Tarzan and his Mate
105 min. / B&W / 1.37:1 / DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio / SDH
Warner Archive Blu-ray $24.98
Available from MovieZyng
For my money the best and most thrilling of all Tarzan pictures, Tarzan and his Mate comes to Blu-ray from Warner Archive in all its Pre-Code glory. It’s a direct sequel to the first in the MGM series, Tarzan the Ape Man, and surpasses it in action, violence, animal attacks, and sexy romance.
Our story opens with Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) and his new partner (Paul Cavanagh) back in the jungle looking for the fabled Elephant’s Graveyard and intruding on the convivial bliss of Tarzan and Jane, who when they aren’t groping each other are swimming (in Jane’s case, sans swimwear or anything else) in crocodile-infested waters. The evil Mr. Cavanagh will stop at nothing to loot all the ivory in the jungle, including killing elephants, friendly apes, and a suspicious Ape Man. Toss in rampaging rhinos, a gaggle of gorillas, friendly and VERY unfriendly natives, and a full-on attack by a pride of vicious lions, and you’ve got a Tarzan picture that IS a Tarzan picture in full-on Pre-Code glory with guts and gore galore. It’s a wow, and once the Code was enforced the series lost all its freedom and its bite; the next one, Tarzan Escapes, was cut to hell by censors prior to release and the original version has never been seen.
According to Gabe Essoe’s book Tarzan of the Movies, MGM set up a 12 acre “jungle” with a lake and a menagerie in anticipation of future Tarzan epics, but it’s more likely that a much smaller set was used, as filming took place over eight months and a variety of Southern California locations. The long, long shooting time was a result of MGM’s Irving Thalberg and his dedication for perfection at any cost; director Cedric Gibbons was replaced during filming by Jack Conway (director of humans) and James C. McKay (director of animals); one wonders which of those gentlemen directed the humans in ape costumes. In any case, Miss O’Sullivan later stated that she and Weissmuller were directed by McKay, so maybe everybody was considered an animal, including the robot crocodile. Also, silent action star Rod La Rocque, who had played the villain in the first several weeks of filming, was deemed unsatisfactory by Thalberg and replaced by Mr. Cavanagh, and the film was heavily edited upon release (although an unedited version was kept in the vault and is used here, thankfully). All this added up to a successful picture but not as successful as the first one, and when Tarzan Escapes was shanghaied by the Hays Office, MGM cut the budget on future Mrs. & Mrs. Tarzan films and it showed.
Gratefully, we have this one and the high definition transfer is a delight, particularly because we can see and appreciate the many optical effects used to bring the jungle world of Tarzan to life, including lions attacking elephants! This is edge of your recliner thrills, and a must-have for classic film fans. It’s the fifth vintage Tarzan picture to be released through the Warner Archive and easily the best; we hope they continue with the series.
No cartoons in the bonus material, but we DO get a sensational trailer and a couple of 2-reel short subjects. What Price Jazz? Is a fun musical fantasy; Mr. Blue Laws is out to axe (literally) jazz musicians and hooch dancers. The Spectacle Maker is a rather dull Technicolor fantasy starring Christian “Geppetto” Rub but notable mainly as John Farrow’s directorial debut and an early role for Robert Taylor.
“Not to him.”
