Tarzan Escapes

Plot synopsis:
Jane's two cousins, Eric and Rita, arrive in Africa to tell Jane about a fortune left to her back in their world and to try to convince her to return with them. They are led to Tarzan's escarpment home by Captain Fry (John Buckler), a hunter with an agenda of his own. Jane convinces Tarzan to let her go back with Eric and Rita, promising that their separation will only be temporary. But Captain Fry (unknown to the others) attempts to capture Tarzan to take him back to civilization so he can be put on public display, and actually succeeds in caging Tarzan. Fry's treachery includes making a deal with an unfriendly native tribe to give him food, canoes and protection for the journey back in exchange for his handing over Jane, Eric and Rita for "ju-ju" and taking away the greatest "ju-ju" – Tarzan. Fry's plan goes wrong when the natives capture Tarzan in his cage and all four white people are taken prisoner. Tarzan manages to escape with the help of elephants and Cheeta, and guides what's left of Fry's party through a cave passage filled with treacherous quicksands. Just before they exit the caves to safety, Tarzan forces Fry to go back the way they came as punishment for his betrayal. Fry starts to go back, then seizes a heavy branch to attack Tarzan, but before he can exit the cave he falls into a quicksand bog and is swallowed up. Rita and Eric tell Jane that it is not necessary for her to return with them and that she belongs with Tarzan. The film ends with Tarzan and Jane reunited at their tree house.

Tags: murder

Review:
Paradoxically, what was cut from Tarzan Returns was its biggest 'plot menace' - a Giant Vampire Bat sequence, set in a swamp, which would have been great!
Nasty hunter Captain Fry (John Buckler) leads an expedition to Tarzan's stomping ground with the aim of capturing the ape-man and exhibiting him in England.
Unaware of Fry's nefarious intentions, Jane's cousins, Eric and Rita (William Henry and Benita Hume), tag along for the journey hoping to convince their relative to return to England in order to help them claim the fortune that has been left to them in a will.It's back to the Mutia escarpment for more jungle action in the third of the Weissmuller Tarzan films; unfortunately, this time around, much of what made the first two films so much fun—the gloriously un-PC violence and steamy sexuality—is missing thanks to the introduction of the Hays code, Hollywood's moral guidelines.So instead of Maureen O'Sullivan giving us an eyeful in her animal skin bikini, we have her wearing a much more demure dress, and when the film gets down to the dispatching of native bearers, much of the nastiness happens off-screen; the film also suffers due to a troubled production which saw much of the original film being re-shot and re-edited.
It all amounts to a rather tame offering that lacks the thrills and spills of Weissmuller's earlier outings as the affable ape-man (even the nasty execution via tree that horrified me as a child was less gruesome than I remembered).Still, the film remains fairly watchable thanks to the chemistry between Weissmuller and O'Sullivan, some funny antics from Cheetah the Chimp (she teases lion cubs, attempts to ride a zebra, and laughs as comedy relief Rawlins tries to master swinging on a vine), the impressive sight of Tarzan's 'town-house' (complete with elephant powered elevator!), and one particularly bizarre scene featuring a weird dodo-like bird (which I presume must have been performed by a man with no legs, walking on his hands in a feathered suit!!!).6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb..
Although the Movie does Retain a bit of the Jungle Violence, the Nasty Natives of Previous Entries, and a Few Scenes of Terror, it Loses the Pre-Code Edge and is Replaced with some Clunky Scenes (Tarzan walking zombie like with depression and extended Cheetah shenanigans).Overall, the Story of Tarzan being Caged and put on Exhibition is a Nervous Anxiety and some Safari Scenes Impress, the much Talked About Ju-Ju is Only Talked About.After this, when the Hays Code and "Boy" showed up, the Series fell into a "Flintstones" Frolic that can at times be Witnessed in this one.
He does manage to get him into a cage but with the help of some of his elephant friends and Cheetah, he escapes and towards the end, gets his revenge when he makes Fry go back into a cave they just went through where there are hungry lizards and Fry is killed.As always, Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan are excellent as Tarzan and Jane.Tarzan Escapes is a must for any Tarzan fan.
That said, TARZAN ESCAPES (1936; ***) is much better than online reviews would have you believe: true, there is ample stock footage on display here but it also boasts a strong plot line and cast (featuring Benita Hume, future wife of Ronald Colman and later George Sanders, as well as MGM staple Herbert Mundin and James Whale favorite E.E. Clive, not to mention the villainous John Buckler who comes to a particularly sticky end in this one) to even things out.
By now, Weissmuller and O' Sullivan have grown considerably in their respective parts but the influence of the Hays' Office (established while the film was in production, resulting in extensive re-shoots before it could be classified for exhibition!) is also very much in evidence: Tarzan and Jane's behavior (to say nothing of the latter's 'wardrobe') is rather chaste this time around, and even the violence is there mainly by virtue of recycled scenes from the two previous entries in the series!!TARZAN FINDS A SON!
(1939; **1/2), though certainly briskly-paced and fairly enjoyable in itself, is where things really start to degenerate and a sense of deja'-vu hangs over the proceedings like a cloud; not that this factor is an isolated case in franchises of this period  consider, for instance, the noticeable leap in quality from the ornate SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) to a strictly programmer-level THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942) To make matters worse (though, I guess, this can be pinned down to personal opinion), we have here the addition of another jungle 'initiate' in the figure of Boy who emulates Tarzan in his every move, down to that grating yodel!
Besides, his getting into endless predictable scrapes throughout, forcing Tarzan's nick-of-time intervention and queuing in further stock footage from the earlier films (now looking pretty rough-hewn alongside the lavish budgets MGM could afford by the end of the decade!), does the picture no favors at all in the story department!!
Third film in the Johnny Weissmuller--Maureen O'Sullivan Tarzan series.
With them is safari hunter Captain Fry (John Buckler) who secretly has plans to capture Tarzan and bring him back to civilization as a sideshow attraction.
And there are shots of Cheetah laughing that are hysterical.The acting varies--Weissmuller is very good as Tarzan--his emotions show clearly through his face (but he does look a little old in a few sequences); O'Hara is still bad as Jane and everybody else is TERRIBLE--especially Buckler and Herbert Munder (stuck with the thankless "comic" relief role).Still this is fast-moving with plenty of action.
No Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan certainly shine as the romantic leads Tarzan and Jane.
The cousins played by Benita Hume and William Henry, hire Captain Fry, an evil white trapper, to guide them to Tarzan and Jane.
His motive is to capture Tarzan and take him back to civilization as a caged exhibit.Johnny Weissmuller, the most popular Tarzan, manages to escape and come to the rescue of the others that are being held captive.
Unfortunately, the Hays Code no longer permitted the lovely Maureen O'Sullivan playing Jane, to wear the skimpy jungle bikini she wore that barely covered the essential parts of her anatomy in the first two Tarzan/Jane movies her and Johnny Weismueller did for MGM.
Good plot as once again Jane is being deceived by family and an evil white hunter, Captain Fry (John Buckler) who intends to capture Tarzan to put on display.
I forgive them since the overall experience of this picture is enjoyable and interesting.This is likely the most violent of the MGM Tarzan films, and certainly depicts Our Hero dispatching justice in a very cold, yet understandable, fashion.
At the same time, this film has some of the most emotional and heart-rending moments of the series, and there is something vaguely messianic in the way Tarzan, believing himself betrayed by one he loves, willingly enters the cage, later to descend physically down a violently rocky slope into unconsciousness, only to re-emerge into the world commanding an army of avenging elephants.Weissmuller has all the moves down here, and utters mono-syllabic sentences with the strength of a conqueror or the vulnerability of three year old child, depending upon the needs of the script.
Directed by Richard Thorpe, story has Tarzan fending of the nefarious intentions of an expedition group who plan to take Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan)) back to civilisation, and Tarzan into side-show captivity.Weissmuller flexes his muscles and gets help from his wildlife pals, while Jane wonderfully looks like she's auditioning for the porn movie version of the plot.
The wildlife footage is impressive for the time and Leonard Smith's photography is very slick.There's some holes in the plot, but it matters not in the grand scheme of 30s Tarzan movies, it's the sort of film you watched as a kid and adored, and now as adults we go back to find it has thankfully lost none of its charm.
This installment of the Tarzan series starring Johnny Weissmuller is very similar to one of these movies made just a few years later, "Tarzan Finds a Son!".
Living among the apes by choice, Ms. O'Sullivan mated with jungle man Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan) in "Tarzan and His Mate" (1934).
Jane's cousins consider themselves lucky to find safari guide John Butler (as Captain Fry), but he secretly plans to cage Tarzan and display him as an exhibit...
This was noticed by writer/director John Farrow, one of those brought in to patch up production problems.***** Tarzan Escapes (11/6/36) Richard Thorpe ~ Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, William Henry, Benita Hume.
In this episode,Jane meets again two of her cousins,eager to latch onto a rich inheritance ;they need her signature and she 's got to go back to England with them .Jane isn't interested in money at all,but she 's got to help her relatives so his cousin can study medicine .A long sequence shows Tarzan and Jane is their garden of Eden .They do not need anything more,they could not ask for more.Civilization (here represented by a nasty man ,who wants to take Tarzan back to exhibit him in a circus) is evil,this will be even more obvious in "Tarzan's secret treasure" in which Boy would like to know the "other" world and all the things gold can bring.Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan were irreplaceable and these delightful black and white Tarzan movies owe much of their charm to them..
There were very few, if any, boring lulls in these films and some of the African wildlife footage is still amazing to this day!Tarzan Escapes is considered one of the best in the series, even if some parts were cut.
In this film, elephants are the heroes, coming to the defense of Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller).; the humor is provided by a member of the safari team ; Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) doesn't appear the first half hour and the action ends with some great film-noir like photography in a swamp (minus the bats).
TARZAN ESCAPES (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936), directed by Richard Thorpe, based on the characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, reunites Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan in their third outing as Tarzan and Jane.
Following the controversial TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934) with such notables as Jane's skimpy two-piece outfit along with her long shot skinny dipping alongside Tarzan, TARZAN ESCAPES does have its moments of controversy such as some graphic violence, with much of it trimmed, hence the Production Code that had recently gone into effect.The story starts off with plot development and character introduction involving Rita and Eric (Benita Hume and William Henry) who hire Captain Fry (John Buckler, whose physical appearance resembles that of Basil Rathbone) to lead them to the Mulia Escarpment and locate their cousin, Jane Parker, living somewhere in the jungles of Africa.
During their expedition, which consists of Herbert Henry Rawlins, better known as Jiggs (Herbert Mundin), and Bomba, (Darby Jones), Fry's native boy, the Parkers do find Jane (O'Sullivan), taking residence in a tree house with Tarzan (Weissmuller), her mate.
In the meantime, Fry, who reveals himself as a conniving villain, convinces Tarzan that Jane is never coming back and succeeds into tricking Tarzan into a specialty built metal cage where he attempts to take the jungle man back to civilization where Fry attempts to make money by showcasing him as a circus attraction.TARZAN ESCAPES has Tarzan doing just as the title indicates.
After he is caged, and desperate in reclaiming Jane, he manages to break out with the help of his elephant friends, and avenge himself on the evil Fry. As mentioned earlier, the most celebrated scene missing from the final print is the one where Tarzan fights off devil bats and hostile pygmies in a haze-shrouded swamp.
Although much of the movie had been toned down through edits and revisions, which explains why it was in production for nearly two years, the finished product of TARZAN ESCAPES can still be considered graphic for its time anyway, especially in what results with certain characters, especially Captain Fry, making this possibly the last "adult oriented" Tarzan adventure.
This became the last in the series to provide Jane with her operatic distress call as well as her leaping from the tree into the arms of Tarzan like a professional acrobat.As much as Johnny Weissmuller can be criticized for his bad acting at times, and doing nothing more than being Tarzan of the movies, belting out his jungle yells for example, he's more articulate than in the previous two films, with his speech consisting of mono syllables that would remain through the duration of the Tarzan/Weissmuller series, he convincingly shows the emotional impact and tender side to his character, especially the thought of losing Jane.
A strange entry in the MGM series, 'Tarzan Escapes' eschews a predictable plot and at times wants to be a serious melodrama about Tarzan and Jane's relationship.
Over the course of the series, particularly the episodes with Johnny Weismuller and Maureen O'Sullivan, it's made clear time and again that Tarzan and Jane are madly in love.
Fry eventually runs afoul of a dangerous tribe; Tarzan comes to the rescue and saves them all but realizing Fry's treachery, forces him back into a cave where those killer lizards reside, and that's the end of Fry. Though things were not nearly as standardized as they would be in later MGM films, we see the beginnings of recurring ideas and situations, such as the elaborate treehouse and its Flintstones-style amenities, like the elephant-operated elevator.
"Tarzan Escapes" is both a beautiful love story and great jungle adventure—I couldn't ask for nothing else since this movie even gives us the violence.
There are some recycled scenes that seem lifted from the first film such as a rescue consisting of a great elephant stampede, Cheetah the orangutan fleeing a lion, and Tarzan having to save Jane and her cousins from a savage native tribe.What is unique about this one is the unwavering affection between Tarzan and Jane, their devotion to each other is touching and sweet.
The villain of this particular Tarzan movie is "great white hunter" Captain Fry (John Buckler, who would die in a car accident drowning the same year), who sees a profit in exploiting Tarzan's gifts with animals in England, making a potential alliance with a heathen tribe, which goes awry.Maureen O'Sullivan, a sophisticated and gentle little beauty, has some marvelous scenes where she faces splitting from Tarzan, the very notion of such a separation anguishing, but important in her mind because to sign a "piece of paper" (she was willed a fortune but doesn't really have an interest in wealth because of her happiness in the uncivilized world with Tarzan) would provide her cousins Rita (Benita Hume) and Eric (William Henry) with a comfortable income and living.
Some might find this a bit campy (considering Cheetah's antics and Rawlins' goofy bumpkin) and its romance story a bit sappy, but I really adore the casting of Weissmuller and O'Sullivan as Tarzan and Jane; their genuine chemistry I find irresistible.
Its a huge let down after the classic Tarzan and His Mate which is possibly the best film in the series.The plot has Jane's cousins coming into the jungle to tell her that she has inherited a fortune if she'll come back to claim it.
Finally into the last half hour the plot to capture Tarzan is put in motion and things at last become interesting as plans go awry and things look very grim for all concerned..Painfully dull film is clear evidence of a troubled production.
To me its a great wonder how the series managed to continue on from here since this film isn't very good (except at the end).I would be hard pressed to explain it except I would have to say that it was the relationship between Weissmuller and O'Sullivan as Tarzan and Jane which kept people coming back.
I'm pretty sure I've seen it before in a picture like that but don't ask me to nail it down.I wasn't surprised to see Tarzan take on a crocodile in the story, Weissmuller did it any number of times in his Jungle Jim flicks a little over a decade later.
However the Jungle Jim movies were done on a way cheaper budget, so that probably explains a lot.As for the main story, I found it interesting that the expedition led by Captain Fry (John Buckler) traveled through all sorts of terrain to find Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) and her Great White Ape companion.
It was cool to see Cheetah on hand as well; his little interlude with the zebra added a nice comedic touch to the picture.With only a handful of Weissmuller's Tarzan films viewed recently, this is probably the most romantic one involving the relationship between Tarzan and Jane.
It makes you glad Jane decided to hang around the jungle when all was said and done, and made the picture one of the better Tarzan films, even with some of the other goofy stuff going on.One last thought - Cheetah's laugh - it kills me every time I hear it..
Although the MGM Tarzan films with Johnny Weissmuller were usually of high quality I had some problems with Tarzan Escapes.
This film which does have a bit of continuity in it to connect with the two previous Weissmuller outings, I had some trouble wrapping my mind around the plot.The story has Maureen O'Sullivan's cousins from Great Britain, William Henry and Benita Hume searching for Jane to resolve an inheritance issue back in the old country.
Of course he doesn't stay captive long, it helps to be on a first name basis with all the elephants in the jungle.Herbert Mundin is always good to have around as he plays Buckler's assistant and one with a conscience.
Buckler drowns in a swamp in this one and in real life drove into a river and also drowned.Though the film has the usual MGM production values that a place like RKO couldn't bring to its later Tarzans, the story here was a bit much for me to swallow.