JohnHowardReid Executive producer: Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises Production. Not copyrighted. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release through Principal Productions: 3 June 1938. U.K. release through Associated British Film Distributors. 72 minutes.SYNOPSIS: After recovering the idol called the Green Goddess from the Dead City, Tarzan and his friends begin the arduous trek back to civilization. After many adventures, they finally reach Greystoke Manor where it seems certain Tarzan will soon wed Ula Vale. NOTES: Number 14 of the 46-picture "Tarzan" series. COMMENT: A cutdown of the last half of the twelve-chapter serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), which goes some way towards explaining the film's jerky continuity (which is occasionally awkwardly bridged by inter-titles, though there still remain some odd gaps in the narrative). Kull's direction is nothing special and no great strains are placed on the acting skills of the cast. Mr Bennett's performance is more physical than mental, Miss Holt is reasonably attractive, and Mr Sargent contributes a bit of slapstick fun. The other players are no more than serviceable. Behind-the-camera personnel likewise rate as slightly behind the Hollywood norm. Still, for all its technical shortcomings, this Tarzan is a lively movie with plenty of pace and action filmed against real backgrounds in Gautemala (sometimes ill-matched with obvious African stock footage). If the Boys' Own story seems somewhat juvenile and the characterizations never more than rudimentary, it must be remembered that the film was produced by none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs himself in an attempt to show his public exactly how Tarzan should be portrayed on the screen. Bruce Bennett's Tarzan is no illiterate ape man, but a well-spoken, literate daredevil, actively championing the causes of world peace and justice. True, physically, he's almost superhuman in his ability to survive various perils virtually unscathed, but this cliffhanger excitement is part and parcel of Burroughs' books. And here it all comes to grand action finale on board a storm-tossed sailing ship. That episode alone is worth the price of admission.

Ben Larson Talk about recycling! As a Zorro fanatic, I have watched a couple of the old serials that used to show in movie theaters. You had to come back every Saturday to see the next part of the story. The original 12-part serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan, was re-edited into two movies, this being one of them.The most interesting thing about this movie is the star, Bruce Bennett, or as he was known then, Herman Brix. Brix was given this role after losing out on a previous film, Tarzan the Ape Man, which cast an unknown BVD underwear model, Johnny Weissmuller. A shoulder injury prevented Brix from getting this role. The rest is, as they say, history. Weissmuller went on to be the greatest Tarzan of all time, and Brix had to eventually drop out of acting, take acting lessons and change his name before returning.

Snow Leopard "Tarzan and the Green Goddess" is a reasonable condensed version of a longer serial, providing watchable light entertainment. It has a number of rough edges as a result of this format, with a sometimes choppy pace, and other stretches where the action gets somewhat repetitive. But there is enough going on to hold your attention, and Herman Brix (as he was then billed) is solid enough in the lead role.As Tarzan, Brix (whom a lot of us always think of as Bruce Bennett) cannot come up to Johnny Weismuller's performance in the role, but he does give the character some life. Both Brix's approach and the story also bring out the other side of the character's nature, beyond his rugged jungle life.The story focuses on a Central American artifact and a secret code that goes with it, with the plot mostly a series of confrontations with the bad guys. As others have pointed out, there is some unintentional humor added through the footage of African animals in a story that is supposed to be set in Guatemala.An interesting aspect of this feature is that here the heroine (played by Ula Holt) is presented as more of an equal to Tarzan than usual. Overall, things fit together well enough to make it work all right as light viewing.

henry_ferrill I'll take this movie to comment on as my platform for the Tarzan yell. There is still none better than Weissmuller's to this day. I've only started to watch Tarzan the Tiger, with Frank Merrill, quite possibly the best physical Tarzan there was by the way, and his Tarzan yell was "YAAAA! YAAAA!!! YAAAA!!!!" It pales in comparison in imagination to Herman Brix' yell, but Herman Brix yell is none too pleasing. "AAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH MAAAAAAANNNNGGGAAAAAAANNNNEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" While quite amusing, it's too long and therefore loses its significance. In the Weissmuller films, it's used to call man or beast, or signify that Tarzan may be in trouble. More accurately in Herman Brix' films, it's used as the victorious cry of the bull ape after a successful conquest, as it should be used. But it shouldn't be a pronounced cry, but rather a savage, eerie, unsettling cry that most would loath to associate with a human.