Richard Thorpe (1) (1896–1991)

This is one of the very best of the Tarzan entries. MGM built an entire river and jungle covering eighty acres for this one and the underwater sequences shot in Florida are some of the best in this very popular series starring athletic Johnny Weissmuller as Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle hero, and pretty Maureen O’Sullivan as his mate, Jane.

Everything about this one is top-notch. Cedric Gibbons was in charge of art direction and the screenplay from Myles Connolly and Paul Gangelin is show more excellent, offering plenty of drama and humor, and a bit of jungle romance. A superb cast of screen veterans, including Tom Conway (The Falcon), Reginald Owen, Philip Dorn, and Barry Fitzgerald, add excitement and adventure to the very successful Tarzan franchise.

Boy (Johnny Sheffield) discovers gold while on a morning swim with Tarzan and Jane. Intrigued by Jane’s descriptions of all he could buy with it in civilization, he sneaks out that night to get a peek at it. He befriends a young native boy (Cordell Hickman) from a dangerous tribe and must be saved from them by first an expedition seeking a more obscure tribe, then Tarzan who must come to their aid.

But whenever gold is around, so is greed, which sets in for two members of the expedition — Medford (Tom Conway), and Vandemeer (Philip Dorn). Professor Elliot (Reginald Owen), the expedition leader, respects Tarzan’s wish to forget about the gold, but when the plague strikes both he and Boy, Medford and Vandemeer aren’t above using leverage to get their way, and their chance at that gold.

A dangerous exit from the jungle by river, a tribe so dangerous their drums strike fear in other tribes, lead to an action-filled finale. Tarzan can’t do it alone, of course, but remember, he has many jungle friends. While Tarzan’s Secret Treasure begins in an easygoing manner, there is lots of fun and drama in one of the most atmospheric entries in this fine series. A romantic moonlight swim offers some nice moments between Weissmuller and O’Sullivan in this entry. An excellent adventure film on its own, and a very special installment in one of the most popular series in film history. show less

A witch and a lost girl fight to the death over a sparkly pair of heels.

Whenever I watch this, I try to imagine what it would be like to see it for the first time. I can never tell, but I do usually notice things that have previously been invisible-due-to-familiarity. One thing I managed to pull out of it this time around was just how good a song and performance "Over the Rainbow" is. I mean, yeah, I've always known it's great, but this time it struck me how much it probably would have show more floored me if I'd never heard it before.

Concept: A
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 3.6/4 show less

This movie is a classic for a reason, although a few parts of it have not aged well, especially with Miss Gulch. She's portrayed as a villain because... she didn't want Dorothy's stupid dog to bother her? I know that it was the 1930s and it wasn't uncommon to have dogs running loose on farms and etc but Dorothy was not a very responsible owner if she let Toto bother Miss Gulch multiple times.

Like millions of others, I watched this every year growing up--and it was something I looked forward to for weeks. I've never read the Oz books--my daughter, who devours everything, wasn't impressed by them--but this film can stand alone as a singular magical moment. Actually, many magical moments, all of which are still magical 80 years later.