Executive producer: Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises Production. Not copyrighted. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release through Principal Productions: 3 June 1938. U.K. release through Associated British Film Distributors. 72 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: After recovering the idol called the Green Goddess from the Dead City, Tarzan and his friends begin the arduous trek back to civilization. After many adventures, they finally reach Greystoke Manor where it seems certain Tarzan will soon wed Ula Vale.
NOTES: Number 14 of the 46-picture "Tarzan" series.
COMMENT: A cutdown of the last half of the twelve-chapter serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), which goes some way towards explaining the film's jerky continuity (which is occasionally awkwardly bridged by inter-titles, though there still remain some odd gaps in the narrative).
Kull's direction is nothing special and no great strains are placed on the acting skills of the cast. Mr Bennett's performance is more physical than mental, Miss Holt is reasonably attractive, and Mr Sargent contributes a bit of slapstick fun. The other players are no more than serviceable. Behind-the-camera personnel likewise rate as slightly behind the Hollywood norm.
Still, for all its technical shortcomings, this Tarzan is a lively movie with plenty of pace and action filmed against real backgrounds in Gautemala (sometimes ill-matched with obvious African stock footage). If the Boys' Own story seems somewhat juvenile and the characterizations never more than rudimentary, it must be remembered that the film was produced by none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs himself in an attempt to show his public exactly how Tarzan should be portrayed on the screen.
Bruce Bennett's Tarzan is no illiterate ape man, but a well-spoken, literate daredevil, actively championing the causes of world peace and justice. True, physically, he's almost superhuman in his ability to survive various perils virtually unscathed, but this cliffhanger excitement is part and parcel of Burroughs' books. And here it all comes to grand action finale on board a storm-tossed sailing ship. That episode alone is worth the price of admission.
SYNOPSIS: After recovering the idol called the Green Goddess from the Dead City, Tarzan and his friends begin the arduous trek back to civilization. After many adventures, they finally reach Greystoke Manor where it seems certain Tarzan will soon wed Ula Vale.
NOTES: Number 14 of the 46-picture "Tarzan" series.
COMMENT: A cutdown of the last half of the twelve-chapter serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), which goes some way towards explaining the film's jerky continuity (which is occasionally awkwardly bridged by inter-titles, though there still remain some odd gaps in the narrative).
Kull's direction is nothing special and no great strains are placed on the acting skills of the cast. Mr Bennett's performance is more physical than mental, Miss Holt is reasonably attractive, and Mr Sargent contributes a bit of slapstick fun. The other players are no more than serviceable. Behind-the-camera personnel likewise rate as slightly behind the Hollywood norm.
Still, for all its technical shortcomings, this Tarzan is a lively movie with plenty of pace and action filmed against real backgrounds in Gautemala (sometimes ill-matched with obvious African stock footage). If the Boys' Own story seems somewhat juvenile and the characterizations never more than rudimentary, it must be remembered that the film was produced by none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs himself in an attempt to show his public exactly how Tarzan should be portrayed on the screen.
Bruce Bennett's Tarzan is no illiterate ape man, but a well-spoken, literate daredevil, actively championing the causes of world peace and justice. True, physically, he's almost superhuman in his ability to survive various perils virtually unscathed, but this cliffhanger excitement is part and parcel of Burroughs' books. And here it all comes to grand action finale on board a storm-tossed sailing ship. That episode alone is worth the price of admission.