Tarzan Finds a Son! *** (1939, Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield) – Classic Movie Review 8053

Director Richard Thorpe’s 1939 jungle adventure Tarzan Finds a Son! is spirited stuff, shot in Florida.

Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan return as Tarzan and Jane, who find an abandoned child (Johnny Sheffield), whose parents have died in a plane crash in the jungle, and want to call him ‘Elephant’, but luckily they end up settling for naming him ‘Boy’ and adopt him and raise him as their own.

In the screenplay by Cyril Hume, the adopted lad provokes endless trouble, helped by greedy English visitors and two savage tribes, as the boy is the heir to millions.

Also in the cast are Ian Hunter, Henry Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Laraine Day, Henry Wilcoxon, Morton Lowry and Gavin Muir.

[Spoiler alert] Tarzan Finds a Son! was originally released as Tarzan in Exile (1939) and ended with the death of Jane. Protests by fans and author Edgar Rice Burroughs forced the MGM studio to re-shoot much of the film so that Jane survives.

It follows Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), Tarzan and His Mate (1934), Tarzan Escapes (1936), Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938) and Tarzan’s Revenge (1938). It is followed by Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941) and Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942).

O’Sullivan played Jane in Weissmuller’s first six Tarzan films before getting tired of the role and quitting: Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), Tarzan and His Mate (1934), Tarzan Escapes (1936), Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939), Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941) and Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942). Then she asked MGM to release her from her contact. ‘You have no idea what it is to be assigned to one picture after another with a certain monkey. Cheetah and I grew to loathe each other,’ she said. Her opinion of Weissmuller: ‘An amiable piece of beefcake; a likeable, overgrown child.’

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8053

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com