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Volume 1375
Presents
TARZAN
ESCAPES

Colour Adaptations of the
MGM Tarzan Films
COOP Chocolate Cards Series
Published in Belgium in French and Dutch
From the Ron de Laat Collection

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TARZAN ESCAPES
THE STORY
From ERBzine 0618

Upon their arrival in Africa, Rita (Benita Hume) and Eric Parker (William Henry), Jane's cousins, are met by Jiggs Rawlins (Herbert Mundin). He introduces them to white hunter, Captain Fry (John Buckler), whom the hire to guide their safari to the Mutia Escarpment. They hope to find Jane and persuade her to return with them to England to claim an inheritance.  Fry, however, plans to capture Tarzan and exhibit him for profit.  Near the Escarpment, fearing juju (black magic), the natives refuse to go on, and they camp. Rita plays with a lion cub, and Fry shoots the attacking mother lion. The safari is attacked by the savage Gabonis but Tarzan’s (Johnny Weissmuller) cry stops them in their tracks. 

The party then goes on to climb to the top of the Escarpment. Tarzan appears to free chimps from cages and takes Rita to see Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) who wants to meet the party. Tarzan breaks Fry's rifle and kills a wildebeest which Jane prepares for dinner for the party. Jane eventually agrees to return to England with her cousins and tells Tarzan that she must go away for three months. Jane and Tarzan spend their last day in love play. 

Fry sends Bomba (Darby Jones) to the Hymandis chief  with a message that he will take Tarzan away. Meanwhile, Tarzan saves a fawn by killing a crocodile with his knife (a scene reprised from Tarzan and His Mate), after which Jane says good-bye to Cheetah and leaves with Fry's safari. Fry tells Tarzan that Jane is not coming back and traps the apeman by tricking him into entering a specially built cage. The Hymandis chief goes back on his word and confiscates the cage and seizes the party for ritualistic sacrifice. 

The cage rolls down a hill and is taken away by an elephant. A lion chases Cheetah, but the chimp manages to get another elephant to break open the cage to free Tarzan. Tarzan returns to the village to rescue Jane and the safari who are tied to trees. He calls to the elephants for help in chasing away the tribesmen. Rita, who has injured her leg, is carried on a litter as the tribesmen pursue them. The Hymandis follow them to a forbidden juju area that the natives are afraid to enter. Tarzan forces Fry to move on ahead where he is killed. 

Rita and Eric realize that Jane would be happier here than back in civilization and they tell her she need not return with them if she signs a document. Tarzan and Jane resume their idyllic life in their jungle paradise.


Tarzan Escapes ~ 1936 (01h:29m:17s)
Review of the MGM DVD Version from the Digitally Obsessed Site  by Nate Myers

Perhaps if Tarzan Escapes was the first Weissmuller-O'Sullivan escapade it would play a lot better, but after the daring Tarzan and His Mate it plays like a mild Tarzan-esque howl. The adventure doesn't offer us anything new, we just get the same stuff that the previous movies gave us. Some of the footage from the earlier installments (such as when Tarzan kills the giant crocodile) is again used here, which just about sums up the whole outing. It's got the goods, but none of the heart.

A new safari is under way in the African jungle, but this time the quest isn't for the elephant graveyard. Rita and Eric Parker (Berita Hume and William Henry, respectively) are cousins to Jane and stand to inherit a fortune, but they have to get Jane to sign a paper that will transfer the money from her to them. Luckily for them, Jane is sure to give them the money (she has to be; after all, why else would they venture on such a dangerous trip?). Rita and Eric hire a famed hunter, Captain Fry (John Buckler), and his lackey, the befuddled Rawlins (Herbert Mundin), to show them the way to Tarzan.

As usual, the local tribes are still touchy about the sacred land in which Tarzan and Jane dwell. (Here's a thought: Maybe Tarzan and Jane—who keep getting company, despite being unable to communicate with the rest of the world—should move to a less hostile region of the jungle.) Conveniently for the safari, Captain Fry is actually planning on capturing Tarzan and bringing him back to England as a circus act, which prompts him to strike a deal with the cannibal Hymandi tribe. The Hymandi want Tarzan out of the area, and Fry agrees to take him in exchange for safe passage. This deal is all hush-hush of course, because Fry also intends to give Rita, Eric, and Jane to the Hymandi as a gift. Perhaps he would change his mind about Jane, if she would slip back into her bikini outfit from Tarzan and His Mate (evidently her moral scruples have become more conservative, since she is now sporting a jungle dress).

As you can guess, Tarzan becomes wise to the plan, fights his way out of captivity with the help of Cheeta and his animal friends, and the climax features an army of elephants (would it be a Tarzan movie without the elephant army?). The problem with this installment in the series isn't that it fails to entertain, but that it is just becoming by-the-numbers. The sense of adventure is gone, which might be partly Richard Thorpe's fault. Thorpe takes over the directing helm of the series with Tarzan Escapes, but his vision seems to be content with the accomplishments made by Van Dyke, Gibbons, and Conway.

Thorpe does bring some new elements to the series. Comedic relief is used well with Rawlins and the ape Cheeta, but it's not enough to make up for the script's lack of originality. The emphasis, under Thorpe's direction, has shifted away from Tarzan and Jane. Instead, the heart of the movie lies in the impressive sets designed by Cedric Gibbons (though Tarzan and Jane's home is a bit too Swiss Family Robinson, to be honest). Tarzan Escapes just goes to show that spectacle alone cannot make a movie good.
 

.See the ERBzine Silver Screen Series
for
Background ~ Credits ~ Stills ~ Posters ~ Trivia ~ Reviews ~ Links
Tarzan Escapes: ERBzine 0618

ERB FILMS FROM 1917 TO PRESENT
Lad and the Lion Tarzan of the Apes Romance of Tarzan Oakdale Affair Revenge of Tarzan Son of Tarzan
Adventures of Tarzan Tarzan and the Golden Lion Tarzan the Mighty Tarzan the Tiger John Carter of Mars Tarzan the Ape Man
Tarzan the Fearless Tarzan and His Mate New Adv. of Tarzan Tarzan Escapes The Lion Man Drag-Net/Tundra/Santa Fe
Tarzan's Revenge Tarzan Finds A Son! Tarzan's Secret Treasure Jungle Girl Tarzan's NY Adv. Tarzan Triumphs
Tarzan's Desert Mystery Tarzan and the Amazons Tarzan & Leopard Woman Tarzan & Huntress Tarzan & Mermaids Tarzan's Magic Fountain
Tarzan & Slave Girl Tarzan's Peril Tarzan's Savage Fury Tarzan & She Devil Tarzan's Hidden Jungle Tarzan & Lost Safari
Tarzan's Fight For Life Tarzan and the Trappers Tarzan's Greatest Adv. Tarzan the Ape Man Tarzan the Magnificent Tarzan Goes To India
Tarzan's 3 Challenges Tarzan and the Valley of Gold Tarzan & Great River Tarzan & Jungle Boy Land Time Forgot At the Earth's Core
People Time Forgot Tarzan, The Ape Man | I | II Tarzan In Manhattan 2151 Greystoke, Legend 2152 Tarzan: Epic Adventures Tarzan & Lost City
Tarzan of Apes an Disney's Tarzan  an Disney Tarzan & Jane an Disney's Tarzan II an Asylum's Princess of Mars John Carter of Mars
. . Land Time Forgot 2009 . . .
Tarzan On Broadway 1921 | Disney's Tarzan the Broadway Musical | Tarzan the Musical in Holland | Tarzan the Musical in Hamburg
The ERB / Avatar Connection
.
Colour Adaptations of the MGM Tarzan Films
COOP Chocolate Cards Published in Belgium
1373: Tarzan
The Ape Man
1374: Tarzan 
And His Mate
1375: Tarzan 
Escapes
1376: Tarzan 
Finds A Son!
1377: Tarzan's
Secret Treasure
1378: Tarzan's 
New York Adventure
1379: Tarzan
Triumphs
1380: Tarzan's
Desert Mystery
1381: Tarzan
and the Amazons
1382: Tarzan and the
Leopard Woman
3142 Tarzan and
the Huntress
3143 Tarzan and 
the Mermaids

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