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IMDbPro

Tarzan Finds a Son!

  • 19391939
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 22m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
16,829
9,185
Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield, and Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
ActionAdventureFamily
Tarzan finds a boy from a crashed plane and raises him with Jane in the jungle. A search party comes looking for the plane.Tarzan finds a boy from a crashed plane and raises him with Jane in the jungle. A search party comes looking for the plane.Tarzan finds a boy from a crashed plane and raises him with Jane in the jungle. A search party comes looking for the plane.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
16,829
9,185
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Richard Thorpe
    • Writers
      • Cyril Hume(screen play)
      • Edgar Rice Burroughs(based upon the characters created by)
    • Stars
      • Johnny Weissmuller
      • Maureen O'Sullivan
      • Johnny Sheffield
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Richard Thorpe
    • Writers
      • Cyril Hume(screen play)
      • Edgar Rice Burroughs(based upon the characters created by)
    • Stars
      • Johnny Weissmuller
      • Maureen O'Sullivan
      • Johnny Sheffield
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 20User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Photos99

    "Tarzan Finds a Son" Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan 1939 MGM
    Maureen O'Sullivan and Johnny Sheffield in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Maureen O'Sullivan in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Maureen O'Sullivan in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Maureen O'Sullivan in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Maureen O'Sullivan in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Maureen O'Sullivan in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
    Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Johnny Weissmuller
    Johnny Weissmuller
    • Tarzan
    Maureen O'Sullivan
    Maureen O'Sullivan
    • Jane
    Johnny Sheffield
    Johnny Sheffield
    • Boy
    • (as John Sheffield)
    Ian Hunter
    Ian Hunter
    • Austin Lancing
    Henry Stephenson
    Henry Stephenson
    • Sir Thomas Lancing
    Frieda Inescort
    Frieda Inescort
    • Mrs. Austin Lancing
    Henry Wilcoxon
    Henry Wilcoxon
    • Mr. Sande
    Laraine Day
    Laraine Day
    • Mrs. Richard Lancing
    Morton Lowry
    Morton Lowry
    • Mr. Richard Lancing
    Uriah Banks
    • Mooloo-Young Native Boy
    • (uncredited)
    Gavin Muir
    Gavin Muir
    • Pilot
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Richard Thorpe
    • Writers
      • Cyril Hume(screen play)
      • Edgar Rice Burroughs(based upon the characters created by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Tarzan had to "find" a son, because censors would not allow Jane to become pregnant because she and Tarzan were not legally married.
    • Goofs
      At the climax when Boy is being chased by a lion, sudden position changes in the leaves in the background bushes show the progress of the traveling split screen from right to left, used so that both could be in frame without any danger.
    • Quotes

      Jane: What's the matter?

      Tarzan: People!

    • Alternate versions
      Originally released as Tarzan in Exile (1939), the film originally ended with the death of Jane. Protests by fans and Edgar Rice Burroughs forced the studio to reshoot much of the film so Jane survives.
    • Connections
      Edited from Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
    • Soundtracks
      Cannibal Carnival
      (1920) (uncredited)

      Music by Sol Levy

      Played during main titles

    User reviews20

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    Tarzan Escapes/Tarzan Finds A Son!
    My second Tarzan double-feature slot and the cracks are beginning to show! That said, TARZAN ESCAPES (1936; ***) is much better than online reviews would have you believe: true, there is ample stock footage on display here but it also boasts a strong plot line and cast (featuring Benita Hume, future wife of Ronald Colman and later George Sanders, as well as MGM staple Herbert Mundin and James Whale favorite E.E. Clive, not to mention the villainous John Buckler who comes to a particularly sticky end in this one) to even things out. By now, Weissmuller and O' Sullivan have grown considerably in their respective parts but the influence of the Hays' Office (established while the film was in production, resulting in extensive re-shoots before it could be classified for exhibition!) is also very much in evidence: Tarzan and Jane's behavior (to say nothing of the latter's 'wardrobe') is rather chaste this time around, and even the violence is there mainly by virtue of recycled scenes from the two previous entries in the series!!

    TARZAN FINDS A SON! (1939; **1/2), though certainly briskly-paced and fairly enjoyable in itself, is where things really start to degenerate and a sense of deja'-vu hangs over the proceedings like a cloud; not that this factor is an isolated case in franchises of this period – consider, for instance, the noticeable leap in quality from the ornate SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) to a strictly programmer-level THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942)… To make matters worse (though, I guess, this can be pinned down to personal opinion), we have here the addition of another jungle 'initiate' in the figure of Boy who emulates Tarzan in his every move, down to that grating yodel! Besides, his getting into endless predictable scrapes throughout, forcing Tarzan's nick-of-time intervention and queuing in further stock footage from the earlier films (now looking pretty rough-hewn alongside the lavish budgets MGM could afford by the end of the decade!), does the picture no favors at all in the story department!! Logic, too, is casually thrown out the window: the film opens with a plane crash-landing (i.e. before reaching its intended destination), yet when a search party is set in motion (5 years after the fact, conveniently allowing Boy to grow up and become attached to the Tarzans!), its members (invariably harboring an agenda of their own) go directly to the supposedly forbidden/secret part of the jungle where the Lord Of The Apes has set up residence…sheesh!! Once again, the familiar cast-list adds to the fun, though it has to be said that Ian Hunter (usually playing the reliable type) makes for an unconvincing villain in this one.
    helpful•6
    2
    • Bunuel1976
    • Dec 2, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 16, 1939 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Tarzan in Exile
    • Filming locations
      • Crystal Springs, Florida, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,265,020
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,551,840
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 22 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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    Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield, and Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
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