Tarzan films of the 1930s

Identification Films about a boy raised by great apes in an African jungle

Based on a character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the Tarzan films proved enormously popular in the United States and across the world during the 1930’s. The early films starring Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan and Maureen O’Sullivan became classics.

Burroughs created his legendary character Tarzan for a novel that appeared in the October, 1912, issue of All-Story magazine. Tarzan of the Apes became a literary sensation. So popular was the “king of the jungle” that Burroughs wrote more than twenty sequels. Tarzan became a merchandising bonanza for Burroughs. Early on, Tarzan made his appearance in movie theaters.

The first Tarzan film was released in January, 1918, and starred the muscular Elmo Lincoln. Tarzan of the Apes was a hit, earning more than one million dollars. This financial success ensured that Tarzan would become a fixture on the silver screen. During the 1920’s, Hollywood produced seven more Tarzan films.

In 1931, Trader Horn, a lavishly mounted African adventure, became a blockbuster for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Louis B. Mayer, the head of the studio, decided to follow up this success with a big-budget Tarzan film. Irving Thalberg, the brilliant producer of a long line of prestigious and profitable pictures for MGM, took charge of the project. An early complication was the fact that Burroughs had sold film rights for a Tarzan film to another producer. The legal impediments were worked out amicably, and any issues about story line were obviated by MGM ignoring most of the plot of the original novel. To play Tarzan, the studio chose Weissmuller, a six-foot-three-inch, 190-pound swimming champion who had set fifty records and won gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games. O’Sullivan, a young, Irish-born actor, was given the role of Jane Porter, Tarzan’s love interest. The film was directed by W. S. Van Dyke, the man who had been the director of Trader Horn.

Tarzan the Ape Man was released in 1932. The film centers on Tarzan’s romance with Jane and his rescue of a party of white hunters from bloodthirsty pygmies. Unlike the Tarzan of the books, Weissmuller’s Tarzan is famous for being almost monosyllabic. This did not diminish the appeal of Tarzan, though it dismayed Burroughs. Weissmuller’s athleticism and charisma permanently identified him with the jungle hero. He played Tarzan another eleven times, before graduating to the more sedate role of Jungle Jim during the late 1940’s. O’Sullivan proved to be the perfect romantic foil for Weissmuller’s ape-man. She played Jane in five more Tarzan films. Tarzan the Ape Man was notable for introducing Tarzan’s yodeling call, the product of the MGM special-effects department. The film also created the character of Cheeta, Tarzan’s chimpanzee sidekick, a staple of subsequent Tarzan films.

Tarzan the Ape Man launched an enduring series of films. The second, Tarzan and His Mate, released in 1934, is generally considered the best of the franchise. There Tarzan once again has to save Jane from hostile tribesmen. The skimpiness of the two leads’ clothing, especially that of O’Sullivan, inspired criticism. In the third film, Tarzan Escapes, released in 1936, Jane’s attire was less revealing. At this point, Tarzan and Jane were cohabiting in their jungle tree house. Their family became complete in 1939’s Tarzan Finds a Son. Tarzan and Jane find a baby in the wreck of an airplane. The child grows up to be Boy, played by Johnny Sheffield.

Because of Burroughs’s freedom in licensing his creation, Weissmuller was not the only Tarzan of the 1930’s. Buster Crabbe, another swimmer and Olympic gold medalist, starred in Tarzan the Fearless in 1933, a twelve-chapter serial that was also edited down to a feature film. Crabbe went on to play Flash Gordon. Herman Brix, an Olympic shot-putter who had been considered for the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man, starred in a 1935 twelve-part serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan. This Tarzan was closer to Burroughs’s vision, an articulate aristocrat of the jungle. Two feature films were spun off from episodes of the serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan in 1935 and Tarzan and the Green Goddess in 1938. Glenn Morris, the winner of the decathlon in the 1936 Olympics, was cast as Tarzan in Tarzan’s Revenge, released in 1938. In this film, Jane was played by Eleanor Holm, a gold medalist in swimming at the 1932 Olympics. Wisely, neither lead pursued an acting career.

Impact

Tarzan films offered Depression-era film audiences looking for escapism an entertaining if fleeting release from their daily cares. The success of these films ensured that Tarzan would continue to figure in American popular culture for decades to come.

Bibliography

Fenton, Robert W. Edgar Rice Burroughs and Tarzan. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2003.

Fury, David. Kings of the Jungle. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2008.