Tonight's Movie: Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

MGM's pre-Code jungle classic TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932) is now available in a beautiful new Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Although I saw the first sequel to this film, TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934), at the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival, it had probably been a couple decades since my last viewing of the original movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As many will already be aware, TARZAN THE APE MAN was inspired by the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It tells the story of Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), who embarks on a safari with her father (C. Aubrey Smith) and Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) in search of elephant burial grounds and the ivory to be found there.

There are perils aplenty along the way, and then jungle man Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) literally sweeps Jane off her feet and into a tree.

Jane is initially frightened, but it's not long before Jane feels liberated being with Tarzan in the jungle, and they begin what might be called a romance. But what to do when it's time for the safari to head back to civilization?

This is quite an entertaining film, although I did think a couple of Tarzan's endless animal battles could have been trimmed, reducing the film's 100-minute running time a bit.

I'd forgotten what a good job the film initially does laying out Jane's spunky character. Her introduction, followed by the gradual development of her relationship with Tarzan, makes their relationship very believable. It's the key thing which I think makes the film work as well as it does, enabling the audience to suspend disbelief.

Likewise, swimming champ Weissmuller completely sells his performance as the uniquely skilled king of the jungle. He might not speak English, but he sails through the trees, wrestles killer animals, and commands an elephant army. Weissmuller and O'Sullivan have excellent chemistry.

The movie's final scene was particularly fun for me as I immediately recognized it as filmed at Iverson Ranch, where I've hiked several times looking at movie locations. A couple years ago I wrote a column with Iverson Ranch photos for Classic Movie Hub. There are photos specifically of the Tarzan locations at Dennis Liff's Iverson Movie Ranch site.

W.S. Van Dyke directed TARZAN THE APE MAN from a script by Ivor Novello, based on a Cyril Hume adaptation. As a side note, I don't think anyone will be particularly surprised that some of the characters' words and actions, regarding both natives and animals, are not what we consider appropriate today.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray is a 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the best preservation elements available. I thought it looked remarkably good, showing off the cinematography of Clyde De Vinna and Harold Rosson.

Sound quality is also very good, especially for a film of this vintage. Given this film's extensive outdoor shootings, it's remarkable to consider how recently sound films had come into existence.

Blu-ray extras consist of the 80-minute documentary TARZAN SILVER SCREEN KING OF THE JUNGLE (2004); the Merry Melodies cartoons MOONLIGHT FOR TWO (1932) and I WISH I HAD WINGS (1932); and the trailer.

I'm hoping TARZAN AND HIS MATE will also be coming to Blu-ray! In the meantime, this new release of TARZAN THE APE MAN is recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, the Amazon Warner Archive Collection Store, or from any online retailers were Blu-rays are sold.

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