The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935)
** (out of 4)
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN originally was a 12-chapter serial but the producers wanted to make extra cash so they cut it down into two different features with this here being the first. Herman Brix plays Tarzan who is just swinging around in the jungle when a group of people show up looking for the "Green Goddess" and the riches that come with it. At just under an hour there's no telling what all was cut out of the serial in order to reach this running time but this thing is nearly impossible to follow. The obvious thing you can gather is that the producers were wanting to stay closer to the Edgar Rice Burroughs character because Tarzan is smart, well educated and he's got manors. This different approach from the Johnny Weissmuller films should have been a good thing and perhaps in the serial it is but all of that is lost here. The majority of the running time the viewer is just sitting there trying to figure out what is going on. Just when you think you've got it figured out things switch up and you're lost all over again. As with many films, this one here features a large bit of stock footage, which is mainly the wildlife in the jungles. Brix really doesn't look or act the part of Tarzan too well but the supporting players aren't much better. This is a pretty bad, cut down version but at the same time the thing is so short that it really goes by rather quickly and without any drag time. I'd also say that there's some cheap fun to be had by those, like myself, who simply enjoy bad movies.
** (out of 4)
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN originally was a 12-chapter serial but the producers wanted to make extra cash so they cut it down into two different features with this here being the first. Herman Brix plays Tarzan who is just swinging around in the jungle when a group of people show up looking for the "Green Goddess" and the riches that come with it. At just under an hour there's no telling what all was cut out of the serial in order to reach this running time but this thing is nearly impossible to follow. The obvious thing you can gather is that the producers were wanting to stay closer to the Edgar Rice Burroughs character because Tarzan is smart, well educated and he's got manors. This different approach from the Johnny Weissmuller films should have been a good thing and perhaps in the serial it is but all of that is lost here. The majority of the running time the viewer is just sitting there trying to figure out what is going on. Just when you think you've got it figured out things switch up and you're lost all over again. As with many films, this one here features a large bit of stock footage, which is mainly the wildlife in the jungles. Brix really doesn't look or act the part of Tarzan too well but the supporting players aren't much better. This is a pretty bad, cut down version but at the same time the thing is so short that it really goes by rather quickly and without any drag time. I'd also say that there's some cheap fun to be had by those, like myself, who simply enjoy bad movies.