This movie has little connection with the 1932 original. It does, however, have lifted footage (tinted to more-or-less match the color), including obvious footage of Weissmuller's ...
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Title: Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959)
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Tarzan the Ape Man
(1932)
Certificate: Passed
Action
|
Adventure
|
Romance
Director:
W.S. Van Dyke
Stars:
Johnny Weissmuller,
Neil Hamilton,
C. Aubrey Smith
Tarzan's Magic Fountain
(1949)
Action
|
Adventure
|
Fantasy
Director:
Lee Sholem
Stars:
Lex Barker,
Brenda Joyce,
Albert Dekker
Tarzan's Peril
(1951)
Action
|
Adventure
Director:
Byron Haskin
Stars:
Lex Barker,
Virginia Huston,
George Macready
Tarzan the Ape Man
(1981)
Adventure
|
Drama
Director:
John Derek
Stars:
Bo Derek,
Richard Harris,
Miles O'Keeffe
Tarzan the Magnificent
(1960)
Action
|
Adventure
Director:
Robert Day
Stars:
Gordon Scott,
Jock Mahoney,
Betta St. John
Tarzan and the Lost Safari
(1957)
Action
|
Adventure
Director:
H. Bruce Humberstone
Stars:
Gordon Scott,
Robert Beatty,
Yolande Donlan
Tarzan and the Trappers
(TV Movie 1960)
Action
|
Adventure
Directors:
Charles F. Haas,
Sandy Howard, and 1 more credit »
Stars:
Gordon Scott,
Eve Brent,
Rickie Sorensen
Tarzan's Fight for Life
(1958)
Action
|
Adventure
Director:
H. Bruce Humberstone
Stars:
Gordon Scott,
Eve Brent,
Rickie Sorensen
Tarzan and the Amazons
(1945)
Action
|
Adventure
Director:
Kurt Neumann
Stars:
Johnny Weissmuller,
Brenda Joyce,
Johnny Sheffield
Tarzan and the Mermaids
(1948)
Action
|
Adventure
|
Romance
Director:
Robert Florey
Stars:
Johnny Weissmuller,
Brenda Joyce,
George Zucco
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
(1955)
Action
|
Adventure
Director:
Harold D. Schuster
Stars:
Gordon Scott,
Vera Miles,
Peter van Eyck
Tarzan of the Apes
(1918)
Action
|
Adventure
Director:
Scott Sidney
Stars:
Elmo Lincoln,
Enid Markey,
True Boardman
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Denny Miller | ... | Tarzan | |
| Cesare Danova | ... | Harry Holt | |
| Joanna Barnes | ... | Jane Parker | |
| Robert Douglas | ... | Col. James Parker | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
This movie has little connection with the 1932 original. It does, however, have lifted footage (tinted to more-or-less match the color), including obvious footage of Weissmuller's vine-swinging. Miller is not once called Tarzan in the movie, and his yell is also lifted Weissmuller. The elephants who wreck the pygmy village are lifted/tinted from the original, but the "pygmies" (real in the original) were kids from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. Costumes are left over from "King Solomon's Mines" so that more stock footage could be lifted. And the crocodile fight is taken from "Tarzan and his Mate" Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Taglines:
They Challenge the TABOOS of a Forbidden Land ! See more »Parents Guide:
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
October 1959 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Talttumaton Tarzan See more »Filming Locations:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USAEdit
Box Office
Gross USA:
$1,438,800Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$3,727,800Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Jane Parker: His master is not an ape - He's more of a man than you are!
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Directly steals story points, footage, and sound from 1950's King Solomon's Mines. See more »Goofs
The elephant that is shown charging soon before Jane is picked up by Tarzan is an Asian elephant, not an African elephant. The fake large ears are noticeable as Tarzan says, "Un-ga-wa" to the elephant to lift Jane and himself onto it; they are almost falling off. Asian elephants are less aggressive than African, and are more easily trained. Also, they don't live in Africa. See more »Quotes
Harry Holt: [When Jane offers water to Tarzan's pet chimp] Why don't you offer him my pants and helmet as well- One ape is as good as another!Jane Parker: His master is not an ape - He's more of a man than you are!
See more »
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I had heard about this turkey for decades, but finally caught it on TCM in the interest of completeness (I've seen every other sound Tarzan movie, and most of the silents). This one is definitely at the bottom of the heap. What were they thinking?
About the only redeeming feature is Shorty Rogers' musical tracks, but even they sound like they were written for something else (and probably were). Many have commented on the borrowed footage and cheesy effects, with the fight with a toy stuffed tiger probably being the most laughable of all. Denny Miller looks like the original Muscle Beach boy, with his blond searchlight of a brylcreamed ducktail haircut (who does his hair in the jungle?). He says a few more words than Miles O'Keefe did in the 1981 version (zero, in that case), but not many. I think "kill?" and "money?" were his most memorable lines.
Oh, and I do think this is worse than the 1981 film - that one at least had Bo Derek naked. The Jane in this one is probably the least sexy Jane in the entire filmed Tarzan corpus - she remains prim and proper throughout and we never see her our of her ankle-length safari dress. Her impulsive decision to run off with Tarzan at the end is completely unconvincing. As for the villain, he somehow morphs into a nice guy at the end. Well, why wouldn't he be, since he is going to make off with the entire ivory stash from the elephants' graveyard?
For completists only. You have been warned.