“Me Tarzan, you 10!” Miles O’Keefe meets Bo Derek in the campy TARZAN THE APE MAN.
shooting location. Inspired by the folklore of elderly tailor Kaninsky (David Kossoff), Joe becomes convinced that his wishes might be granted if he could only find a unicorn. As fate would have it, a young goat with a single mis- shapen horn is given to him for the title pittance. As Joe’s be- nevolent wishes start coming true around him, his most important goal becomes fulfilling the dreams of shop girl Sonia (Diana Dors), who can’t afford to marry body- builder boyfriend Sam (Joe Robinson) unless he prevails in a wrestling match against the brut- ish Python Macklin (championship boxer Primo Carnera, perhaps best known to VW readers as the giant Antaeus in HERCULES UNCHAINED). The build-up to the bout becomes the main plot of the film, as Sam’s mature doubts clash with Joe’s innocent faith in his “unicorn.” And while Macklin doesn’t believe in fairy tales, he too has an eye for Sonia, and isn’t above abducting the goat to get what he wants. Both the location work and the Shepperton Studios sequences
are picturesque and evocative of the setting, with authentic atmo- sphere maintained throughout. One menacing chase sequence aside, the film never assumes a truly threatening aura, and the viewer is encouraged to share the faith and humanity of the char- acters; however, one is expected to identify with the reality of the story as opposed to Joe’s fan- tastic convictions—“The Big Tall Wish” from THE TWILIGHT ZONE, this isn’t. As a result, younger viewers may miss the big picture and see only a tragic ending (es- pecially given the final shot of the film)—an explanation may be in order in some cases. That said, A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS re- mains a thoughtful, sensitive, fam- ily-appropriate film, and Home Vision Entertainment deserves high marks for making it avail- able in fine shape for rediscov- ery. It is presented in standard but uncompromised format, with fine Dolby Digital two-channel mono sound and warm, well-pre- served colors. A plentiful 22 chapters have been provided. Supplements are absent on the
disc, but the liner features infor- mative notes by film historian Neil Rattigan.
TARZAN THE APE MAN
1981, Warner Home Video, DD-5.1/MA/16:9/LB/ST/+, 114m 35s, DVD-1 By Bill Cooke
John Derek’s TARZAN THE
APE MAN, the second remake of the W.S. Van Dyke original after an awful 1959 attempt starring Denny Miller, came after a de- cade-long hiatus for the jungle lord—so long, in fact, that Burroughs’ character became superfluous in what was planned and marketed as a vehicle for the director’s pin-up queen wife Bo Derek, who hadn’t enjoyed a hit since 10 (1979). In fact, Tarzan was nowhere to be seen on the one-sheet poster that featured a solitary Bo swinging sexily on a vine, along with the suggestive tag line: “Unlike any other Tarzan you’ve ever seen!” Though the film gets off to a
horribly campy start with the MGM lion dubbed over with the
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