It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Meh. The original Tarzan has some historical appeal and watching it can be fun in a campy way, but it just didn't click with me, despite reminding me of the classic 'King Kong' in a few ways. The white man goes to the unknown, forbidden jungle in search of treasure. The natives jump around and dance to sacrificial rites. The explorers have no qualms about blowing things away with their guns, in this case, hippopotamuses, not dinosaurs. The young woman along for the adventure falls into the hands of a powerful being who can take care of her. Tarzan, like Kong, has to fight and kill other wild creatures that threaten them. They want to bring him back to civilization, but here is it where it diverges: Tarzan has the choice, and declines, and Jane has fallen in love with him, and wants to stay.Olympic champion Johnny Weissmuller was a great choice for Tarzan (my understanding is that Clark Gable was also considered … yikes), and Maureen O'Sullivan has great chemistry with him, so what's the trouble? I ask myself, does the movie hold up? The worst of the scenes has the explorers very noticeably standing in front of stock footage of African tribesmen in the background. Ugh. The best has Tarzan battling a lion in what looks real, and we know it's not CGI. There are scenes that drag on, dashing through the jungle and bellowing his famous cry in places he could not possibly have done, such as when he's swimming, and O'Sullivan shrieking 'Tarzan' gets quickly jarring to the ears. There are other scenes that surprise us, like Jane falling off a cliff face shortly after a native has; the difference, she's on a rope, whereas his death is treated simply as property loss, with no recognition that he was a human being. We see the African porters whipped on more than one occasion to keep up. We cringe as we hear Jane trying to stop the others from shooting Tarzan by yelling "He's White!" The racism is certainly one of the film's problems, and is more than a little off-putting. The other is the plot, which isn't all that exciting, and I began looking forward to the movie ending about halfway through. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. Maybe I would have preferred the sequel, where it sounds like the sex and violence was ratcheted up a notch. I don't know. Just, meh.

The One that Started the Long Running Series that Became Favorites of Fans of All Ages. It was a Sweet and Adventurous Formula that Started Out in Quite an Adult Fashion with the First Two Films. Edgar Rice Burrough's Literary Character was Literally Dumbed Down, but Audiences Didn't Seem to Mind.The Sound Debut for Tarzan, Featuring Olympic Swimming Star Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O' Sullivan as Jane, was Filled with Fantastic Footage of Jungle Wild Life Interacting with Humans, Diabolical Dwarf Natives, and a Pre-Code Romance Consummating in a Tree-House.There is a bit of a Clunk in the Opening with Stock Footage from Trader Horn (1931) Backscreened, but the Shots Still are Impressive as Such Things were Not All That Common in 1932 and Audiences were in Awe. But Once the Safari gets Under Way on a Search for the Elephant Burial Ground, the Ivory Hunters Encounter Life Threatening Situations and Tarzan, the Fun Never Stops.The Climax is a Brutal and Violent War Among Giant Killer Apes, Dangerous Dwarfs, and Stampeding Elephants that is Still Exciting and Impressive Today. Ultra-Violent and Visceral it is a Scary and Nightmarish Highlight. Despite a Few Time-Stamped Flaws, and a Lack of Musical Score, there is So Much Here to Enjoy that the Shortcomings can be Ignored. Eclipsed by Tarzan and His Mate (1934), the Sequel is Considered the Best of All Tarzan Movies to This Day.

Johnny Weissmuller,the former Olympic champion in swimming,makes his debut as Tarzan.The movie spawned a lot of sequels and Weissmuller continued as Tarzan for 11 more films during the next 16 years. I had seen this early and somewhat primitive talkie a couple of years back and found it hard to sit through.I decided I'd give it another chance and was surprised at how much more I enjoyed it.Weissmuller is stunning, he fits the part excellent and looks amazing.There's screen charisma by the thousands.Maureen O' Sullivan as Jane really made the role her own.The African footage, shot during the making of "Trader Horn" is exciting and must have been worth the ticket on its own back in the thirties.There's some bad rear-projection used,but it doesn't spoil the movie if you don't let it bother you. So enjoy this entertaining film.

061: Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) - released 3/25/1932; viewed 6/04/06.Gandhi is arrested by the British again. The 1932 Winter Olympics go down in Lake Placid, New York. The first daytime soap, Clara, Lu, and Em debuts on the radio. Six million unemployed in Germany. Japan and China fight over Manchuria. The son of Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped and a media circus ensues. Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.BIRTHS: Dabney Coleman, Piper Laurie, Francois Truffaut, John Williams, Milos Forman, Ted Kennedy, Majel Barrett, Johnny Cash, Elizabeth Taylor, Gene Shalit. DEATHS: Edgar Wallace, John Philip Sousa, George Eastman.DOUG: As 1932 gets underway, MGM unleashes the first of a long series of films starring Edgar Rice Burroughs' titular hero in Tarzan the Ape Man, starring Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane and Olympic gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. Big John looks good as Tarzan. He doesn't have to do much acting, just look wide-eyed, pose shirtless for the camera, and don't be afraid to touch Ms. Sullivan anywhere (I do love the moment when Tarzan grabs Jane's foot right out from under her). The scenes where he swings through the jungle are pretty cool, though they're clearly trapezes (did he do any of his own stunts?). Maureen O'Sullivan plays Jane. She gets to shoot a shotgun (and quite well at that), which surely made her a powerful female character in her day, but she's still a damsel in distress to me since she fills her luggage with her entire fall wardrobe, and for most of the movie she WON'T STOP SCREAMING! The best scenes are between Tarzan and Jane, particularly in the scene in the pond where she amuses herself with the fact that he can't understand her, while he looks over her with such childlike curiosity while touching her rather inappropriately and repeating every last word she says. There is some good action here, such as Tarzan battling a pair of lions (they look like real lions), but some of the effects look fake, especially at the beginning, when the Parkers walk in front of the row of natives, and it's clearly a processed screen; it looks so fake it's bizarre. The film is very uneven, switching between jungle scenes shot on set and choppy stock footage, with unconvincing effects and gorillas that are obviously guys in suits. I wasn't very satisfied with this, the first installment in Weissmuller's 12-film Tarzan series. I would like to check out the second film, Tarzan and his Mate, which I've read is the best.KEVIN: Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Johnny Weissmuller makes his debut as Edgar Rice Burroughs' titular hero in MGM's Tarzan the Ape Man. I doubt this is the best installment of the Tarzan movie series, but it's a cool adventure nonetheless. Some of the special effects are laughable, such as a scene at the beginning when Jane and her father admire a local tribe that is obviously a composite screen. Most of the apes look like guys in suits. Tarzan swings through the jungle on conveniently placed trapezes. But we do see Tarzan duking it out real live lions and tigers in between intimate scenes with Maureen O'Sullivan's Jane Parker. The character of Jane felt uneven to me. She's comfortable shooting a rifle and being outdoors, yet she brings along the entire east wing of Bloomingdale's with her on safari. The climax could've been better, (and easier to see), plus it's no fun watching the black guys get killed first. I look forward to the next adventure, Tarzan and His Mate. I'm sure the Production Code cracked down on the sexuality and the cruelty to animals in later films. Until then, welcome to the jungle, baby! Last film viewed: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931). Last film chronologically: One Hour With You (1932). Next film: Scarface (1932).