Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Fresh and Exciting

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938) * 1/2 (out of 4)In 1935 a serial called THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN was released in 12-chapters but then the producers got cheap and wanted to make some extra cash so they released a feature version of it. Then, three years later, the producers decided to re-edit some more footage and throw this thing out as the second feature taken from that serial. What we basically have here is the second portion of the serial as Tarzan (Herman Brix) travels to various locations trying to track down the Green Goddess and destroy the evil ones doing harm to get it. That's pretty much all the story you need to know or better said it's pretty much the only story I could come up with. It's always hard to judge these features that were trimmed down from serial simply because you're missing so much footage. You certainly can't judge the original serial from just these features. With that said, this here was pretty hard to get through for a number of reasons but the biggest is that it simply never makes any sense. It's clear that this production was trying to stay close to the source material as Tarzan is well spoken and is even able to dress nice. These touches are so fast that you really don't get to know this "other" Tarzan as it doesn't take long for him to be in the loin clothe and swinging around on vines. The performances are all rather bland and the added running time doesn't help. Fans of cheap "C" movies might get a kick out of this but it's probably best looking for the uncut serial.

Given the choice I'd watch the full serial The New Adventures of Tarzan, but some one not having five hours to do so may want to try this condensed version of part of the serial. The story concerns Tarzan and a trip to Guatemala where he hunts for the statue of The Green Goddess which has hidden in it a secret formula. This is not the Tarzan of the MGM and later films, this is the Tarzan of its creator Edgar Rice Burroughs where he is an English lord who speaks in full sentences. The film suffers from its independent origins, the stories of its making are legendary since it was made on location which caused no end of trouble. It also duffers from the problem most features condensed from serials have which is odd mixes of idleness and action and an often rushed sense of story. Its not bad but its not great either with the pacing of the serial completely screwed up. As I said at the top watch the full serial if you can, though if you want a taste give this a try.

This is the kind of movie I usually delight in making fun of, but I'll hold back a bit in deference to one of my three childhood fictional heroes (the others - Superman and The Lone Ranger). I'm sure the film makers tried hard to put together a serious picture, but the result was somewhat dubious. The best I can say is that it's better than ANY of the Jungle Jim adventures made over a decade later, but certainly below the standard of the Johnny Weissmuller 'Tarzan' films, though I haven't seen one of those recently. I also have to add that I've just learned, after the fact, that this was cobbled together from an earlier serialized version, which would explain a serious jump cut where Tarzan escapes from an unconscious state, tied to a tree in the jungle, only to find himself about to be accosted by an alligator (or crocodile, I can always go back to check for sure).You know, you'd think Tarzan would get it after the first two times he got that part of his anatomy under the loin cloth kicked, but no, he does it again at Mantique, jumping into a crowd of villains in an attempt to secure the 'green goddess'. No credit for learning by your mistakes. And by the way, what kind of Tarzan yell was that? Chalk another one up for Weissmuller.The version of the film I just watched was part of a one hundred! movie DVD compilation from Mill Creek Entertainment, that must have taken seriously some of the other reviewer comments on this board, because I didn't see any African animals like giraffes or rhinos. Not that they were missed, but I was certainly expecting wildlife that didn't honor geographic integrity, common for the era. But wait, there was that lion in the Dead City that should have made mincemeat out of the jungle hero, but guess what? - not a scratch on him!And let's not allow Major Martling (Frank Baker) off the hook so easily either. Why did he commission that 'mysterious ship' at Mantique to make the getaway with the idol? It was pretty much confirmed by all concerned that the lone vessel appeared about the time bad guy Raglan (Ashton Dearholt/Don Castello) arrived in Mantique.Oh well, I tried. I'm still wondering why the warning about the combination of characters relating to the explosives code was written in English. But as for Herman Brix who portrayed Tarzan - quite the superb physique, perhaps the most natural build of any of the movie Tarzans. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the heroine, Una Vale (Una Holt), who kept me guessing with all those costume changes - well done!

Nothing in this cheap Thirties flick makes much sense. Endless footage of jungle wildlife, leaping for dear life in the shadow of an intruding chopper, makes up about half of the running time, the plot is in threads, and characters are weakly written throughout. Allegedly Rice Burroughs chose Bruce Bennett for his first own Tarzan, quick-witted and astute rather than brawny and dumb. Certainly, this guy knows where Guatemala is situated, and he knows his French as well, Lord Greystoke indeed, and Bennett is not half bad. He is magnificent from the purely physical sense, he throws a great punch and he is genuinely playful with the chimps. Again, nothing makes much sense here, and the violence of this movie is staggering, really hardcore. It works rather well though, choreography is elaborate, and I was having a jolly good time with what is, admittedly, a rather poor B-flick.