Click on a picture to enlarge it




















Alligators and Crocodiles in Movies
 
Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
 
Spoiler Alert !

Some of these pictures and descriptions may give away plot details that you might not want to know before watching the film.
 
Tarzan and His Mate Tarzan and His Mate Tarzan and His Mate
Tarzan and His Mate Tarzan and His Mate Tarzan and His Mate
Tarzan and His Mate Tarzan and His Mate Tarzan and His Mate
As far as I can tell, every Tarzan movie has a scene where Tarzan fights a crocodile. I could probably put all of them on the list, but I don't have that much patience. Nevertheless there are several on my list.

In this one, the second Tarzan movie, Maureen Sullivan is back as Jane. She shows lots of skin in a tiny loincloth outfit that probably drove my grandfathers crazy. The movie censorship code was in effect but not widely enforced at the time this movie was made. Jane had to cover more up in the movies following this one. These pre-code Tarzan movies are more than simple jungle adventure stories for children. They're really as much about sex and romance - about Jane and the lust she inspired in Tarzan (and half of the audience) and the almost-naked knife-wielding elephant-riding Johnny Weissmuller's effect on the other half.

The first crocodile scene in this movie begins with Jane swimming in a pond when a crocodile comes after her. She gets to roll around with a big rubber fake crocodile that does nothing but spin around. It could have easily made a meal of her if it bothered to use its jaws, but that would have killed off the romantic lead. Jane makes the Tarzan call and Tarzan calls back to her, running up and jumping in the water with his knife. He fights the croc underwater for what seems like an hour, then finally kills it with his knife.

Cheetah the chimp even gets a crocodile scene. When cheetah is chased by a lion, he jumps on a log and paddles out into a pond. Then a crocodile comes after him but he gets to the shore in time to jump onto the land and run away.