Thanks for the memories!

How sad is this?

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Jungle films sometimes incorporate some noirish sequences, but as they were generally made for the matinée trade, the most often used plot element was mystery. Admittedly, in some movies like Tiger Fangs (1943), this mystery element was easily penetrated by a seven-year-old, even though it seemed to puzzle slow-of-brain Frank Buck and company. Admittedly, a bit of well-staged action helped to distract from the plot's shortcomings. However, aside from its copious use of incredibly ancient (but no doubt, cheap) stock shots, this movie's most notable contribution to audience entertainment lay in the engaging performance by Dan Seymour as an overweight, short-sighted villain. The rest of the players were a waste of time. It was particularly sad to see super-lovely June Duprez (star of Korda's luxurious Thief of Bagdad) forced to stand around in the shade of such pushy "B" regulars as Duncan Renaldo and J. Farrell MacDonald. I would rate the St Clair Vision DVD as no more than a seven out of ten!

Well, after having one of the most prolific careers in any single role, Johnny Weismuller calls it quits as this is his last "Tarzan" movie. I'm not sure if this is meant to be the last "Tarzan" movie in this series. The main flaw with this movie is that it's too short. We don't even get to hear Tarzan's scream! Anyway, this still isn't really bad. I like how they try to put some variance by having Tarzan and Jane go somewhere else. It was still kind of annoying with how there wasn't much action. I'm used to seeing more of that in these movies.I haven't seen every single one of the films, but it looks like there are certainly things going on. I was thinking that they'd make it so that the fake god turned out to be real after all. I'm actually glad they didn't. It was also nice to not actually see mermaids in the movie. Instead, we just get people who act like them. Still, that is a pretty misleading title. What is it with these movies and doing that? There were some nice peaceful bits in it that were pleasant enough. It's just that this didn't have anything that memorable. I'm still glad I saw all these movies. **1/2

TARZAN AND THE MERMAID was the low-end of Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan series and the final Tarzan he'd agree to make. Set in Acapulco, Mexico --- "just downstream from their jungle house --- Tarzan will encounter infamous actress Linda Christian in a rare screen role, as the latest virgin to be handed over to the tribe's two-bit "god." I can't overstate the drop in quality. All the great Tarzan films were made by MGM with high production quality, excellent scripts, action shots; the best. The RKO Tarzan films made by Sol Lesser were much cheaper and used less imagination. MERMAIDS was the poorest of the RKO series. Why then do I rate it 8 out of 10. Weissmuller is asset #1. The catchy title is asset #2. The fact is that I saw this movie 5 times. First in 1949, then 1950, then twice on TV; finally via an eBay purchase of a bootleg copy. PS: The real story as to why Weissmuller quit Tarzan was that Columbia Pictures agreed to let him wear clothes in his Jungle Jim series. After 13 years in loincloth, he, like many of us, gained a few pounds.

I always want to see the aging veteran ballplayer play that one last season. Most of the time, they shouldn't - but I want to see it anyway. Why? Because I love those guys and want to prolong the experience of seeing them perform as long as possible. Alas, Tarzan & The Mermaids is your classic example of taking a film series one film too long. The should have stopped with the fine Tarzan & The Huntress. But hey, what can you do? Filmed down in Mexico on a buck-and-a-half, Tarzan & The Mermaids is a total cheapo with long interludes of silence, as though it were indeed shot as a silent film. The film is dull, the plot, hell, who cares? This film was the perfect transition for Johnny Weissmuller to transition into Jungle Jim. The time had come. I hate saying this, but this one isn't even for true devotees. Catch the ones where he fights the Nazi's instead. Those are great!