Good idea lost in the noise

good film but with many flaws

Beautiful, moving film.

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.

I watched this movie today. I found it on Netflix. I had forgotten how enjoyable this series was. If one can keep their mind on the fact this was made long ago without computer graphics and fancy special effects it is quite enjoyable. I still find myself wondering how on earth they filmed the parts with the real wild animals. That could not have been easy and they made it look so real.Some of the background is obviously not real but this movie is such fun I barely noticed. A couple times I even chuckled at it.I enjoyed this so much I started the second movie on this disk, the New York adventure and stayed up way past my bedtime.I have determined to rent every Tarzan available and remind myself of when life was simpler and more enjoyable. Ten stars because it made me feel to watch this once again.

This formulaic fifth outing for Weissmuller and O'Sullivan proves that the series' writers were already starting to struggle for fresh ideas, the film being not much more than a messy hodge-podge of themes and footage lifted from the previous four movies.This time around, Tarzan's idyllic jungle life comes under threat from a pair of greedy scientists, Medford (Tom Conway) and Vandermeer (Philip Dorn), who discover the existence of a rich vein of gold running through the escarpment on which the ape-man lives. Realising the villains' true intentions—to mine the region for its hidden wealth—Tarzan refuses to reveal the exact location of the main seam, but when the bad guys kidnap his woman, Jane (O'Sullivan), and adopted son, Boy (Johnny Sheffield), he has no option but to comply—at least until he gets the upper hand and once again calls his elephant pals for some help.It pains me to say it, because I love Weissmuller's Tarzan movies, but this particular adventure is fairly tiresome: Medford's villainy is patently obvious from the get-go (after all, he does wear a pencil-thin moustache and a slimy smirk on his face); Irish light relief O'Doul (Barry Fitzgerald) is fun, but is easily bested by Cheetah, the real comedian of the series (the hairy beast gets drunk this time and walks on her hands—priceless!); Boy's best friend Tumbo is a lame attempt at trying to add a new character to the franchise; and we get to see Weissmuller wrestle that damn croc yet again!On a more positive note, director Richard Thorpe does achieve a fair amount of tension, especially as Boy crosses a deep ravine on a fallen tree and when Tarzan launches an underwater attack on some nasty natives' canoes, and it's almost impossible not to enjoy Cheetah being catapulted over a gorge with a vine in order to rescue our hero from a precarious ledge.Oh, and that weird bird from Tarzan Escapes makes another appearance; I can't get enough of that guy!

I just saw this movie on DVD, and read comments about it in the IMDb comments section. I agree thoroughly with the comments by lovethoseclassics and lugonian, but wanted to add both my own enthusiastic thumbs up for this movie; and wanted to add a bit about my own reaction.First, the "basics" really are all there. I was delighted by the black-and-white cinematography. It is crisp and well-composed throughout this film. The pace is excellent and there is never a dull moment. The script provides a wonderful story with nothing wasted.I particularly liked the sequence in which we are given an opportunity to simply enjoy Tarzan and Jane and Boy and Cheetah in their life on the Escarpment, before the movie proceeds to a ripping classic adventure/action arrangement.There were some particular features of this movie that especially tickled me. For example, the persons composing the members of the expedition is something of a classic from Edgar Rice Burroughs and Rider Haggard. We have the South African Dutch Vandermeer: venal, cool, knowledgeable, experienced, dangerous; the Englishman Medford: wicked, sharp, greedy, ambitious, murderous; the Irish Dubliner O'Doul: funny, mordant, romantic, sentimental, alcoholic; and Professor Elliott: scientifically curious, generous, gentlemanly, respectful, naïve.The adventure scenes with Tarzan were provided with classic style and verve. Again in the grand tradition of Burroughs and Haggard, a typical scene combines the wonderful figure of Tarzan in action within the context of a delightful range of African venues. Consequently, we have: Tarzan facing savages and wild beasts in the depths of the lush jungle; Tarzan battling crocodiles and river-beasts and savages (again) in rivers teeming with dangers; Tarzan facing the wicked white men amid severe gorges and breathtaking drop-offs in the mountain fastnesses of the Escarpment. The pattern is dangerous micro-activity in the foreground, with breathtakingly scenic macro-landscapes in the background, and is to me wholly satisfying.Similarly, scenes like that of Tarzan swimming underwater, the river being punctured again and again by shafts of spears being cast at him, was to me gripping and scary and (again) wholly satisfying.And of course when Tarzan's elephants storm to his assistance, I felt once again that glorious sense of the Africa of Tarzan coming to the rescue in a mighty execution of justice that is (yes) wholly satisfying.All in all, this movie is such a delightful experience. I'm so grateful it was reissued, along with the other 5 Tarzan movies with classic Weismuller/O'Sullivan collaboration, in a DVD collection, which is the source from which I saw it this evening. I would recommend this movie to anyone.

Wow! I really enjoyed this one even if the formula at work here had gotten a little predictable...this still has fantastic action, great animal chase scenes(who knew a Rhino could be so mean and deadly?) and an entertaining supporting character in Barry Fitzgerald's O'Doul. Great fun! Favorite scenes: O'Doul outsmarts a crocodile ...