Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph M. Newman (as Joseph Newman)

Writers:

Robert Hill (screenplay), Edgar Rice Burroughs (character)

Stars:

Denny Miller, Cesare Danova, Joanna Barnes

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Denny Miller	...	Tarzan
Cesare Danova	...	Harry Holt
Joanna Barnes	...	Jane Parker
Robert Douglas	...	Col. James Parker

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"

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Plot Keywords:

jungle | jungle love | ape man | bare chested male | sequel | 

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Taglines:

They Challenge the TABOOS of a Forbidden Land !

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Talttumaton Tarzan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film's budget was so miniscule that, when footage from previous M-G-M Tarzan titles is used, there is almost no effort made to disguise that the earlier footage is black-and-white and this film was made in color.

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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.

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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!

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Connections

Edited from Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

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Soundtracks

Liabango
(uncredited)
Written by Thomas Yangha

User Reviews

A memorable Tarzan for the wrong reasons

I remember seeing this in the theater when it was first released and being appalled at its lousiness. So strong was that impression that I remembered now, 45 years later, that I could find it by searching IMDb for "Denny Miller". I talked for days, weeks, months and now years afterward about the miserable "borrowing" of scenes from the original Weissmuller films and color-tinting them in a vain attempt to blend in with the new footage. One example: a burning pygmy village features brown tinted film with flames overprinted. The pygmies calmly go about their quiet life while their huts supposedly burn around them. This is undoubtedly the WORST Tarzan movie ever made. Even Elmo Lincoln is better.