Tarzan Contra o Mundo

If you're a Tarzan fan of the Johnny Weismuller films, this is one you can't afford to miss.

Even the first twenty-two minutes of jungle scenes are briskly paced and amusing while JOHNNY WEISMULLER, MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN and JOHNNY SHEFFIELD encounter downed pilot PAUL KELLY and hunter CHARLES BICKFORD after their plane crashes. The plot is the usual simple one--Boy has been taken from the jungle and taken to New York City by circus exploiters--and Tarzan's mission is to recover him in time for a happy ending.

No expense has been spared in this big budget production from MGM. Although Cheetah gets lots of prime time, especially during the first half of the film, the supporting cast includes a lot of recognizable players such as Virginia Grey, Chill Wills, Charles Lane and villainous Cy Kendall. In this sixth film of the series (the last one featuring Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane), there's lots of monkey business involving tricks and stunts by a team of smart elephants worthy of any circus revue.

And thanks to director Richard Thorpe, the script plunges ahead easily to become one of the most entertaining in all the Tarzan films featuring Johnny Weismuller. At the fadeout, all is well in the jungle again after some amusing adventures in the Big City--including Tarzan's plunge from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Highly recommended for fans of the series.

TNYA is a fun film to enjoy, especially if you are a fan of the series. Metro could make cheap films look expensive because of their wonderful production values. TNYA is no exception. It looks great, even though it's only a 71-minute "B" film. Metro relied heavily on the international market for the TARZAN series, and WW2 had cut most of that off, so Metro cut the budget and let the series go after this film.

Still, as I said earlier, TNYA is a fun movie and is loaded with terrific character performers.

With the change in scenery for Tarzan and family, we can only wonder of what all MGM could have done if things had been different at the time.

And, by the way, a weighted dummy took the dive. There's no way Metro would have permitted Johnny to do the stunt. I'm sure he didn't want to, and besides, none of the principal cast set foot in the Big Apple for the production of this film.

Some men come to Africa by plane looking for lions for their circus. Despite Tarzan's warnings to stay away from them, Boy is fascinated by the plane and tries to get a closer look. He's kidnapped by the circus owner, hoping to turn Boy into a big attraction back home. Tarzan, Jane, and Cheeta all head to New York to rescue him. Once there, Jane makes Tarzan obey the law and try to get Boy back the legal way. So they have to go to court to gain custody. Weird. Don't worry, this isn't a courtroom drama. There is plenty of action. Tarzan's escape from the police and the circus rescue is exciting stuff. There's also quite a bit of 'fish out of water' humor with Tarzan having to wear a suit and discovering radio and indoor plumbing for the first time. Cheeta's also lots of fun in this. That crazy laugh is something else. The phone call scene with Mantan Moreland will NOT sit well with everybody, so sensitive types be forewarned. Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, and Johnny Sheffield are all great, as usual. Good support from Paul Kelly, Charles Bickford, Virginia Grey, Chill Wills, and Cy Kendall. This is the sixth and final Tarzan film from MGM before the series relocated to RKO. It's also the last film with Maureen O'Sullivan, who didn't act again for six years. The subsequent RKO Tarzans are fun but it's hard to beat the MGM series which had, among other attributes, the wonderful chemistry between Weissmuller and O'Sullivan.

A group of big game hunters land on Tarzan's escarpment in a 'metal bird', which piques Boy's curiosity about the wonders of modern civilisation. After the fearless lad approaches the hunters and foolishly displays his remarkable command of animals, Buck Rand (Charles Bickford), leader of the hunt, sees dollar signs and plans to take the lad to the US and sell him to a circus.

Rand's opportunity comes when a tribe of savage natives attack the group, and both Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) are seemingly burnt alive as they try to swing to the rescue: with Boy's parents dead, he is free to abduct Boy. However, thanks to the quick thinking of their faithful chimp Cheetah, Tarzan and Jane prove to be still very much alive, and together they travel to the 'Big Apple' to try and find their son.

After the formulaic Tarzan's Secret Treasure, it's great to see the legendary ape-man finally get a change of scenery. Tarzan, a fish out of water in the city, takes a while to adjust to his new surroundings and much fun is to be had from his unfamiliarity with modern technology and his coming to terms with NY etiquette; but, after he and his wife fail to convince the authorities to return Boy in court, Tarzan soon forgets all about doing things the civilised way, and switches back to jungle-mode in order to settle matters.

This involves an exciting rooftop chase (the 1940s equivalent of freerunning/Parkour), a daring climb up the Brooklyn bridge, a high dive into the river, and a finale that features—surprise, surprise—an elephant stampede. It might not be the greatest of all Tarzan's adventures, but seeing the lord of the jungle stepping out on the town is still a lot of fun.

It brings back wonderful memories where, after going to church Sunday morning and having Sunday dinner (always roast beef, country ham or fried chicken), my sisters and I would gather around the old tabletop Philco B&W TV to watch "Jungle Theater" which always showed either Tarzan or Jungle Jim (Johnny Weismuller's other alter ego). This was always one of my favorites, especially the dive off the Brooklyn Bridge and Tarzan giving his famous yell in the shower, fully clothed. And to us and all our friends, there was only one Tarzan, Johnny Weismuller. Alas,kids today don't know what they're missing. Ongowa, pacey, Cheetah!