Though the film is creaky in The classic “Me Tarzan, You Jane” scene— but those words are never actually spoken in any of the films.
incessantly repeats “Jane, Tarzan... Jane, Tarzan.” But not once does he say the popu- larly misquoted: “Me, Tarzan... you Jane.” The search party arrives, and Jane, who hasn’t
consciously decided which man it is to be—fa- miliar father, civilized Harry or savage Tarzan— greets them enthusiastically. With the three principal men now in contest over the sole woman’s affections, the confrontation turns vio- lent, and one of the apes is shot dead, provoking Tarzan into attacking the party by night until the jealous Holt gets a clear shot at him. Jane is kid- napped by the apes and brought to the wounded Tarzan. She tears away sections of her skirt (and any remaining inhibitions) to bandage him. When he opens his eyes, he softly utters “Jane,” and the two would-be lovers are serenaded by a ca- cophony of trumpeting elephants and hooting apes (this is as much of a score as the music- deprived film contains). Once better, Tarzan spies on Jane as she starts to disrobe at the edge of a pool—he isn’t embarrassed as Parker was, but curious, and Jane appears to appreciate the at- tention. Later, they swim together, and we get to see Weissmuller demonstrate his athletic talent, followed by O’Sullivan’s shining moment as she sexily floats in his arms and practically purrs her lines (“I don’t think you better look at me like that— you’re far too attractive”). Suddenly, Tarzan roughly picks up his prize and glances upward to his “nest.” Jane buries her face in his shoulder, giving in to her desires as the screen fades to black.
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spots—Jane and Company’s interaction with rear-projected African natives doesn’t work; there is too much under-crank- ing of the camera, leading to comical effects; and never once is it pondered by anyone how an elephant, dying or otherwise, could possibly climb that es- carpment—TARZAN THE APE MAN holds up surprisingly well, its long stretches of romantic idyll balanced with lively action set-pieces. A lot of its ideas would turn up in the following year’s KING KONG (1933), in- cluding a hippopotamus that swims under the explorers’ raft and, like the Apatosaurus in KONG, capsizes it; an isolated chunk of jungle that is taboo to natives; a “civilized” woman
who is kidnapped by a jungle “King” and protected against various wild beasts; and a moment of sexual curiosity where the jungle lord picks at and sniffs bits of the heroine’s clothing. But the most anticipatory sequence of all is the film’s crazed third act, wherein pygmies (dwarves in black face, and the most little people assembled for a mo- tion picture predating THE WIZARD OF OZ) cap- ture our heroes and sacrifice them to a giant, eight-foot gorilla. With its expressionistic lighting and incessant, looped chanting, the scene has a nightmarish quality that rivals the best horror films of the Thirties and would appear to be George Lucas’ inspiration for the Rancor pit sequence of RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983). Jane sends Cheeta to fetch Tarzan, sparking another series tradition: a sequence where the shrieking chimp takes centerstage and is chased by assorted wild ani- mals. Tarzan leads a charge of elephants to wipe out the village (images of smashed huts and na- tives being stomped into the dirt also anticipate KING KONG) and dives into the pit of horror, where he first blinds, then slits the monster’s throat with his trusty knife in a fairly shocking display of pre- Code-crackdown gore. The party is saved, but Parker is mortally wounded. Trailing a dying el- ephant, they finally reach the mythical graveyard, a sea of bones littering a bare rock canyon. With his goal attained and Jane’s passage into wom- anhood complete, Parker peacefully expires among the pachyderms, while Jane decides not to return to civilization with Holt, but to continue
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