse with an arrow through its forehead and bugs crawling all over it. There's a bit of nudity as well, but don't get too excited as it's not really Maureen O'Sullivan swimming in the buff (but it is still swimming in the buff, so feel free to get excited anyway!). Amazing, isn't it, that "Tarzan and His Mate" is such a visceral viewing experience...especially when compared to the much tamer films that followed after Hollywood instituted a strict moral code.

Romantic, sexy, exciting, exotic - in short, all you could expect from a Tarzan movie. And the heroic monkeys are just the cutest thing ever. Once you make it past a rather dry first scene, this movie rocks all the way through.

Never before and never since has there been a more wonderful Tarzan movie than this one. While the first Weismuller Tarzan movie, "Tarzan The Ape Man" is required viewing before seeing this one, "Tarzan And His Mate" is the only one to watch if you have to pick just one Tarzan movie. The film delivers in action, excitement and romance on a grand level with Maureen O'Sullivan looking absolutely sexy in her abbreviated costume as Jane. Unfortunately, the iron hand of the Hays Office forced all subsequent Weismuller-O'Sullivan Tarzan films to be toned down in the romance department (with O'Sullivan getting more conservative wardrobe) and the series never came close to this film again. Highly recommended.

It feels weird saying this as a young black man of 29, but Maureen O'Sullivan engenders/embodies a flirty sexuality unequaled in today's movies. She plays tomboyish, but is so flirty at the same time that renders her simply irresistible as Jane. I'm also surprised that Tarzan is still so rough with her and that that was acceptable back in the day. I mean, it's cute, but a tad ungentlemanly.

Since I need to write at least ten lines, I'll continue on...

It's actually really refreshing, the irrelevance of the shame of nudity in this film. Here we are, in 1934, with a man undressing for a bath in the same room with his friend. Jane's naked silhouette tempting the imaginations of every red-blooded American. It's just so natural and alluring in its unabashedness. The skinny-dipping scene is a beautiful ballet of light, water, and skin. It's not pornographic, simply playful and free.

As a black man, I'd love if there was some way the treatment of blacks in this film weren't so harsh, as though all they are are beasts of burden, but I suppose it was a sign of the times. It's darned near slavery. But then again, I never traveled on safari in Africa in the 30s.

The release of TARZAN THE APE MAN, in 1932, caused a sensation. It may be hard to believe, 70 years later, but the film had much of the same kind of impact as THE MATRIX, or THE LORD OF THE RINGS has achieved, at a time when movies and radio were the major sources of entertainment. Tarzan became an instant pop icon, the 'noble savage' that every woman fantasized about, and every man wished he could be. The only person unhappy about the situation was Edgar Rice Burroughs, who, while he'd agreed to MGM's creative liberties, and enjoyed his hefty royalty checks, felt the 'dumbed down' version of his character (with no plans to allow him to 'grow') was unfaithful to his vision (he would start a production company, and soon be making his own 'Tarzan' films). MGM, realizing the value of it's newest 'star', knew the sequel would have to be even more spectacular than the original...and TARZAN AND HIS MATE delivered!

The film had an interesting back story; Cedric Gibbons, MGM's legendary Art Director, had gotten a commitment from the studio to direct the sequel, prior to the release of TARZAN THE APE MAN, despite the fact that he'd NEVER directed before (the studio hadn't anticipated the film's impact, and didn't think a novice director would matter much on a 'novelty' film...and they wanted to keep their Oscar-winning department chief happy). Gibbons, a prodigiously talented and imaginative visual artist, loved the freedom of pre-Code Hollywood, and decided to have TARZAN AND HIS MATE 'push the envelope' to the limit...Tarzan and Jane would frolic in a nude swim, and Jane would appear TOPLESS through most of the film. Maureen O'Sullivan said in an interview shortly before her death, in 1998, that while a double was used for the swim, she trusted the studio, and did 'a couple of days' of filming sans top...but it became too much of a headache trying to strategically place plants and fruit to block her nipples, and the idea was abandoned (the film shot those days would be worth a fortune!) She did do a nude silhouette scene in a tent, flashed her breasts at the conclusion of her 'swim', and donned a revised 'jungle' costume that was extremely provocative, very thin, and open at the sides...and the resulting outcry would help 'create' the Hays Office, and the self-censorship that would soon engulf the entire industry.

MGM yanked Gibbons from the production (the 'official' reason given was his workload as Art Director), and veteran Jack Conway was listed as the new director, to appease the critics...although James C. McKay actually directed the film, as Conway was busy on 3 other projects, including VIVA VILLA!

The film incorporated the best elements of the original (safaris, murderous tribes, Tarzan fighting jungle beasts to the death to save Jane), and actually improved on the storytelling. Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton), from the first film, returns to Africa for ivory from the 'Elephants' Graveyard', and to try to seduce Jane into returning to England, with gifts of silk dresses, underwear, and perfume. He brings with him Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanagh), a crack shot and inveterate womanizer, who sneers at Holt's chivalrous pursuit of Jane, and stalks her as a potential 'conquest', to be had by any means (including killing Tarzan, if and when he can get away with it without being seen).

Tarzan barely tolerates the intrusion into his happy life with Jane, and puts his foot down, refusing to allow the hunters into the Graveyard. Arlington finds his opportunity, catching the Ape Man alone, and shoots him, then returns to the camp with a fabricated story of his demise. Now Jane has no reason to remain in the jungle, and she can direct them to the Graveyard, before her long voyage back to England, comforted by the oh-so-sympathetic Arlington. But a savage tribe and hideous torture await the group...can Tarzan, being nursed back to health by his ape 'family', recover in time to save Jane?

While stock footage is again used extensively, the racial stereotypes of the 30s are apparent, and the gorillas are obviously actors in ape suits, TARZAN AND HIS MATE achieves a level of sophistication unsurpassed in any other 'Tarzan' film, as well as a sexiness that even Bo Derek's blatantly erotic TARZAN, THE APE MAN couldn't touch. Johnny Weissmuller was in peak condition, physically, Maureen O'Sullivan was never more beautiful, and 'Africa' never looked more romantic, and dangerous.

TARZAN AND HIS MATE was a triumph (although it would be drastically edited for many years), and remains THE classic of the series, to this day!

As noted by other reviewers this is one of the best Tarzan movies. Unlike others however, I like the beginning of the film as it feels like a pretty accurate depiction of what a trading post must have been like. Plus the exposition is needed so we know why Harry wants to go back into the jungle. In addition the beginning of the film contains one of the most thrilling and terrifying chase sequences ever made.This occurs when Harry's safari group has to outrun a tribe of cannibals. The pre-censorship production values add a lot of realism, genuinely depicting the terrible dangers that awaited Europeans going into the jungle. The film also offers, though perhaps antecedently, an accurate account of how horribly treated the native Africans were by their white employers. In addition sexy Jane, thousands of elephants , some great sets and two chetas! Not to be missed an adventure classic.