Tarzan the Fearless (1933)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The first must-see film of the year.

This early Tarzan film, produced without the backing of a major studio, is primitive and crudely made, and the story (written by Edgar Rice Burroughs himself!) is formulaic, but it has plenty of action, some impressive animal performances, and, in Buster Crabbe, a Tarzan who is both sturdy and nimble. Lots of beefcake here. It would be welcome news if the entire serial (this movie is only the first 4 chapters) was discovered some day. **1/2 out of 4.

Buster Crabbe takes on the role of Tarzan a year after MGM produced its blockbuster smash hit epic with Johnny Weismmueller. While that certainly is made on a higher budget and very good, this serial which was edited down to a 90-minute feature is equally entertaining and often even better because of the low budget it was made on. Crabbe isn't as eloquent in his performance as Weismuueller would become over the decade and a half that he played the role, but there's something more realistic and manly about the way he played Edgar Rice Burroughs famous character. Jacqueline Welles, AKA Julie Bishop, isn't playing Jane here, obviously not allowed to use the character's name because of the rights owned by MGM, but with the basic story being in the public domain, this version was allowed to adopt it. She's an American girl searching for her father who happens to know Tarzan, and she's accompanied by a man who has instructions to find the supposedly missing Tarzan in order to give him an inheritance. But greed takes over, not only with the attorney's representative, but other members of the explorer's party who discover that there is valuable treasure to be found in the African jungles. Tarzan realistically fights lions, saving one of the villain's life, temporarily saving his own, and battled a high priest played by an unrecognizable Mischa Auer whose staff is in a combination of fashions representing what Hollywood believed native Africans to wear, also looking like ancient Egyptians or Arabs. A cute little chimpanzee is Tarzan's best friend, and there are lots of other adventures involving animals. Tarzan battles lion to save a cute gazelle and shots of large snakes, elephants and other jungle creatures are part of the stock footage utilized to give this an authentic look. It's all very entertaining yet impressively done inside of obviously being made cheaply. Music heard the previous year in the Bela Lugosi horror film "White Zombie" is mixed in with the modern music that seems absolutely out of place in the African jungle where Tarzan resides. I would much prefer the edited feature version over the serial, because the future retains the book of the action yet cut a good hour of story edits out.

TAZAN THE FEARLESS (1933 B&W) features Olympic medal winner Buster Crabbe as Tarzan. On the plus side, Crabbe has the requisite physique for the role and his expressions are more developed than Johnny Weissmuller's blank look; in addition Crabbe has one of the best Tazan yells that I've heard (this is in contrast to another reviewer who panned it). After slaying a lion he lets out a near-bloodcurdling victory cry that well captures the scream as depicted by Burroughs in his books. On the down side, Crabbe wears a loincloth that is ridiculously skimpy on the backside, almost like the costumer was gay and wanted to flagrantly show-off Crabbe's buns. Another negative aspect is that this is a second-rate production compared to the Weissmuller films of the same era, no doubt the result of rival producers wanting to cash-in on the huge success of the Weismuller films.GRADE: C

In an attempt to cash-in on MGM's successful "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932) starring Johnny Weissmuller, producer Sol Lesser went ahead with a serial follow-up. Perhaps not expecting its revival would become so valuable a property, MGM had not fully secured the rights. Cashing in on cashing in, the first four chapters of the "Tarzan" serial were edited into a feature-length "Tarzan the Fearless". The full 12-part serial is presently lost. This is not a good film, but it's worth seeing muscularly handsome Buster Crabbe in the lead role; he has a different, more spirited, take on the jungle man. Watchers should be advised that Mr. Crabbe's loincloth seems to be missing half of its backside, but his front is securely covered.*** Tarzan the Fearless (8/11/33) Robert F. Hill ~ Buster Crabbe, Julie Bishop, E. Alyn Warren, Edward Woods