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7.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Tarzan and His Mate remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like movies that feel like they were made in a different universe, then yes, absolutely. If you get annoyed by dated attitudes or watching people wrestle with animals that are clearly just guys in suits, you might want to skip it.
This isn't high art. It's pure, unfiltered pulp.
There's this scene where they’re swimming together, and honestly, I forgot I was watching a movie from 1934 for a second. It just feels so much more relaxed than the stuff they made later on.
Johnny Weissmuller isn't exactly doing Shakespeare, but he doesn't need to. He just stands there looking like he belongs in the trees, while the guys in the pith helmets look like they’re about to faint from the heat.
I found myself thinking about Japanese Girls at the Harbor because of how differently these two films treat their settings. One feels like a stage play, and this one feels like a playground for people who forgot to follow the rules.
The pacing is all over the place. Sometimes it’s just them hanging out in the trees, and then suddenly there's a massive fight with a lion. It’s like the editor just gave up halfway through and decided to let the jungle take the wheel. 🌴
It's messy. It’s loud. It’s kind of ridiculous.
There’s a moment near the end where the action goes totally off the rails. It’s not graceful, but man, it’s memorable. You can tell they were just throwing everything at the camera and hoping it stuck.
Definitely don't look for a deep message. It's just Tarzan being Tarzan, which is honestly refreshing in its own way. Sometimes you don't need a plot, you just need a guy swinging on a vine while everyone else screams at him.