Filmsite Movie Review
Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
Pages: (1) (2) (3)
Plot Synopsis (continued)

Arlington asks Jane about her vanity: "Wouldn't you like to get all dressed up again?" Then he looks down at her skimpy jungle outfit: "Not that I have any complaints on that score." Jane jokes: "Why I had this specially designed for me." Harry leads her to the tent and presents her with a surprise. There, Jane discovers a number of "lovely," "gorgeous" fashionable dresses, hats, shoes, sheer stockings, and makeup - brought especially for her. Her first reaction: "Oh, you are a darling." She is tempted to flirt with civilization. After putting on the stockings, she considers trying on one of the stylish dresses, but then she cautions Harry: "I want you to understand, it's not going to make any difference...you want me to go back, don't you?"

Harry makes an argument for her to return to England:

You must go back Jane...You can't stay here. Supposing anything happened to him? You couldn't live...Suppose he were to die?...Anything can happen in this place Jane, and where would you be then?

Jane defends her love of Tarzan and the jungle: "Where would he be if I went back?" Harry suggests: "Well, let him come along too." Jane knows Tarzan wouldn't fit into civilization: "Tarzan over there - then he would die." She asks the two of them to leave the tent while she tries on a dress.

Outside, Arlington encourages Harry to pursue Jane:

Arlington: She's priceless. A woman who's learned the abandon of the savage, yet she'd be at home in Mayfair.
Harry (not optimistic about his chances): She's not interested in Mayfair.
Arlington (pressing further): Nonsense. She's weakening already, you lucky pup.
Harry: I don't think so.
Arlington wishes Harry wouldn't give Jane up so easily: You'll get her back. This is raw nature, old man, survival of the fittest.
Harry: Well Martin, up here, the fittest means Tarzan and he wouldn't let her go.
Arlington implies that force with a gun might be a possible solution: If she wants to go, how could he stop her?
Harry (appalled by Arlington's suggestion): Good heavens Martin, he's, well, he's not an animal.

They both look at Jane, who is seen nude in silhouette while dressing in the well-lit tent. Arlington puts on some music on an old phonograph player, as Jane readies herself to appear in a beautiful gown. She announces herself stepping from the tent: "Voila," and gives Arlington some wisdom: "You see, woman's greatest weapon is man's imagination." Chetah also emerges in a becoming, humorous outfit. Arlington thinks it funny about Jane's fashion sense: "You're the first woman I've ever had to coax into an evening gown." They dance to the music, swept away by the mood. He tells her: "You're a fascinating little savage," and then forces a long kiss from her - it is partially reciprocated. But then they both quickly apologize to each other. Jane recommends:

We'll forget about it if you remember that there's only one man that means anything to me, and that's Tarzan.

At that instant, Tarzan jumps to the ground from the tree tops, knife drawn, ready to attack the strange music-playing machine. Jane explains to him: "That's music...music like the natives make on their tom-toms. This is a little bit more civilized." Harry returns and compliments Jane on her appearance: "You'll be the talk of the town." But Tarzan is perplexed when he sees Jane in formal attire. He pulls at Jane's dress, and touches her stockinged legs, unaccustomed to seeing Jane wearing clothing. Jane again teaches Tarzan: "Women wear them because they hope men will like them." Having had enough of Jane's new wardrobe, perfume and interest in dancing with Harry, Tarzan carries Jane away into the night.

The next morning, Tarzan awakens with Jane sleeping next to him in the nude. He gathers something to eat and then returns to her, blowing in her ear to wake her up. She smiles at her playful mate: "Oh Tarzan, you're a bad boy."

(The next few lines of dialogue suggest that between the first and second films, Tarzan and Jane have married each other.)

Tarzan woodenly says: Good morning. I love you.
Jane: Good morning. I love you. You never forget, do you, Tarzan?
Tarzan: Never forget I love you.
Jane: Love who?
Tarzan: Love you.
Jane: Love who?
Tarzan: Love Jane.
Jane: Love my...
Tarzan: My...wife! My wife!

Then Tarzan pampers her and tells her: "I love you happy." Jane realizes that Tarzan's life could change if he was brought to civilization:

And Harry wants to send you to London, get you all dressed up in tight shoes and an old high-collar, and if you want to see a tree, you'd have to go get a little watering can and sprinkle it to make it grow. Then you'd be unhappy.

Tarzan responds: "Unhappy? I'm happy." Jane wishes that Tarzan may never be unhappy: "That's a word Tarzan I hope you never never are going to know the meaning of."

Tarzan suggests an early morning swim, and goes outside their tree home to romp with Chetah. He doesn't understand when Jane emerges wearing her evening gown again. She explains why she has dressed: "But darling, I have to put on clothes. There are other people here and they'd think I was immodest." But when they get to the water, Tarzan holds on to her dress as he throws her in, and the dress is ripped off her body - she hits the water naked. A nude Jane takes a swim, doing underwater somersaults with Tarzan in a scene with beautifully photographed underwater images.

When she comes out of the water naked, Jane is stranded in the jungle without her clothes. Chetah playfully dangles her dress from a tree above her reach for a while. After retrieving her dress, Jane is threatened by a lioness, and Tarzan is summoned to rescue her. He wrestles the wild animal until it is scared away, receiving a few scratches. The other safari explorers hear the commotion and appear, worried about everyone's well-being.

In the next scene, the safari group is seen making very slow progress through the dense jungle brush en route to the burial grounds. Tarzan and Jane swing into view after giving their distinctive yodeling jungle cries. Jane tells the safari: "You're off the track," and explains that Tarzan has called his elephant friends to clear a trail for them:

Chetah will let us know if you have any trouble. You should reach a clearing when the sun is at the treetops. About an hour...Cheerio.


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