Tarzan in Manhattan (1989) – Review

By the late 1960s, while Tarzan’s adventures may have faded from the big screen he was far from ready to hang up his loin cloth, Ron Ely had made him a staple of Thursday night viewings and he had quite the splash during the Saturday morning cartoon line-up in the 1970s, but today we will be looking at a late 80s live-action offering called Tarzan in Manhattan.

Released on CBS in 1989, Tarzan in Manhattan brought the iconic jungle hero into the heart of the urban landscape in this made-for-television movie, one that has pretty much been forgotten. This adaptation took the bold step of transplanting the legendary character from his natural habitat into the bustling streets of New York City in a typical “Fish out of Water” premise. This outing begins with Tarzan (Joe Lara) having a typical jungle day, which consists of swinging on a vine and saving his chimpanzee pal Cheetah from a crocodile, but paradise is shattered by the sound of a bullet and the murder of his ape mother Kala as well as the abduction of Cheetah. This leads to the classic hero cry of “Noooooo!” over his dead mom and a vow of vengeance.

“Tarzan, going to kick some serious ass.”

Tarzan seeks out his friend Joseph (Joe Seneca), a local storekeeper, to get the required paperwork for this journey out of Africa and into the concrete jungles of Manhattan, but the man warns Tarzan that “You’re going to be up against something stronger than poison darts, more cunning than killer snakes, and fiercer than Simba the Lion…New Yorkers.” With that piece of sage advice, Tarzan is off and running on his way to the big city where he will encounter various trials and tribulations, starting with his passport being flagged for some reason and him ending up behind bars at a detention centre. Of course, no mere bars can hold back the Lord of the Jungle, so after stripping off his jeans and muscle shirt – revealing that he never goes anywhere without his trusty loincloth – he rips out the bars and dives into the river below. He then spends most of the night sightseeing via a ride on the roof of a bus, in moments of less than stellar green screen.

“I couldn’t find my transit pass.”

Tarzan fails to mimic the “New York Hailing Cab Whistle” so he must resort to his classic jungle call, which leads to him meeting local cab driver Jane Porter (Kim Crosby) who, strangely enough, doesn’t seem to be put off by a man standing in the street mostly naked. He hands her the matchbook cover that he found at the “scene of the crime” and requests that she take him to the club it advertises – he can pay for her service with the various jewels he brought from home that he carries around in a bag hanging from his loin cloth – and after she sees him leap from her cab to stop a runaway carriage, as well as seeing his marvellous abs, she is more than willing to help this strange hunky man, even if states that he is “Tarzan of the Apes.” This scene also has one of my favourite exchanges between Jane and Tarzan.

Jane: “My name is Jane Porter, I’m twenty-six years old, single, the closest relationship I had lasted two months, I’m always the one who calls it off, I have a master’s in computer science from NYU and my shrink thinks I’m wasting my life driving a cab. So, who in the world are you?”
Tarzan: “I’m Tarzan of the Apes.”
Jane: “You did tell me that, didn’t you.”

After getting a fashion make-over they visit the night club from that matchbook clue, but while that visit is a dead-end Jane points out that the phone number written on the inside of the matchbook is an even bigger clue, which they later discover is to The Brightmore Foundation, a philanthropic organization run by millionaire B. B. Brightmore (Jan-Michael Vincent), and while Jane is dubious that such a benevolent and charitable institution could be behind ape-knapping Tarzan is not one to leave any stone unturned, even if the stones are that of a big city mansion. Lucky for Tarzan, Jane’s father Archimedes “Archie” Porter (Tony Curtis) is a retired cop who now runs a security agency and is a little more jaded when it comes to rich philanthropists. At first, he’s a little hesitant about Jane’s loin clothing-wearing friend but after Tarzan saves her from a gang of local street toughs he agrees to join the investigation. The three then crash a costume party at Brightmore’s mansion and discover that not only is he a Big Game Hunter, which is not in keeping with the man’s benevolent image, and they also discover that he has a secret lab where they are conducting illegal tests on animal brains, apparently, they can transfer the thoughts and knowledge of one creature into that of another.

Is this the secret home of Doctor Moreau?

What follows is your typical 80s action-adventure comedy with Tarzan, Jane and Archie trying to uncover the nefarious schemes of B.B. Brightmore.  We’ll get them sneaking around looking for clues, Brightmore will send a goon to kill Archie but only results in putting him in a come – they use the old gas line rigged to a light switch gag – and our heroes will not only have to evade the machinations of the villain but the New York City Police Department as well, in other words, hijinks ensue. There are some solid moments in this story, with the villain’s plan being at least a little unique, and the chemistry between Kim Crosby’s Jane and Joe Lara’s Tarzan is excellent, unfortunately, we also have to suffer through Tony Curtis and his horrible attempts at giving a comedic performance, as well as Cheetah stealing a police car. Let’s just say that not all of the events in this movie are all that realistic.

“Cheetah, watch the road!”

Stray Observations:

• In the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, Kala was not killed by white game hunters but by a local tribe of cannibals, who felt the wrath of Tarzan in a most horrific fashion.
• In a flashback we see that Tarzan wasn’t born in Africa after his parents were shipwrecked, instead, their plane crashed while he was a small boy. This is closer to the origins of Boy in Tarzan Finds a Son.
• If the ape suit used for Kala isn’t the one made by Bob Burns for the 1975 television show The Ghost Busters it’s a dead ringer.
• This wasn’t Tarzan’s first cinematic journey to the Big Apple as we had Tarzan’s New York Adventure back in 1942, which was also Johnny Weissmuller’s last outing as the Ape Man.
• In this series we don’t get the classic Johnny Weissmuller “Me Tarzan, you Jane” speech pattern because, like the Ron Ely series, this is a more erudite Tarzan who speaks “perfect” English.
• Tarzan doesn’t use his jungle-tracking skills to hunt down the poachers but relies on finding a matchbook cover with the name of a New York City nightclub on it. This clue is brought to you by five hundred detective novels and television shows.
• Despite this being an updated Tarzan story, we still hear the classic “Tarzan Jungle Call” made famous by Johnny Weissmuller and Carol Burnett.
• Actor Jan-Michael Vincent once played a Tarzan-type character in the Disney movie The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973).
• Brightmore tells Jane “I’ve been a hunter for a long time, long enough to get bored” and as he later hunts Tarzan and Jane, this film checks off “The Most Dangerous Game” bingo card.

“I’ll also explain my entire plan like a classic Bond villain.”

Directed by Michael Schultz, this isn’t so much as an updating of Tarzan as it is a re-imagining of the characters found in the books – he’s still the Earl of Greystoke but Jane Porter isn’t a New York socialite and they don’t meet up in the jungles of Africa – and with its New York setting taking up the bulk of the film’s running time it doesn’t contain much in the way of your standard Tarzan jungle tropes that fans have become used to. There is certainly a far less chance of Tarzan calling for an elephant stampede as a less minute rescue in this outing, though to be fair, Johnny Weissmuller managed to pull that off on his New York Adventure.

“Jane, do you know where we can find a herd of elephants?”

Despite its fantastical premise, Tarzan in Manhattan does remain fairly grounded, with the relationship between Tarzan and Jane fairly believable, and the clash between nature, civilization and billionaires with thier evil plots somehow works. While some may find the film to be rather clichéd and silly at times this was the 80s after all, and it nonetheless offers a fun adventure with a Bond type villain and good dose of action.  The aforementioned chemistry between the two leads makes up for some of the film’s less than plausible plot elements. What is obvious is that film’s conclusion, with Tarzan agreeing to join the Porter Security Agency, makes it clear that this was a backdoor pilot and that they’d hoped it would become an ongoing series. Sadly, that never happened and further stories now rest in the area of fan fiction.

“How about another wacky adventure after breakfast?”

Overall, Tarzan in Manhattan is a charming and enjoyable television movie that offers a unique twist on the classic Tarzan mythos. With its blend of action, adventure, and humour it’s sure to entertain both fans of the original character and newcomers alike. However, your level of enjoyment may depend on your ability to handle Tony Curtis and his flamboyant comedy stylings and Jan-Michael Vincent’s cartoonishly evil villain. So, grab some popcorn and join Tarzan as he swings through the skyscrapers of Manhattan in this nostalgic adventure. Also, there nothing is cuter than two chimpanzees hugging.

You can find all my Tarzan movie reviews here: Tarzan at the Movies