Tonight's Tarzan was "Tarzan's New York Adventure" (1942), the sixth and final movie from the series made at MGM, and also the last with Maureen O'Sullivan as "Jane". The franchise would move over to RKO for six more films with Johnny Weissmuller; those were the movies we saw first, when I got the Volume Two Collection from the Libe a couple of weeks ago. Actually, we saw four of the six RKO films, because two of the dvds froze up and wouldn't play. But we've just seen all of the MGM Tarzans, making a total of ten out of the twelve films viewed (with two of the RKOs still to catch up on), and it's been such a ton of fun that I've gotta do a Tarzan yell to show my appreciation :
"Aaaah-eeeaaaheeeaaah-eeeaaaheeeaah"!
You can imagine the plot for "Tarzan's New York Adventure" because the title gives it away. Tarzan, Jane and Boy are out for a morning swim when they spot an airplane flying overhead.
Tarzan not impressed. Iron Bird only bring men and trouble.
But Boy has been schooled by Jane in the ways of civilization and has taken to the wonders of things like airplanes, as any boy will. The plane has landed nearby. Boy wants to see it but Tarzan forbids him. Jane intervenes and a compromise is reached. All three of them will go see the airplane the next day. Tarzan hopes that Boy will have forgotten about it by then.
Not only does Boy not forget, but he gets up early the next morning to go search for the plane on his own, before Tarzan and Jane awake. Boy rides Buli the Elephant out to the site, and brings Cheeta with him. They not only find the airplane but also it's pilot and the men who chartered it : two scouts for an American circus that are looking to trap lions to take back to the U.S.
The circus men are fascinated with Boy and his command of animals. They ask him to demonstrate his communication with Buli and other elephants that have shown up. Boy gets the elephants to perform a few choreographed tricks while Cheeta applauds from the sidelines.
The Tarzan Formula kicks in here because the animal trappers from the circus, - upon watching Boy in action with the beasts - immediately see dollar signs. "He'd be a big draw in the center ring"!, exclaims the leader, who floats a plan to take Boy back to New York, right away before Tarzan finds out. Boy has explained to the men about Tarzan, and they do not wish to meet him.
As you can conclude, the movie would not have it's title unless the trappers' plan worked, to kidnap Boy and make him a circus attraction in New York. This does happen, and the only possibility is that Tarzan and Jane must follow the kidnapper's trail all the way to the Big Apple. Prior to departure, Jane has to educate Tarzan on the need to wear clothes in America, so as not to stand out. This leads to some hijinx in a tailor's shop. More fun is had at a hotel, where Cheeta gets loose and runs wild with Jane's makeup kit. The talent of Jiggs the Chimpanzee, who was the main simian actor of the "Cheeta" character through the years, cannot be overstated. Watch and see for yourself what he can do onscreen.
The plot, once it reaches New York, is self-explanatory. Jane and Tarzan, fully dressed, want their Boy back. Jane tells Tarzan that they will have to use the law, because the devious circus owner has applied for adoption of Boy.
Here does the story culminate in a courtroom proceeding, where a besuited Tarzan is called to testify as to his fitness to raise Boy in the jungle, as opposed to giving him a chance in civilization with the circus owner.
As in other Tarzan movies, this presents the writers with a chance to espouse some very beautiful and moving Utopian philosophy. Weissmuller, on the stand, haltingly describes all he can do for Boy.
Teach, feed, protect, cure if sick, and lead.
The Judge concurs that he cannot think of anything else that is required of a father. You'd have to see the scene for yourself, but being that this is Tarzan, I know you get the gist.
The courtroom drama does not end peacefully, and this leads to some incredible stunts and tension at the Brooklyn Bridge.
That is all I will reveal, but I must add once again that I was very moved by the philosophy of the Tarzan movies. Really, it is very humane, and Green, which is all the rage politically now but here it was being talked about almost 80 years ago. Tarzan is 100% anti-gun, which I am in total agreement with, and there are many other moments of dialogue and plot situations that describe this philosophy that are too subtle to describe; you need to see the film to understand.
Natural living versus civilization.
And of course we feel that sentiment in our bones. We live with all these systems, economic, political, scientific, and we call them "progress", but what we see in the Tarzan films (Utopian though they may be), is that there is a lot to be said for the natural way of life, and for non-violence, and for the abolition of guns, and for allowing animals to live and be themselves.
To live according to the intuition God has given us.
Jane would chime in, and rightfully so I think, to say that an invention like radio is not such a bad thing, nor are other advancements in the modern world.
But In the Tarzan movies, from the books by William Rice Burroughs (who wound up living in Tarzana, California, a few miles from where I write), Nature is All, and gives all. No progress is needed, because in reality, there is no such thing as "progress".
The human race is the only species that doesn't understand this.
Life is eternal and cyclical, not linear. We go round and round, we do not need to die with the most toys and win, because we will be back if we just let things be.
Tarzan understand. Which is why these movies are so great.
There are not enough Thumbs Available for me to adequately recommend every movie in the Weissmuller/Tarzan series, and especially the half dozen originals from MGM, with Maureen O'Connor as "Jane". In their own way, they are some of the greatest films ever made. /////
See you in the morning. Huge love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment