If you have enjoyed all the original Tarzan series like I have, then you will enjoy this well narrated documentary by Rudy Behlmer. As a child, I have watched most of the Tarzan series on B&W television starring Johnny Weismiller and Maureen O'Sullivan. Rudy does a wonderful job at describing all six Tarzan movies in the series. Rudy goes "behind the scenes" with wonderful footage showing what made the series so popular. They show how Tarzan wrestled with real rhinos and mechanical crocodiles. They reveal how Tarzan and Jane's yell was made and what made it popular. Sensorship became a big deal after the early thirties, and Janes revealing costume had to sport more coverage around her thighs. The documentary shows many of these uncut scenes. If you enjoyed in the series you will like this documentary. I'll leave you with one final message. . . . "ungowa".
4 Reviews
Well done look at Tarzan and the six films that Weissmuller and O'Sullivan did for MGM. Good fun even for non fans of the series
dbborroughs29 January 2006
Made for Turner Classic movies and packaged in with the Warner Brothers DVD release of the first six MGM Tarzan movies this is an over view of the character of Tarzan from his creation through to the production of Tarzan's New York Adventure. It's a very informative look at the world's favorite jungle man as seen in 6 MGM movies. This is your typical Warner classic documentary with lots of talking heads (Rudy Behlmer, Robert Osborne, Johnny Weissmuller Jr not to mention Edgar Rice Burroughs experts) plus tons of stills and clips. Its a really nice over view of the MGM series that reveals many new stories and corrects many falsely held ones (for example Burroughs actually liked the films, I had always heard otherwise).It's a good amount of information told in an entertaining way. While I'm not a huge fan of this bunch of Tarzan films, I find them fun, but somewhat too silly, I did find that my interest has been piqued enough by what I learned to go back and re-watch the films (I'm dying to see if I notice the fake elephant ears in the films themselves). If there is a flaw to this documentary its that the film runs out of steam towards the end. For what ever reason the 80 minute running time is too long for whats up on screen. Minor complaint aside this if absolutely worth seeing, especially if you've ever seen any of the films, or wondered about whether Maureen O'Sullivan was the one doing the nude swim scene.
Incisive documentary about the MGM Tarzan films...
Doylenf3 August 2012
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Tarzan films, and then some. It gets a little too detailed at times, going over familiar territory once too often. Robert Osborne, Rudy Behlmer and Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. give lots of background talk while we're treated to stills and scenes from the series featuring Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan and Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane.
Interesting that Maureen O'Sullivan had a huge dislike for Cheetah, the talented chimp who stole many of the scenes and had a real affection for Weissmuller. She distanced herself from the chimp whenever possible because he was jealous of her, according to the lady herself who talks about her own experiences while making the films.
A good many of the comments come from Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. who stated that his dad was fond of Maureen although they never had a romantic relationship. His dad was the one who chose Johnny Sheffield from among 400 boys who auditioned for the role of Tarzan's son. Stories of how he trained Sheffield to swim and get over his fear of the water make for interesting tidbits.
Well done commentary is just a tad bit in need of some tight editing. Otherwise, it's a satisfying behind-the-scenes look at the film and how Edgar Rice Burroughs came to write the stories in the first place.
Interesting that Maureen O'Sullivan had a huge dislike for Cheetah, the talented chimp who stole many of the scenes and had a real affection for Weissmuller. She distanced herself from the chimp whenever possible because he was jealous of her, according to the lady herself who talks about her own experiences while making the films.
A good many of the comments come from Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. who stated that his dad was fond of Maureen although they never had a romantic relationship. His dad was the one who chose Johnny Sheffield from among 400 boys who auditioned for the role of Tarzan's son. Stories of how he trained Sheffield to swim and get over his fear of the water make for interesting tidbits.
Well done commentary is just a tad bit in need of some tight editing. Otherwise, it's a satisfying behind-the-scenes look at the film and how Edgar Rice Burroughs came to write the stories in the first place.
Good Documentary
Michael_Elliott3 August 2012
Tarzan: Silver Screen King of the Jungle (2004)
*** (out of 4)
Good documentary features interviews with Rudy Behlmer, Robert Osborne, Tracy Griffin, Geoff St. Andrews, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. and an archival one with Maureen O'Sullivan. The group talk about the six films that were done at MGM with Weissmuller and O'Sullivan so pretty much everything you'd want to know is discussed. There's talk about a wide range of subjects including how MGM got involved in the series, the casting of the picture, the various troubles TARZAN AND HIS MATE had with the Hayes Office plus later budget cuts in the series. Each film is looked at and we get nice bits of information on the production of that film plus various facts and there are also myths that are debunked. If you're a fan of the series then it'll be nearly impossible not to enjoy this documentary. At just over a hour I think the only negative thing that could be said is that it's too bad the documentary didn't cover the other films that Weissmuller would go on to do. It's too bad that the thing didn't go even further for the post-Weissmuller films but to be fair this was produced to go with the original DVD box set, which contained the six films discussed here. All of the interviews are full of great information and we're even introduced to one of the chimps who played Cheetah and is still alive!
*** (out of 4)
Good documentary features interviews with Rudy Behlmer, Robert Osborne, Tracy Griffin, Geoff St. Andrews, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. and an archival one with Maureen O'Sullivan. The group talk about the six films that were done at MGM with Weissmuller and O'Sullivan so pretty much everything you'd want to know is discussed. There's talk about a wide range of subjects including how MGM got involved in the series, the casting of the picture, the various troubles TARZAN AND HIS MATE had with the Hayes Office plus later budget cuts in the series. Each film is looked at and we get nice bits of information on the production of that film plus various facts and there are also myths that are debunked. If you're a fan of the series then it'll be nearly impossible not to enjoy this documentary. At just over a hour I think the only negative thing that could be said is that it's too bad the documentary didn't cover the other films that Weissmuller would go on to do. It's too bad that the thing didn't go even further for the post-Weissmuller films but to be fair this was produced to go with the original DVD box set, which contained the six films discussed here. All of the interviews are full of great information and we're even introduced to one of the chimps who played Cheetah and is still alive!
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