Tarzan of the Apes (1918)

The plot follows the novel more closely than does any other Tarzan movie. John and Alice Clayton take ship for Africa. Mutineers maroon them. After his parents die the newborn Tarzan is ... See full summary »

Director:

Scott Sidney

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel), Fred Miller,

Stars:

Elmo Lincoln, Enid Markey, True Boardman

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Elmo Lincoln	...	Tarzan
Enid Markey	...	Jane Porter
True Boardman	...	John Clayton - Lord Greystoke
Kathleen Kirkham	...	Alice Clayton - Lady Greystoke
George B. French	...	Binns - a Sailor
Gordon Griffith	...	Tarzan - Younger
Colin Kenny	...	Greystoke's Nephew
Thomas Jefferson	...	Professor Porter
Bessie Toner	...	Bar Maid
Jack Wilson	...	Captain of the Fuwalda
Louis Morrison	...	Innkeeper
Eugene Pallette
Fred L. Wilson

Storyline

The plot follows the novel more closely than does any other Tarzan movie. John and Alice Clayton take ship for Africa. Mutineers maroon them. After his parents die the newborn Tarzan is taken by a great Ape, Kala. Later the boy finds his father's knife and uses it to become King of Apes. Binns, the sailor who saved the Claytons and who has been held by Arab slavers for ten years, finds the young Tarzan and then heads for England to notify his kin. A scientist arrives to check out Binns' story. Tarzan, now a man, kills the native who killed Kala; when their chief is killed the black villagers appease Tarzan with gifts and prayers. The scientist's daughter Jane is carried off by a native, rescued by Tarzan (who has burnt the native village), aggressively loved by him ("Tarzan is a man, and men do not force the love of women"), and at last accepts him with open arms.

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Plot Keywords:

tarzan | ape | knife | gift | child nudity | 

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Taglines:

Was produced in the jungles during 11 months of the most tremendous effort at faithfulness to detail in emphasizing all the powerful situations in the original story

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

27 January 1918 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tarzan bei den Affen

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$1,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Film Corporation of America

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Young men from the New Orleans Athletic Club played the ape parts.

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Connections

Followed by Tarzan the Tiger (1929)

User Reviews

Maybe silent movies aren't my thing...

Ever since I started reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' original Tarzan novels, I've been anxious to get my hands on the different interpretations of Jane's "forest god." Well, maybe silent movies aren't my thing, however, like the guy who said he likes to watch silent movies and imagine what it would have taken to create such a picture with the technology they had at the time, I suppose it was interesting. You think they would have had better cutting of the shot with the lion, seeing as it was touted as an actual lion kill. (Hell, just let the camera roll!) But I guess the stuff of legend is mysterious, cryptic, and inspired by what may have been.

I cram to understand how somebody can call this "very interesting," but let it be said that I agree wholly with John G. Olson.