You won't be disappointed!

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Ivory hunters James Parker (C. Aubrey Smith) and Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) are in Africa searching for a mythical elephant burial ground when Parker's daughter Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) arrives unexpectedly. Despite her father's objections, Jane insists on accompanying them on their expedition. During their journey they are shocked when they see a half-naked white man (Johnny Weissmuller) living among the apes. The ape man kidnaps Jane and takes her to his home in the treetops, where she learns that his name is Tarzan.Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan is one of the most-filmed characters in movie history. Live action or animation, there have been tons of adaptations and they continue to this day. Well, for my money, none beats the Johnny Weissmuller series at MGM (and later RKO). They were exceptional adventure stories, sheer fun for young and old alike. Like most film series, the earlier movies in the Tarzan series are the better ones, starting with this first film. Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller does a fantastic job as Tarzan. He was obviously cast for his looks and athleticism but he brings a sensitivity to the part that's unexpected. He plays him as a laconic man-child, innocent and peaceful until the things he cares about are threatened. That famous yell of Tarzan's is unforgettable. Maureen O'Sullivan is charming and easy to fall in love with. Her performance is so effortless and real for this period in film. She elevates every scene and makes whoever's acting opposite her give more relaxed performances, as well. She has playful and at times sizzling sexual chemistry with Weissmuller. She also has a nice familial chemistry with C. Aubrey Smith. Their scenes have an authenticity about them that is rare to see but is appreciated. The success of the early Tarzan series owes as much to Maureen's Jane as it does to Johnny's Tarzan. Neil Hamilton, an actor most will remember as Commissioner Gordon from the '60s Batman TV show, does fine playing the part of the guy in love with Jane but can't compete with the rugged but kind Tarzan.Let's not forget this is a Pre-Code movie. Maureen appears scantily clad and even wearing a soaking wet thin dress in one scene. And, of course, Weissmuller wears nothing but a loincloth throughout. Being that it was filmed in 1932, there is some inevitable creakiness, an overuse of stock footage, and some spotty rear projection effects. But these things are minor negatives. The action scenes are great. Tarzan wrestling with an obviously stuffed leopard may seem hokey to many modern viewers, but it holds a certain quaint appeal for me. The animals are fun. Who doesn't love Cheeta? The matte painting backdrops are also nice. It's exciting romantic escapism with a good cast and solid direction from Woody 'One Take' Van Dyke. Followed by many sequels, the first of which is even better than this classic.

Is this the first case of recycling? MGM spent a fortune making Trader Horn, and was able to reuse some footage for this film. Smart thinking. Of course the footage was not integrated well. It looks as if some of the characters are walking in front of a movie screen.Johnny Weismuller was an Olympic Gold Medalist with no acting experience, and MGM really didn't want him, but they used him for this and four sequels to great effect. Weismuller went on to make more Tarzan films for other producers.It is always a pleasure to watch old films like this and see how far we have come.

From the 1930s-1950s, there were a long succession of jungle pictures in theaters. And, for the most part, they sucked. These films featured grade-z actors and directors, significant use of bad stock footage (often of Asian or South American locations even though the films were supposedly set in Africa) and dumb writing. Because of this, after a while I stopped watching them--they are very dull indeed. However, MGM's "Tarzan the Ape Man" is an exception I am going to make--after all, instead of the usual poverty row studio, this one was made by the most prestigious studio on the planet. Instead of lousy actors, MGM pulled out their A-game with Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Hamilton (at the time a big star--though mostly forgotten today except for his role as 'Commissioner Gordon' on TVs "Batman") and C. Aubrey Smith. And, not surprisingly, they cast a new actor as Tarzan--as it would be hard to accept an actor with an established reputation as a jungle savage! So, they obtained the services of Olypmic champion swimmer Johnny Weismuller to play the lead. I couldn't wait to see a good jungle film! Would this fit the bill? The film skips the story of the Greystokes being lost in Africa with their young baby who would grow up to be Tarzan. Instead, it begins many years later when an African expedition happens to find the young man---quite by accident. But before Tarzan meets the entire expedition, he meets Jane and they hit it off in some cute scenes.On the negative side for this film, there is STILL the significant use of stock footage--some of which clearly doesn't fit the film (such as the scenes where they show various tribesmen who are filmed in very different locations than where the action is set). And, unfortunately, there are some guys dressed up as chimps--something that just looked cheap (though these were a bit better than the usual chimp suits). There also is a fake crocodile that looked pretty silly (conversely, the fake hippos in this same scene were pretty good). And, because of all this, I just can't understand reviews that gave the film 10s. On the positive, despite the cheesy stock footage, the acting was lovely and the script very good. These were able to make up for a lot of the film's deficiencies. The mountain hiking scene is very impressive for 1932--and a very nice use of trick photography and matte paintings. Also, a few real animals were used on the sets--such as a hippo and baby chimps and fights with real live lions--not dead stuffed ones (which I HAVE seen in other Tarzan films). It clearly skimped a bit here and there, but also did have impressive touches a better budget would allow. As a result, the film is significantly more watchable than the usual jungle film--including many of the later non-Johnny Weismuller films. It's worth seeing, as it's among the very best of the Tarzan films--if not the best.By the way, the follow-up film, "Tarzan and His Mate", is a notorious movie. That's because it features a very, very risqué nude swimming sequence--one that ran afoul of the new toughened Production Code (in an effort to make movies more family-friendly. This very nude scene was anything but family-friendly)! And, by the time it was ready for release, the code was being strengthened--and these changes forced the scene to be severely edited. Recently, the edited footage has been restored--and it is rather hot--even by today's standards--and certainly not what you'd expect in what is seen as a kids' film. Both this risqué and the previous film excel, however, as they are quite romantic--something that CAN'T be said of other jungle epics!Also, in "Tarzan the Ape Man", they use Asian elephants. While I am usually a stickler for realism (especially since the animals often shown in jungle films are just the wrong species for Africa), I don't object to this in this particular case, as African elephants are a lot more dangerous and I wouldn't want the studio to use these beasts (though some circuses have--at much greater risk).

I hadn't seen Johnny Weissmuller's debut film Tarzan The Ape Man for many years so I was struck by the fact that Neil Hamilton and Maureen O'Sullivan got first billing with Weissmuller down the opening credits in an 'introducing' category. As if no one in America, let alone the movie going public didn't know who Johnny Weissmuller was.The fuss over swimming champion Michael Phelps is nothing compared to what Johnny Weissmuller's celebrity was like. In the Roaring Twenties when each sport seemed to have an icon that became a legend, Weissmuller was that for swimming. The records he set in the Olympics stood for many years, with today's athlete conditioning methods I can only speculate what he could do today if he were alive and in his prime.Still Louis B. Mayer was nothing if not cautious in protecting an investment in a non-actor to be a lead in a major film. He kept Weissmuller's dialog to grunts, guttural jungle utterings, and a few choice words that Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane teaches her new jungle man toy.With tons of footage left over from MGM's African location film of Trader Horn, Tarzan The Ape Man had all the background needed to make the film look good. It's fairly obvious that when you see shots of Neil Hamilton and Maureen O'Sullivan they're shot against a background of real natives. They never got further to Africa than Toluca Lake in the shooting.It's also obvious that Weissmuller couldn't act at all which was why he was only given grunts and dialog of one and two words. Later on he did become a competent enough actor. But quite frankly who cared when they saw him in a loin cloth.Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane Parker comes to Africa to visit her father C. Aubrey Smith and she finds that Smith and his partner Neil Hamilton are planning an expedition into some unexplored territory in search of the fabled elephant's graveyard. A lot of loose ivory to be picked up there without the danger of actually trying to kill the beasts. Hamilton's interested in her, but when white jungle man Tarzan rescues O'Sullivan, Hamilton doesn't have a prayer.Tarzan The Ape Man is still an exciting adventure film even to today's more sophisticated eyes. And Weissmuller and O'Sullivan's appeal as a romantic couple is timeless.All right so they haven't got the dialog from Romeo and Juliet, who cares?