**_Weissmuller plays Tarzan for the tenth time at the age of 41_**
He would only perform the role two more times before transferring to the similar role of Jungle Jim for sixteen movies from 1948-1955. Maureen O'Sullivan was long gone as Jane, a part she played six times, stating that she was bored with the role and afraid of working with the chimpanzee playing Cheeta (back then we didn’t know how dangerous chimps were, but Maureen trusted her instincts).
“Tarzan and His Mate” (1934) was the second one in Weissmuller’s stint and is usually cited as the best in the series, which was also Maureen’s second time playing Jane. It was released just before The Hays Code was implemented and therefore contains surprising nudity.
This one came out a dozen years later and is run-of-the-mill by comparison, which isn’t helped by the kid-friendly bits involving Cheeta and Boy. However, when you think about it, Burroughs’ books included Tarzan’s monkey pal Nkima and, eventually, his son Korak. They’re just replaced by Cheeta and Boy in the Weissmuller flicks.
While the movie’s plot wasn’t based on Burroughs’ novel Tarzan and the Leopard Men, the leopard men in the movie certainly recall that book. Meanwhile the high priestess of the Leopard cult, Lea, is reminiscent of La, the queen of the lost city of Opar, just with dark hair.
Brenda Joyce was the successor to O’Sullivan as Jane and would perform the role five times. With her “golden hair” she looks more like Jane from the books. She’s winsome enough and was 28 years-old at the time of shooting, looking great in her one-piece jungle outfit.
Also on the feminine front is Acquanetta as the high priestess of the leopard men, Lea. She was 24 during shooting and billed by Universal as “The Venezuelan Volcano” when, actually, she was a light-skinned African American, obviously with quite a bit of Caucasian blood running through her veins, not to mention Arapaho. In any case, she’s surprisingly the only black person on screen seeing as how the tribal people all look Caucasian or Hispanic and so forth (!).
There are some clever bits in the screenplay. For instance, the high priestess’ little brother, Kimba, intends to prove his mettle as a warrior by ripping out the heart of the woman he calls “golden hair.” After Tarzan and Boy depart, Jane is alone at the tree bungalow with Kimba to whom she says: “You're a boy after my own heart.” He freezes, not familiar with the English idiom.
It runs 1h 12m and was shot in the heart of summer 1945 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, as well as RKO ‘jungle’ studios and sound stages in Hollywood. Two weeks into shooting, America nuked Hiroshima on August 6th.
GRADE: B-/C+
