Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942)

Tarzan and Jane go to New York to rescue Boy after he is kidnapped into a circus.

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

Myles Connolly (screenplay), William R. Lipman (screenplay)

Stars:

Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Johnny Weissmuller	...	Tarzan
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Jane
Johnny Sheffield	...	Boy (as John Sheffield)
Virginia Grey	...	Connie Beach
Charles Bickford	...	Buck Rand
Paul Kelly	...	Jimmie Shields
Chill Wills	...	Manchester Montford
Cy Kendall	...	Colonel Ralph Sergeant
Russell Hicks	...	Judge Abbotson
Howard Hickman	...	Blake Norton
Charles Lane	...	Gould Beaton
Miles Mander	...	Portmaster
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matthew Boulton	...	Portmaster (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Circus owner Buck Rand kidnaps Boy to perform in his show. He forces a pilot to fly him, Boy and his animal trainer out of the jungle. Tarzan and Jane follow them to New York. At a trial over custody of Boy, Tarzan becomes violent and is jailed. With the help of the pilot's girlfriend Tarzan (who has since escaped, diving off the Brooklyn Bridge) finds the circus. He and the circus elephants complete the classic rescue.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to shakespeare | reference to hamlet | 1940s | tarzan character | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

You Never Saw Anything Like It!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

The vehicle in which Charles Bickford tries to escape a herd of angry circus elephants is a 1937 Cadillac Series 60 convertible coupe, which was all but demolished while filming the sequence.

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Goofs

When Boy is poking at the lion with a stick, the stick changes between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Boy: Cheetah! What is it?
Jane: Cheetah must be seeing things. What is it, Tarzan? What is it?
Tarzan: Uguna. Strange sound in sky. Big. Far off.
Jane: I don't hear anything.
Tarzan: Tarzan hear. Cheetah hear. Elephant hear.
Boy: Now I hear it. Like a great wind coming.

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Connections

Referenced in Classified X (1998)

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Soundtracks

Maisie Theme
(uncredited)
Music by David Snell
Played during main titles

User Reviews

Could this be the best Tarzan film of all time?

Ask anyone over the age of 30 who is the best Tarzan and you may receive several answers. Ron Ely would be a popular choice; so would Gordon Scott. But I'll lay good money that the top answer would be Johnny Weissmuller.

By the time Tarzan's New York Adventure came to be made, Weissmuller had made the loin cloth his own and something new had to be done. As sacrilegious as it sounds, it was the taking of Tarzan out of his own environment that made this the best in his long list of jungle capers.

The plot is unimportant. Tarzan's son is taken away to New York and he travels there, accompanied by Jane, to bring him back. But it's the way that the whole premise is handled that ensures that this film will remain in the memory (it's remained in mine ever since I saw it, aged 7). You know Tarzan will win but you don't expect the way that he does it.

Weissmuller was a fine actor with little to say. And here, he doesn't need to say much. There's action, drama, and humour - everything one needs. Even the effects (apart from an occasional speeded up film shot) are sufficiently effective.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tarzan Against the World

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,060,720

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,927,420

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1