Tarzan of the Apes (film)
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| Tarzan of the Apes | |
|---|---|
 Tarzan of the Apes 1918 poster |
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| Directed by | Scott Sidney |
| Produced by | William Parsons |
| Written by | Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel) Fred Miller and Lois Weber (adaptation) |
| Starring | Elmo Lincoln Enid Markey George B. French Gordon Griffith |
| Cinematography | Enrique Juan Vallejo |
| Editing by | Isadore Bernstein |
| Distributed by | National Film Corporation of America |
| Release date(s) | 27 January 1918 (Broadway, New York) |
| Running time | 55 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
| Followed by | The Romance of Tarzan |
| IMDb profile | |
Tarzan of the Apes (1918) is a silent, black and white action adventure film directed by Scott Sidney starring Elmo Lincoln, Enid Markey, George B. French and Gordon Griffith. The movie was the first Tarzan movie ever made, and is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' original novel Tarzan of the Apes. It is the most faithful to the novel of all the film adaptations, the most notable plot change being the introduction of the character Binns and his role in bringing the Porters to Africa; the novel brought them there through the improbable coincidence of a second mutiny.
[edit] Plot
John and Alice Clayton, Lord and Lady Greystoke (True Boardman and Kathleen Kirkham), are passengers on the Fuwalda, a ship bound for Africa. When the vessel is taken over by mutineers the sailor Binns (George B. French) saves them from being murdered, but they are marooned on the tropical coast. After their deaths their infant son is adopted by Kala, an ape, who raises him as her own. The young Tarzan (Gordon Griffith) grows to maturity among the apes, becoming their king. Binns, returning to find the Claytons after ten years’ captivity among the Arabs, discovers the ape man and travels to England to report his survival to his family. An expedition led by scientist Professor Porter (Thomas Jefferson), a scientist, is launched to investigate. Meanwhile, Kala has been killed by a native, who is killed in turn by the now-adult Tarzan (Elmo Lincoln). The villagers kidnap Porter’s daughter Jane (Enid Markey); Tarzan rescues and romances her, and she comes to accept his love.
[edit] Trivia
- This first adaptation of Tarzan to film is also the most faithful to his portrayal in the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. It adapts only part of the novel on which it is based, the remainder becoming the basis for the sequel, The Romance of Tarzan.
- While Elmo Lincoln is generally credited as the first movie Tarzan, that distinction actually belongs to Gordon Griffith, who plays the character as a boy.
- Lincoln, a powerful but beefy actor, does not conform to the modern expectation of an athletic Tarzan. Nonetheless, he came closer to the ideal in one respect, killing a lion that went berserk on screen. The lion, an aged specimen, was also somewhat handicapped in the struggle by having been drugged for its screen appearance.
