Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (February 26, 2026)
After Edgar Rice Burroughs introduced the Tarzan character in 1912, film adaptations quickly arrived. However, 1932’s Tarzan, The Ape Man launched a series with Johnny Weismuller than remains arguably the best-remembered of the bunch.
Weismuller played Tarzan in 11 more films, six of which also involved Maureen O’Sullivan as love interest Jane. For the second in their run together, we go to 1934’s Tarzan and His Mate.
“Lord of the Apes” Tarzan (Weismuller) lives with Englishwoman Jane Parker (O’Sullivan) in the wilds of Africa. Her past crops up when her former fiancé Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) appears on the scene.
Harry wants to use his relationship with Jane to help locate an Elephant Graveyard that sports a fortune in ivory. They encounter threats along the way.
Mate gets remembered often as a victim of the “Motion Picture Production Code”, a series of rules intended to limit allegedly indecent content in movies. Although its roots came from efforts in the mid-1920s, these didn’t really get enforced until 1934.
This meant Mate lost considerable chunks of film. Out went some nudity and violence, excisions that added up to about 11 minutes of footage.
Happily, this Blu-ray comes with the uncensored original vision of Mate. The question whether or not the film remains noteworthy beyond its notorious history.
I think it does – well, for the most part. Some aspects of the film hold up better than others.
Perhaps inevitably, Mate suffers from the casual racism related to its treatment of the African characters. They’re viewed essentially as little more than animals to be used for the white man’s purposes.
For instance, in one scene we see Harry’s colleague Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanagh) casually murder a native who doesn’t follow directions. Rather than express horror, Harry reminds Martin that a whipping would’ve worked as well.
Both men shrug and move on with no recognition that the African was anything more than chattel. If Mate used the sequence to paint Martin as a clear villain, that would work, but instead, we find no real condemnation of his actions.
Indeed, Mate tends to view animals as more important and deserving of our sympathy than the Africans! We get multiple moments that pull at heartstrings due to the deaths of critters.
As much as I adore animals, the manner in which the film casts Africans as less than human becomes a problem. Yes, this attitude wasn’t uncommon 90-plus years ago, but that doesn’t make it any less troubling.
Leaving aside that domain, Mate also suffers from what I’ll describe as a loose plot – and by “loose”, I mean “essentially non-existent”. We get a collection of scenes generally related to the quest for ivory but not much else.
Actually, Mate focuses on the Harry/Martin side of the narrative almost exclusively for the film’s introduction, so we don’t meet Tarzan and Jane until about 23 minutes into the film. Instead, we get exposition about the Harry/Martin quest and see their exploits.
Although it feels like an odd choice to ignore the title characters for the initial 22 percent of the flick, it works because it sets the stage for adventure. Indeed, I must assume Steven Spielberg was a fan of Mate because I get the feeling he used this material as inspiration for the legendary opening to 1981’s classic Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Once we finally meet Tarzan and Jane, matters get a bit spottier, as we encounter scenes that take unnecessary detours. For example, the infamous nude swimming scene exists for virtually no narrative purpose.
Other segments also feel fairly superfluous. I suspect Mate could lose a good 15 to 20 minutes off its running time and benefit from a tighter story.
Still, I think the adventure elements still work pretty well, especially because Mate delivers surprisingly solid effects work. Of course, these elements show their age but they still come across as convincing enough to allow us to stay invested in the action.
And those scenes pack a reasonably solid punch. When the movie delivers jungle adventure, it becomes a lively affair.
Mate drags too much to become a consistently strong affair. Nonetheless, it does enough right to become a fairly enjoyable effort.
