Product Details

• Actors: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield, Ian Hunter, Henry Stephenson
• Directors: Richard Thorpe
• Writers: Cyril Hume, Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Producers: Sam Zimbalist
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 82 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302605164
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,966 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #4 in	Video > Classics > Kids & Family - Classics - > Tarzan
  #17 in	Video > Action & Adventure > Jungle Action

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cheetah find Boy. Give Boy to Tarzan. Jane say keep Boy., November 21, 2002

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

It was not until I actually started working my way chronologically through the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs that I discovered Tarzan and Jane did not find their son in a wrecked airplane. The novel "The Son of Tarzan" was actually made into a fairly faithful silent film in 1920, but Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan is not going to father Korak the Killer in this 1939 effort. This begs the question "Why?" Is it because women would faint at the idea of Maureen Sullivan's Jane giving birth in the jungle, no doubt with Cheetah as the mid-wife? Or would it be because pregnancy results from sex and the Hays Office would have a conniption over the implied jungle love? Then again, it might just be that the theme of the purity of the jungle versus the sins of civilization play up better with this film's storyline.

The plot is pretty simplistic. A plane crashes in the jungle and a baby is the only survivor. Cheetah brings the infant to Tarzan and Jane. Of course, Jane insists they will raise it as their own and acquiesces to the idea of calling the baby boy "Boy" (we can only wonder what would happen if the couple were to come across a second male child in terms of names). Boy (Johnny Shefield) is happy in his jungle home when suddenly a saffair made up of his parents' relatives arrives up the scene to begin a custody dispute, jungle style, which means involving a LOT of elephants.

The bottom line is that "Tarzan Finds a Son!" is the second best of the Weismuller Tarzan films, behind 1934's "Tarzan and His Mate," bringing out a paternal streak in the Lord of the Jungle that becomes him. The chemistry between the trio (okay, the quartet when you include Cheetah), makes this film work despite the limited vocabulary Weismuller's Tarzan has to work with in this series. Not to mention Boy has a pretty good variation of the Tarzan yell going for him. Of course, if you see this one be sure to check out "Tarzan's New York Adventure," where Boy is kidnapped by an evil circus promoter and taken to New York City where Tarzan and Jane follow to rescue him.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rousing Jungle adventure yarn, April 30, 2002

By	Simon Davis - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I only saw this installment in the terrific MGM Tarzan series for the first time recently and must admit I was impressed. I feel this story further developed the storyline of Tarzan and Jane living the good life in the jungle.

This installment certainly added extra dimension to both of their characters with Tarzan displaying paternal emotions for the character of Boy and Jane being revealed as not always making the right choice and having a disagreement with Tarzan that causes a rupture, however temporary, in their relationship.

By the time this installment was released in 1939 (it was the fourth in the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films) technology had developed considerly from the first film (Tarzan the Ape Man) in the early 30's which today seems abit primitive. In this film , apart from a few very fake vine swings , the special effects are wonderfully handled and show a real refinement.The underwater sequences are superbly handled and where actually filmed by the actors themselves. The film really has everthing from wild animals to rampaging tribes of natives, plane crashes etc. Everthing to make this film an exciting adventure story and one of the very best in the MGM Tarzan series

The stories main feature is of course the introduction of Johnny Sheffield as Boy, a character that remained in the rest of the Tarzan features. I wont relate the plot line of Boy's introduction into the story as other reviewers have already covered that but to say that Johhny Weissmuller personally picked young Sheffield for the role and their on screen chemistry is wonderful. I feel Boy's introduction adds a logical development to the Tarzan character and from now on the king of the jungle had a family in the true sense of the word.

No Tarzan film would be complete without its quota of villians and "Tarzan finds a Son" has a very exceptional list of fine character actors as supporting performers. The great Henry Stephenson appears fresh from his great performance in the previous years MGM classic "Marie Antoniette" as Boy's long lost great Uncle looking for the possible survivors of the earlier plane crash. Another great performer is Cecil B. DeMille regular Henry Wilcoxon who plays one of the white explorers. Both add a real prestige element to this film.

I think "Tarzan finds a Son" is a terrific piece of entertainment and one of the best in the MGM series. At this point the series was still alive and fresh and the expert direction by Richard Thorpe really keeps the action moving along. Enjoy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tarz rocks as a Dad but the movie flounders in mediocrity., April 10, 2002

By	Mike Noga (Cicero, IL United States) - See all my reviews

let me say at the open that I'm a Tarzan fan and like all the Weismuller movies in particular. Johnny Sheffield was great in this movie, his acting was impressively natural. His relationship with his "parents" Tarzan and Jane seemed real and unforced. He acted just the way you would imagine a kid would act growing up in the jungle with Tarzan That part of the movie I liked.
The problem I had was with the tacked on confrontation between Tarzan and Boy's relatives. It was awkward and the villains weren't really worthy of testing Tarzan's mettle. They were unimaginitive cardboard characters and the plot revolving around them was grade A hack material. The greedy grasping relatives seemed so bland and uninspired compared to the relationship between Tarzan, Jane and Boy. I would have liked to have seen something that re-inforced the relationship between Boy and his parents. In closing, the parts with Boy, Tarzan and Jane are great. A boy couldn't hope for a better life than growing up in the jungle with Tarz. The rest of the movie though is a flop. it's worth watching, just stay near the fast forward button on the remote.