User Reviews

No, not Ken Maynard nor ERB's Tarzan...Tarzan, the Police Dog.

This was the third (and last) of the Tarzan the Police Dog films produced by Consolidated Pictures Corporation, another of the Weiss Brothers' many-different production company names, and one that has no relationship to Consolidated Labs. It followed "Million Dollar Haul" and "Inside Information" and the company announced that three more would be made following "Captured in Chinatown"; those were to be "Missing Messinger", "On the Spot" and "On Patrol," none of which ever saw the light of a projector lamp.

The plot has "Daily Chronicle" reporters Ann Parker (Marion Shilling) and Bob Martin (Charles Delaney, the poor-man's Jack Mulhall) sent to Chinatown by their City Editor (John Elliott) to get a story about the announcement of the wedding of Joy Ling (Bo Ling) and Tom Wong (Wing Foo). Since the Ling and Wong families had been bitter enemies for many years, the wedding was to be one that ended the feud between the families.

At the announcement, Tom presents his bride-to-be with a jade-and-diamond necklace valued at fifty thousand dollars. Joy Ling goes to her room and the necklace is snatched from her throat by Zamboni (Paul Ellis), a crook who was posing as a recording engineer, anxious to send records of the termination of the Ling-Wong feud to China. Tom rushes to Joy's aid and is stabbed by Zambozi. Tom's father, (James B. Leong billed as Jimmy Leon), arrives in time to see Zamboni, dressed in Ling-family clothes disappear. He concludes the marriage-announcement was just a Ling-family ruse to kill his son and immediately declares that the tong-war is on again and vows death to all Lings.

Philo McCullough is on hand as Raymond, the Mastermind behind the jewel theft, and has Harry (the first Robert Walker and billed as Robert Walker) as one of his henchman. But, slick and suave and oily McCullough has more than a few problems when Bob and Ann bring Tarzan (Tarzan the Police Dog) into the case.

Joy of the Lings and Tom of the Wongs fall in love and manage to bring peace to their warring families. As part of the settlement Tom will give to Joy a rare jade necklace. The crooked Zamboni hears about the necklace and plots to steal it. Also becoming involved are an ace reporter Bob Martin, who amusingly has a dog amusingly called Tarzan, and a junior reporter Ann Parker. You could write the film yourself as cliché is followed by cliché. It even turns out that the junior reporter, unbeknown to the chief reporter, is really the daughter of the newspaper proprietor using a pen name for herself. Gosh, what a surprise. At the end the two reporters, having a prickly relationship throughout the film, have of course fallen in love. Benedick and Beatrice it ain't though. Oh and the newspaper editor shouts a lot.

Bob Martin is played annoyingly by Charles Delaney and Marion Shilling is bland as Ann Parker. The best performance is given of course by Tarzan the dog who is played by errr..Tarzan The Dog. He shows the most intelligence and halfway through has already sussed out Zamboni. The Chinese characters are played by Chinese actors which gives the film a bit more authenticity and interestingly a lot of the dialogue is in a Chinese language.

The film is sensationally called 'Captured in Chinatown' but actually just one character is locked in a room and that's only for a short time. A better title would be 'Tarzan The Fearless' but that one was used a couple of years earlier in 1933 by some tree swinging chap.

The Ling and Wong families have been at war for generations, and it all of a sudden and when love between two younger members of the families pulls it to a close. The greedy desire over a valuable jade necklace leads white Mobsters to attempt to steal it, but an unexpected hero comes into save the day, not before hostages are held, gunfire errupts, and an incredible chase sequence ensues.

This is a fascinating poverty row crime drama that suffers mainly from long gaps of silence where even footsteps over the action is barely heard. A hero name Tarzan isn't the loincloth type, but the four-legged breed, and he takes great direction. With the sudden focus on Caucasian characters after the first real, this really could have taken place in any big city neighborhood, but the Chinatown setting does provide an exotic background. Marion Shilling as a feisty female reporter and Charles Delaney as her rival for the story are adequate leads, but it's Tarzan whom you will mainly be rooting for.

Marion Shilling (Ann Parker), Charles Delaney (Bob Martin), Philo McCullough (Raymond), Robert Ellis (Zamboni), Robert Walker (Harry), Bobby Nelson (newsboy), John Elliott (city editor), Bo Ling (Joy Ling), James B. Leong (Wong), Wing Foo (Tom Wong), Paul C. Fong (Ling) and "Tarzan" (himself).

Director: ELMER CLIFTON. Screenplay: Elmer Clifton and Arthur Durlam. Original story: Arthur Durlam. Photography: Harry Forbes. Film editor: Ralph Holt. Assistant director: Gordon Griffith. Sound recording: Cliff Ruberg. Executive producer: Bert Sternbach.

A Weiss Production, produced by Consolidated Pictures Corp. Distributed by Stage & Screen Productions, Inc. U.S. release through Superior Pictures Corporation: July 1935. No New York opening. 50 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: A long-standing feud between two families is happily brought to an end by a marriage. A valuable jade necklace is exchanged as a peace offering. Unfortunately, a gang of crooks plan to steal the necklace and place the blame on one of the formerly feuding parties.

COMMENT: Romeo and Juliet in Chinatown certainly makes an unusual background for a dog picture. Even more odd is the fact that the background often becomes the foreground and that more interest is sometimes evoked by the Chinese lovers, Bo Ling and Wing Foo, than by the picture's nominal stars, Marion Shilling and Charles Delaney.

In addition to the two pairs of lovers — and their respective backgrounds — we have a gangster story about an attempt to steal a valuable heirloom necklace and a subsequent double cross.

All this would seem to leave little footage for the dog — especially in view of the director's and photographer's obvious interest in the Chinatown background which is given not only a great deal of play but endowed with an absolutely splendid atmosphere. In fact, the lighting cameraman makes a most effective use of three or four richly detailed sets.

Nonetheless, even with all this competition, "Tarzan" does doggedly come across impressively enough to rate a few cheers, even from my jaundiced throat. As a general rule, I dislike dogs, but for "Tarzan", I'll gladly make an exception.