The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935/I)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Edward A. Kull

Writers:

Edwin Blum (writer)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (writer)

Release Date:

21 May 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

The Greatest Tarzan of All Time!

Plot:

The Green Goddess is a totem worshiped by the primitive natives of a lost city deep in the jungles of Guatemala...

Plot Keywords:

Guatemala | Jewel | Expedition | Lost Friend | Super Explosives

Cast

Bruce Bennett	...	Tarzan (as Herman Brix)
Ula Holt	...	Ula Vale
Ashton Dearholt	...	P.B. Raglan (as Don Castello)
Frank Baker	...	Maj. Francis Martling
Lewis Sargent	...	George
Harry Ernest	...	Gordon Hamilton [Chs. 1-4, 12]
Dale Walsh	...	Alice Martling [Chs. 1-4, 12]
Jiggs	...	Nkima the Chimp
Merrill McCormick	...	Bouchart [Ch. 1] / Lopez [Ch. 10]
Jack Mower	...	Ula's Companion [Ch. 1] / Capt. Simon Blade [Ch. 11]

Also Known As:

Tarzan and the Lost Goddess
Tarzan in Guatemala

Runtime:

257 min (12 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2095) (Chapter 12) | USA:Approved (PCA #2096) (Chapter 13) | USA:Approved (PCA #2097) (Chapter 14) | USA:Approved (PCA #2102) (Chapter 15) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Antigua, Guatemala

Company:

Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises Inc.

Trivia:

The original story for this serial featured munitions runners, Alice and Gordon mistaken for spies and pursued by the Guatemalan police, and Ula Vale as a mysterious figure revealed in the final episode to be an undercover government operative. The script was rewritten during production and these elements dropped. However, the original treatment was used for the pressbook synopsis and the original chapter titles were retained despite lacking relevance any longer (e.g. "Operative 17" as the final chapter). Virtually all Tarzan/serial film "historians" continue to refer to the pressbook synopsis, also, instead of watching the serial, and thus fail to accurately present the story that was finally filmed. Caveat emptor.

Goofs:

Continuity: D'Arnot's plane is a two-seater, but both Bouchart and David Brent are supposed to have been with him in it on the flight when it crashed.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938)

As close to the Tarzan of the novels as we are likely ever to see

Herman Brix is Tarzan, aka Lord Greystoke, splitting his time between England and Africa. While in Africa he is asked to go to Guatemala to help look for an idol. As close to Edgar Rice Burroughs idea of the character as we are likely to see, Burroughs produced, this a bit different then the Tarzan of the movies we are used to, Tarzan is intelligent and speaks in full sentences. He is still a man of action. To be certain the independent nature of the serial and its budgetary limitations make this a little rough at times, but at the same time the story and its dangers are as real as they come. I know that some people have complained that how Tarzan gets out of things isn't always spectacular (he expands his chest to help get ropes off of himself), but its probably closer to reality then most serials would dare. Worth a look to how Tarzan of the pages really should look on screen.