Tarzan the Ape Man (1932 film)

Tarzan the Ape Man
Theatrical poster
Directed by	W. S. Van Dyke
Produced by	Irving Thalberg
Written by	Cyril Hume
Based on	Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Starring	Johnny Weissmuller Neil Hamilton Maureen O'Sullivan C. Aubrey Smith
Cinematography	Clyde De Vinna
Editing by	Tom Held Ben Lewis
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	March 25, 1932 (1932-03-25)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$652,675
Box office	$2.54 million

Barzan The LabTech Ape Man

Tarzan the Ape Man is a 1932 pre-Code American action adventure film featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith and Maureen O'Sullivan. The film is loosely based on Burroughs' novel Tarzan of the Apes, with the dialogue written by Ivor Novello. The film was directed by W. S. Van Dyke. It was remade in 1959 and in 1981 the same title but a different adaptation of Rice Burroughs' novel was used as the basis of a film.

Plot

James Parker (C. Aubrey Smith) and Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton), in Africa on a quest for the legendary elephant burial grounds (and their ivory), are joined by Parker's daughter Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan). Holt, attracted to her, tries somewhat ineffectively to protect her from the jungle's dangers, notably failing to prevent her abduction by the jungle's guardian, the mysterious Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and his ape allies.

The experience is terrifying to Jane, at first, but as their relationship develops, she finds herself happy: "Not a bit afraid, not a bit sorry". As she returns to her father, her feelings are brought to a test. She wants Tarzan to come with her to London, to be part of her world. But as he heartbroken turns his back, leaving for the jungle, and her father tells her that's where Tarzan belongs, she cries: "No dad, he belongs to me". The expedition is captured by a tribe of violent "dwarfs", Jane sends Tarzan's ape friend Cheeta (Jiggs) for help, bringing Tarzan to their rescue. Jane's father dies and she decides to stay in the jungle with Tarzan. In the end-scene, to the music of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, the happy couple appears on a rock below the heavens, Jane holding Cheeta as a baby.

Firsts

• Tarzan the Ape Man was the first Tarzan film to star Weissmuller and O'Sullivan, and marked the first appearance of the character of Cheeta the chimpanzee, and the animal actor who created it, Jiggs. The character of Cheeta was created for this film, never having appeared in the original Burroughs novels.
• The film was the first of a long series of franchised Tarzan films running from 1932 into the 1970s, initially starring Weissmuller and later other actors.
• Tarzan's distinctive call was first heard in this film; it was reportedly created by sound recordist Douglas Shearer using special audio effects, including an Austrian yodel played backwards at quickened speed. Weissmuller himself always claimed he had created the trademark Tarzan yell in a yodeling contest he won while he was a boy. He later learned to mimic the famous call so well people assumed that he was the one doing the yell in the films.

Production

• Like other Weissmuller Tarzan films, the elephants were Indian, which have smaller ears, and not African. Large fake ears, and fake tusks, were fitted onto the animals in an attempt to make them look authentic.
• The tribe of African pygmies portrayed in the film was actually a cast of several white little people wearing blackface. These short male actors were possibly the same midgets who would later portray Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz.

Cast

• Neil Hamilton as Harry Holt
• Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane Parker
• C. Aubrey Smith as James Parker
• Doris Lloyd as Mrs Cutten
• Forrester Harvey as Beamish
• Ivory Williams as Riano
• Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan
• Ray Corrigan as Ape
• Johnny Eck as Bird Creature

Series

• Played by Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan
  • Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
  • Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
  • Tarzan Escapes (1936)
  • Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
  • Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
  • Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942)

References

DVD commentary for the Tarzan Collection DVD set released in 2005.

External links

• Tarzan the Ape Man at the Internet Movie Database
• Tarzan the Ape Man (1932 film) at AllRovi
• Tarzan the Ape Man (1932 film) at the TCM Movie Database
• Tarzan the Ape Man at filmsite.org
• Tarzan the Ape Man history at ERBzine website