Tarzan the Ape Man
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- You may be looking for Tarzan, the Ape Man from 1959, or Tarzan, the Ape Man from 1981
| Tarzan the Ape Man | |
|---|---|
 Tarzan the Ape Man 1932 poster |
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| Directed by | W.S. Van Dyke |
| Written by | Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel) Cyril Hume (adaptation) |
| Starring | Johnny Weissmuller Neil Hamilton Maureen O'Sullivan C. Aubrey Smith |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | March 25, 1932 (New York City premiere) |
| Running time | 99 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $652,675 (estimated) |
| Followed by | Tarzan and His Mate |
| IMDb profile | |
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) is an action adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith & Maureen O'Sullivan. The movie is loosely based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel Tarzan of the Apes. The movie was directed by W.S. Van Dyke (who later went on to direct The Thin Man and some or all of its sequels).
Contents |
[edit] Plot
James Parker (Smith) and Harry Holt (Hamiltion) are on an expedition in Africa in search of the elephant burial grounds that will provide enough ivory to make them rich. Parker's beautiful young daughter Jane (O'Sullivan) arrives unexpectedly to join them. Harry is obviously attracted to Jane and he does his best to help protect her from all the dangers that they experience in the jungle. Jane is terrified when Tarzan (Weissmuller) and his ape friends first abduct her, but when she returns to her father's expedition she has second thoughts about leaving Tarzan. After the expedition is captured by a tribe of violent dwarfs, Jane sends Cheeta to bring Tarzan to rescue them.
[edit] Trivia
- This is the first Tarzan film to star Weissmuller, O'Sullivan and Cheeta.
- The character of Cheeta was created for this film. He did not appear in the Edgar Rice Burroughs books.
- Tarzan's distinctive call was created by sound recordist Douglas Shearer using special audio effects, including an Austrian yodel played backwards at quickened speed. Later, Weissmuller learned to mimic the famous call so well people assumed that he was the one doing the yell in the films.
- Weissmuller always claimed he had created the trademark Tarzan yell in a yodeling contest he won while he was a boy.
[edit] References
DVD commentary for the Tarzan Collection DVD set released in 2005.
