Thursday, December 21, 2006

Movie review - Tarzan #6 - "Tarzan's New York Adventure" (1942) ***

The final Weissmuller MGM Tarzan film sends things out on a high note. Tarzan in New York is a terrific idea, and the series receives a massive boost of energy with the new setting, which means that there is a decent size support cast for a change, lots of comedy and pleasing New York locations.

As usual the film starts with a safari (this time by plane) comprised with good and evil people - even Tarzan's getting used to it by now, he spots it straight away. The opening action sequence is pretty spectacular - the local natives who just want to kill white people have figured out Tarzan's trick's too and cut his rope! Then the action switches to the Big Apple - firstly its mostly comedy courtesy of Tarzan and Cheetah, then its action, including a dive from the Brooklyn Bridge and elephants coming to the rescue, at the circus.

Script problem: it isn't believable that the baddies are that keen on getting their hands on Boy (why didn't they reuse the Boy-is-from-a-rich-family stuff from Tarzan Finds A Son). The film has two awful, awful scenes: one where Cheetah is on the phone to a black New York man and the black man understands him (this was reused with Nazis in the Tarzan Triumphs but I'm sorry it's funny with Nazis but not black people - this scene is sometimes cut out), and one where Jane admits to Tarzan that she is wrong (just like she did in Tarzan Finds A Son - like that film she is "wrong" about something actually right, in this case for insisting Tarzan try to get Boy back through legal means.)

No comments: