Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

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Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
Movie poster for Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
Directed by	Hugh Hudson
Produced by	Hugh Hudson Stanley S. Canter Garth Thomas
Written by	Robert Towne (as P.H. Vazak) Michael Austin
Starring	Ralph Richardson Ian Holm James Fox Christopher Lambert Andie MacDowell Cheryl Campbell
Music by	John Scott
Cinematography	John Alcott
Editing by	Anne V. Coates
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	30 March 1984
Running time	143 min
Country	UK
Language	English
IMDb profile

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes is a 1984 British film directed by Hugh Hudson and based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel Tarzan of the Apes. Christopher Lambert stars as Tarzan (though the name Tarzan is never used in the film) and Andie MacDowell as Jane; the cast also includes Sir Ralph Richardson, Ian Holm, James Fox, and Cheryl Campbell.

In a departure from most previous Tarzan films, Greystoke returned to Burroughs' original novel for its plot, updating the novel's story in the light of 1980s sensibilities and science. It also utilized a number of corrective ideas first put forth by science fiction author Philip José Farmer in his mock-biography Tarzan Alive, most notably Farmer's explanation of how the speech-deprived ape man was later able to acquire language by showing Tarzan to be a natural mimic.^{[citation needed]}

Greystoke rejected the common film portrayal of Tarzan as a simpleton that was established by Johnny Weissmuller's 1930s renditions, reasserting Burroughs' characterization of an articulate and intelligent human being, not unlike the so-called "new look" films that Sy Weintraub produced in the 1960s.

However, unlike the original novel, Tarzan fails to adapt to civilization, and his return to the wild is portrayed as a matter of necessity rather than choice.

[edit] Trivia

Ralph Richardson, who played the Sixth Earl of Greystoke, died shortly after filming ended, and he received a posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film was dedicated to his memory.

Andie MacDowell proved unable to provide a suitable English accent for her character. Her dialogue was dubbed in post-production by Glenn Close. Ironically, the Jane Porter of Burroughs' original novels is not British but an American from Baltimore, Maryland.

Screenwriter Robert Towne was slated to direct this film based on his screenplay, but he was sacked following the box-office failure of his directorial debut, Personal Best. Towne retaliated by demanding that the name of his dog (P.H. Vazak) appear in the screen credit for his screenplay. Ironically, P.H. Vazak received an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay.