Tarzan, The Ape Man

Tarzan, The Ape Man

1932

Tarzan, The Ape Man

  • Tarzan: Johnny Weissmuller
  • Jane: Maureen O’Sullivan
  • Director: W. S. Van Dyke
  • Release Date: March 25, 1932
  • Run Time: 99 min
  • Language: English
  • Information: 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. 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.

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, yet she finds herself missing the ape man after she is returned to her father. When the expedition is captured by a tribe of, what Jane’s father calls “dwarfs”, she sends Tarzan’s ape friend Cheeta (Jiggs) for help, bringing Tarzan to the rescue. In the end, she elects to stay in the jungle with Tarzan.

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