Les aventures de Tarzan à New-York

As MGM knew Maureen O'Sullivan was departing the 'Tarzan' series, and budget and talent constraints were forcing the long-running series out of the studio (RKO would soon be Tarzan's new home), they decided to end things with a bang, clothing Johnny Weissmuller in a double-breasted suit, and setting him loose in New York's concrete jungle. The gamble worked, magnificently!

The premise is simple; Boy, thinking Tarzan and Jane are dead, after falling into a raging fire during a tribal attack, is whisked away by an evil circus big game hunter (Charles Bickford) in a chartered plane. (How so many planes land safely in the middle of the jungle in these films is never explained...)

Rescued by Cheetah, Tarzan and Jane hike across Africa, dress in more modern attire (a VERY funny scene!), and fly across the Atlantic to try and retrieve their son.

The fun begins when the pair reach New York. Tarzan's bemused reaction to a black taxi driver, his takes on radio, indoor plumbing, and nightclubs, are priceless (and were recreated years later in Paul Hogan's wonderful 'Crocodile Dundee'). There are a few slightly offensive racial stereotypes displayed, but considering the period of the film, these are really quite tame.

A few nagging questions about the series are addressed in this film...'What happens if Boy gets sick?' and 'How is he being educated?', although the biggest question is never addressed...How does a boy with a British 'mother' and an Ape Man 'father' end up with an American accent?

When the courts fail to return Boy (the jungle couple can't prove legal custody), Tarzan takes matters into his own hands, breaking out of the courthouse, and performing an extraordinary series of rooftop swings, leaps and acrobatics to get to the New Jersey home of the circus, climaxing with a breathtaking 100-foot dive off the Brooklyn Bridge. The sequence is still fabulous, over 50 years after the film was released!

The film concludes with the almost stereotyped rescue scene, as elephants rescue Tarzan and Boy, yet again! Evil is vanquished, the family is reunited by the court, and the judge is going to catch some really BIG fish when he comes to visit!

If you're looking for gritty realism, you won't be popping a Tarzan flick into the VCR, anyway, but if you want thrills, laughs, and wonderful escapism, look no further!

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!

Ask anyone over the age of 30 who is the best Tarzan and you may receive several answers. Ron Ely would be a popular choice; so would Gordon Scott. But I'll lay good money that the top answer would be Johnny Weissmuller.

By the time Tarzan's New York Adventure came to be made, Weissmuller had made the loin cloth his own and something new had to be done. As sacrilegious as it sounds, it was the taking of Tarzan out of his own environment that made this the best in his long list of jungle capers.

The plot is unimportant. Tarzan's son is taken away to New York and he travels there, accompanied by Jane, to bring him back. But it's the way that the whole premise is handled that ensures that this film will remain in the memory (it's remained in mine ever since I saw it, aged 7). You know Tarzan will win but you don't expect the way that he does it.

Weissmuller was a fine actor with little to say. And here, he doesn't need to say much. There's action, drama, and humour - everything one needs. Even the effects (apart from an occasional speeded up film shot) are sufficiently effective.

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.