Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) in Color — Starring Johnny Weissmüller & Maureen O'Sullivan

Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) — Buy This Classic in Color

Discover Tarzan Finds a Son!, Richard Thorpe’s 1939 adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, now available as a professionally colorized version. Own this classic movie in color as a DRM-free MP4 digital download for just €15.00.

Plot Summary

A small private plane carrying a wealthy young British couple crashes deep in the most remote, impenetrable reaches of the African jungle, killing both parents instantly but miraculously sparing their infant son, who is found alive and crying among the wreckage by Tarzan’s tribe of great apes. Tarzan and Jane discover the baby and, with the protective, tender instincts of parents who have longed for a child of their own, adopt the little boy, carrying him up into their spectacular treehouse home and raising him as their own son in their jungle paradise. They name him Boy, and he grows into a fearless, laughing, utterly wild five-year-old who is as completely at home in the jungle as any animal born there — swinging through the treetops with the agility of his ape companions, swimming in the rivers with the confidence of a fish, playing with elephants and chimpanzees as his natural friends, and approaching every day in the wild with the same infectious, fearless joy that makes his parents’ hearts swell with love and pride. Their idyllic, self-contained family life is violently disrupted when a well-funded search expedition arrives from England, led by the Dolorosa family, wealthy relatives of Boy’s dead birth parents who have spent years tracking the missing child across Africa. The expedition claims to want Boy purely for his own good — to give him a proper English education, a civilized upbringing, and the opportunities that any child of his birth deserves. But their true, carefully concealed motive is far less noble: Boy stands to inherit an enormous fortune from his dead parents’ estate, and whoever controls the boy controls the money. Jane, her maternal instincts wrestling with her conscience and her lingering memories of the civilized world she once knew, finds herself agonizingly torn between protecting the only life Boy has ever known and the nagging fear that she and Tarzan are selfishly denying him opportunities that the jungle can never provide. In a heart-wrenching decision that she makes behind Tarzan’s back, Jane secretly agrees to let the expedition take Boy to England, believing she is doing the right thing for a child she loves more than her own life. When Tarzan discovers the devastating betrayal — his mate conspiring with strangers to steal his son — he is consumed by a rage and heartbreak more terrible than any danger the jungle has ever thrown at him. As the treacherous expedition attempts to smuggle Boy out of the jungle, the journey disintegrates into a desperate nightmare of dangerous terrain, hostile tribal warriors, and natural catastrophes in which only Tarzan — and the depth of his love for his family — can save everyone from destruction. This classic movie is a deeply moving, thrilling family adventure that added a powerful new emotional dimension to the beloved Tarzan mythology.

Cast & Crew

Director: Richard Thorpe

Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield, Ian Hunter, Henry Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Henry Wilcoxon, Laraine Day, Morton Lowry, Gavin Muir

Johnny Weissmuller adds extraordinary emotional depth to his legendary Tarzan portrayal, revealing a fierce, primal tenderness in his scenes with young Boy that transforms the jungle lord from a simple action hero into a genuinely moving father figure whose love for his child is as powerful and as instinctive as any force in nature. Maureen O’Sullivan delivers her most complex, most dramatically demanding Jane performance, creating a woman caught in an impossible moral dilemma between two kinds of love and two different worlds — her scenes of anguished indecision and eventual guilt are heartbreaking. Young Johnny Sheffield is an absolute revelation as Boy, a natural, uninhibited young performer whose fearless physical energy and genuine warmth with both Weissmuller and the animal cast make him an instantly lovable screen presence. Ian Hunter brings dignified sympathy to the expedition leader, and Frieda Inescort adds calculating menace to the Dolorosa family’s hidden agenda.

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

Tarzan Finds a Son! was originally filmed in black and white, its spectacular jungle sequences, touching family scenes in the treehouse, exciting animal encounters, and thrilling rescue climax all captured in MGM’s polished, first-rate photography. This professionally colorized restoration brings frame-by-frame precision to the lush tropical paradise, the warm domestic scenes of Tarzan, Jane, and Boy in their treehouse home, the exciting animal action, and the dramatic rescue sequences. The colorized version adds vibrant jungle beauty and warm family atmosphere to this restored classic film, bringing the Tarzan family’s paradise to vivid life. Now also available in colour.

Buy Tarzan Finds a Son! in color today for just €15.00. Your DRM-free MP4 download is available for instant access.

Historical Significance

Tarzan Finds a Son! introduced the beloved character of Boy, played by young Johnny Sheffield, who would become a central and enormously popular fixture of the Tarzan series for the next decade and six more films. The film was originally planned as Maureen O’Sullivan’s final Tarzan film, with Jane scripted to die in the climax, but preview audience reactions were so overwhelmingly negative that MGM ordered a costly rewrite that saved the character — one of the most famous audience-driven plot changes in Hollywood history. The addition of Boy gave the series a family dimension and an emotional warmth that reinvigorated the franchise and kept it enormously popular well into the 1940s. Through colorization, this milestone in the Tarzan series is preserved for modern audiences.

Technical Details

• Format: MP4 digital download
• Resolution: HD restored
• Colorized: Professionally colorized from original black and white
• Audio: Original mono restored
• Runtime: Approximately 82 minutes
• DRM-free: Yes — watch on any device
• Instant download: Available immediately after purchase
• Price: €15.00

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Movie-Specific Questions

Q: Is this where Boy first appears in the Tarzan series?
A: Yes, Tarzan Finds a Son! introduces the beloved character of Boy, played by the naturally gifted Johnny Sheffield, who became a central part of the Tarzan family and appeared in six more films over the following decade, adding a warm family dimension that reinvigorated the entire series.

Q: Is Maureen O’Sullivan in this film?
A: Yes, Maureen O’Sullivan returns as Jane in this fourth Weissmuller Tarzan film, delivering her most dramatically complex performance in the role. She was originally planned to leave the series through Jane’s death, but test audiences reacted so negatively that the studio rewrote the ending to keep Jane alive.

Q: How does colorization enhance this family adventure?
A: Colorization brings warmth and beauty to the family scenes — the lush green jungle, the warm brown treehouse, the sparkling blue river, and the golden African light create a visual paradise that perfectly captures the idyllic world Tarzan, Jane, and Boy have built together and makes the threat to their family all the more emotionally powerful.

Digital Download Questions

Q: What format is the download?
A: The film is delivered as an MP4 file compatible with virtually any device or media player.

Q: Is there DRM on the file?
A: No. The download is completely DRM-free so you can watch it on any device without restrictions.

Q: How quickly can I watch after purchase?
A: Your download link is available instantly after payment, so you can start watching within minutes.

Related Colorized Classics

• Jungle Jim (1948)
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
• One Million B.C. (1940)
• Heidi (1937)
• The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)