Greystoke (1984)
Trivia
Andie MacDowell's voice was dubbed by Glenn Close.
When this movie premiered in East Germany, the sentence "The wall comes all around the estate to keep them out, and keep us in" caused a roar in the audience. It was omitted in subsequent screenings.
First English-speaking role in a theatrical movie of Frenchman Christopher Lambert.
Screenwriter Robert Towne was credited for his writing contribution under the name of his sheepdog, P.H. Vazak, reportedly because he was dissatisfied with the re-write of his script by director Hugh Hudson. This meant that when the screenplay received an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Towne's dog was nominated for an Academy Award.
Debut theatrical movie of Andie MacDowell (Miss Jane Porter).
Although the title of the movie has "Tarzan" in it, the main character is called Lord Greystoke or John, but never "Tarzan".
In an alternate ending, Jane ran off into the jungle with Tarzan. It was cut during editing, and no one knows if it still exists.
A group of actors, gymnasts, and circus performers trained eight hours a day for several months to play the apes. Stage 7 at Elstree was their workout gym with ramps, mock trees and limbs, and nets for falls.
This movie originally ran three hours long. The running time was eventually cut down, with several key roles that were turned into bit parts.
Sir Ralph Richardson passed away six months before this movie was released. He was posthumously Oscar nominated in 1985, for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Academy Award for this movie, with the Oscar being won by Haing S. Ngor for The Killing Fields (1984).
The ape suits were so thorough, the actors had arm extensions that could be adapted for walking, hanging, or grasping as the scene required.
The original director of photography was David Watkin. He refused to travel to Africa because of his extreme fear of spiders. John Alcott had prior engagements, so production in Elstree went ahead, with Watkin shooting all studio scenes. He was uncredited.
Christopher Lambert nearly quit the movie because he didn't wish to be separated for so long from his girlfriend, Nathalie Baye.
With a fifty-person crew and forty wigmakers, Rick Baker's workshop became an ape-suit factory, turning out numerous finished suits in assembly-line fashion, in about eight weeks per suit. The suits were far from identical, however, because the script dictated that several of the apes had to be distinguishable as characters. A few even aged over time.
Maryam d'Abo was considered for the role of Miss Jane Porter. When she met with director Hugh Hudson, she felt that he had already cast someone else in his mind. In the end, the part was cast with Andie MacDowell. Hudson and d'Abo met again at a dinner party in 1999, became involved, and married in 2003.
Danny Potts (Tarzan aged 5) and Eric Langlois (Tarzan aged 12) were completely nude in all of their scenes, although Langlois wore a hunting belt for his knife in some scenes.
Glenn Close also voiced Kala, Tarzan's adoptive mother, fifteen years later in Disney's Tarzan (1999).
Stellan Skarsgård was considered to play Tarzan. His son Alexander starred as the title character in The Legend of Tarzan (2016).
It was originally intended that there would be a sequel reuniting the cast, but the movie's poor box-office showing put to rest any immediate follow-up.
Six cast members from Chariots of Fire (1981) appear in this movie: Sir Ian Holm, Cheryl Campbell, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Davenport, Ian Charleson, and Richard Griffiths.
The closing credits dedication to Sir Ralph Richardson reads: "Dedicated To: RALPH RICHARDSON 1903-1983. In Loving Memory."
Lord Esker was originally intended to be in his twenties, and Hugh Grant was one of the choices for the part. Later, director Hugh Hudson decided that the character should be middle-aged, and James Fox was cast.
In a 2012 interview at the London BFI (British Film Insitute), Viggo Mortensen confirmed that he was considered for the role of Tarzan.
Director Hugh Hudson was required to film Eric Langlois in such a way that he appeared less frequently nude than Danny Potts did. Nevertheless, there is one full frontal close-up of Langlois.
The painting in the staircase hall is "Horse Attacked by a Lion" (1769) by George Stubbs. The artist painted several versions of the subject, now shown in galleries like "Tate", London, England, and "Victoria", Melbourne, Australia.
This movie was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1985, Best Make-up, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Sir Ralph Richardson, and Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium, but it failed to win any.
Christopher Lambert received an "introducing" credit, introducing him to American audiences.
Hugh Hudson wanted to re-team with his Chariots of Fire (1981) composer Vangelis, but he was experiencing writer's block, so John Scott took over.
According to Hugh Hudson, the apes are a fictional species like the ones in the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but are heavily based on chimpanzees. Rick Baker was eager to come up with unique looks for individual characters. Tarzan's adoptive ape parents, Silverbeard and Kala, were made to look more like chimps but with smaller ears, the aggressive White Eyes was given a much more brutish gorilla look, and the overweightted Figs was designed to have a more orangutan like appearance.
During preproduction, Peter Elliott was sent by Warner Brothers to the Institute for Primate Studies to gain knowledge about chimpanzees. During that time, he meet and interacted with two chimpanzees who were known for signing, a female named Washoe and a male named Nim Chimpsky.
Robert Towne's original script ran two hundred forty pages.
Deep Roy later played two other apes, Gorilla Kid and Thade's Niece, in Planet of the Apes (2001).
Primate choreographer Peter Elliott also played Silverbeard. He is listed in the credits as "Elliot W. Cane" because an actor had the same name.
Screenwriter Robert Towne was slated to direct this movie based on his screenplay. He was sacked following the box-office failure of his directorial debut, Personal Best (1982).
Daniel Chatto had a bit part, but his scenes were all removed during editing and post-production.
This movie was released 72 years after the novel "Tarzan of the Apes" by Edgar Rice Burroughs was published.
The name of the river boat featured in the movie was the "Lucy Fisher". Also, the name of the ship John and Alice Clayton chartered for their ill-fated voyage is named Fuwalda. The name is never spoken in the movie. However, in the shipwreck scene, a crewman's hat, which has the ship's name on the front, can be seen lying on the shore next to the unconscious Alice Clayton.
Many movie posters for this movie featured one of two long preambles that read: (1) "He was a boy alone in the jungle, innocent of its dangers and awed by its beauty. He became part of a family of apes who raised and protected him. It was the start of a bond that was never broken, and it is the beginning of a timeless and classic adventure . . ." and (2) "In 1886, following a shipwreck off the west coast of Africa, an infant child became part of a family of apes who raised and protected him. As he grew, he learned the laws of the Jungle and eventually claimed the title, Lord of the Apes. Yet, years later, when he was returned to civilization, he would remain uncertain as to which laws he should obey . . . Those of man . . . Or those of the jungle. Now the director of Chariots of Fire (1981), captures this epic adventure of a man caught between two different worlds."
"Mars, the Bringer of War" from Gustav Holst's "The Planets" is the music used in the trailer for this movie.
Brigitte Nielsen was briefly considered for the role of Jane.
Producer David Puttnam had originally planned to produce this movie, but fell out with director Hugh Hudson over creative differences.
First movie directed by Hugh Hudson after Chariots of Fire (1981), which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
According to Burroughs, the apes have a very primitive language. In their language, "tar" means "white" and "zan" means "skin", hence the name Tarzan.
Five different actors portrayed the title Tarzan character at different ages: As an infant, and at ages one, five, twelve, and as an adult.
