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

Over 300 locals in Morgan City, LA, were hired as cannibal extras for $1.75 a day.

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Connections

Followed by Tarzan and the Brown Prince (1972)

User Reviews

Elmo had to be the guy...

...because of his already established reputation as a Hollywood strong man (e.g. his role as the Mighty Man of Valor in the 1916 DW Griffith classic "Intolerance").

Also, the image of Tarzan in 1918 was not that of a lithe gymnast like Christopher Lambert in "Greystoke", but of a man powerful enough to wrestle lions. Strength equalled bulk.

There's an interesting piece of trivia attached to that movie and Uganda (that's in East Africa) where I'm now based. There's a popular myth around here that the 1918 version of "Tarzan of the Apes" was filmed on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. In fact it was shot, I believe, in Louisiana.