Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932)

Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932). Maureen O'Sullivan (Jane Parker), Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan).

Tarzan, viidakon valtias / Tarzan, djungelns konung. US © 1932 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. P: Bernard Hyman. D: W. S. Van Dyke. SC: Cyril Hume – dialogue: Ivor Novello – based on the characters by Edgar Rice Burroughs. DP: Harold Rosson, Clyde De Vinna. PD: Cedric Gibbons. ED: Ben Lewis, Tom Held. Sound: Douglas Shearer. Wrangler: Bert Nelson.
    Starring: Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), Maureen O'Sullivan (Jane Parker), C. Aubrey Smith (James Parker), Neil Hamilton (Harry Holt). 99'.
    An intact, somewhat duped, 35 mm print with Finnish / Swedish subtitles.
    Viewed at Orion, Helsinki, 29 May, 2005, at the family viewing performance.

I intended to check the start only, but the film is so gripping, I stayed till the end. It still is an excellent jungle fantasy. Everything borders on the caricature, but it works, as there is a sense of wonder all through the picture. For the child, it's an exciting adventure (it's not for the very youngest, as the climax in the giant gorilla pit is quite grim); for the grown-up it's a vision of the Garden of Eden where Tarzan and Jane rediscover what Adam and Eve did. Yes, the blacks are depicted with racism, but also the whites are caricatured as greedy, whip-wielding, insensitive "civilized savages" who do not understand the jungle. They find the elephants' burial ground in the end, and there Jane's father finds his final place to rest. There is a sense of nobility in Tarzan's mutual help network of the jungle, and there is grandeur in the final view as Jane decides to stay with Tarzan, and the sole surviving white ivory-hunter is seen leaving empty-handed.