Tarzan and His Mate │ Warner Archive Collection
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment
by CHAD KENNERK
Director W. S. ‘Woody’ Van Dyke declared, “I want a man for Tarzan who is young, strong, well-built, reasonably attractive but not necessarily handsome, and a competent actor. I want someone like Jack Dempsey, only younger.” MGM screenwriter Cyril Hume no doubt had that task in mind when he spotted Johnny Weissmuller, already an Olympic swimming champion, at the Hollywood Athletic Club. Despite his inexperience as an actor, Weissmuller’s athleticism and natural charisma made him an ideal fit for the king of the jungle. During a screen test, he literally walked out on a limb and jumped. He stuck the landing and, with it, the role of Tarzan and a seven-year contract with MGM.
When producer Bernard Hyman tried to change his name, Van Dyke reminded him that Weissmuller was a name known the world over for athletic prowess. To which Hyman reportedly remarked, “We’ll just lengthen the marquee.” Weissmuller ultimately became the sixth screen Tarzan but was the first to talk, working with famed vocal coach Morando to refine the timbre of his voice and lower his pitch. Equally crucial was the casting of Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane, whose chemistry with Weissmuller became central to the series’ identity. Drawing on production footage left over from Van Dyke’s African adventure Trader Horn, MGM constructed an elaborate jungle environment in California for the Tarzan series, blending location footage, matte paintings, and rear projection to simulate Africa. Despite the limitations of early sound filmmaking, the result was a convincing and immersive world. Weissmuller added authenticity by performing many of his own stunts, while his iconic Tarzan yell — developed from a childhood yodel and enhanced by the MGM sound department — became one of cinema’s most recognisable sounds.
Tarzan the Ape Man began filming on Halloween 1931 and became a top money-maker on its release in 1932. Audiences couldn’t get enough of ‘Me Tarzan, You Jane’, and like that paraphrased quote, the rest is history. Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs endorsed the adaptation himself, writing to Van Dyke, “This is a real Tarzan picture. It breathes the grim mystery of the jungle; the endless, relentless strife for survival; the virility, the cruelty and the grandeur of nature in the raw.” Weissmuller went on to become the most famous and longest-lasting screen Tarzan, starring as the Ape Man in a total of twelve films through 1948, the first six produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the final six at RKO.
Tarzan and His Mate stands as a high-water mark of Weissmuller’s run. Filmed on the cusp of the motion picture production code, long-censored material has been restored for the Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray. The famed underwater swimming sequence, showcasing Weissmuller’s Olympic mastery and a completely nude Jane (Olympic swimmer Josephine McKim doubling for O’Sullivan), returns in full, alongside previously cut moments of warfare action. The story established in Tarzan the Ape Man continues in Tarzan and His Mate, with Jane now living alongside Tarzan in his jungle home (and sharing the same bed!). When Jane’s former beau returns to lead an expedition in search of the fabled elephant graveyard and its ivory riches, Tarzan is drawn into the journey.
The Warner Archive Collection release of Tarzan and His Mate showcases a dazzling new 2026 1080p HD master from 4K scans of the best preservation elements. Included among the special features are two classic MGM shorts, The Spectacle Maker and What Price Jazz. Selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2003, Tarzan and His Mate is often cited as the greatest Tarzan film and certainly remains a defining example of early adventure cinema.
Tarzan and His Mate is available on Blu-ray 24 February from Warner Archive Collection.
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