Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1912 pulp magazine adventure,
"Tarzan of the Apes," was a natural for the big screen and director Sidney
Scott made it work. Almost. Louisiana didn't look much like Africa, extras
in monkey suits were a distraction, and star Elmo Lincoln . . . well, he
went too far when he killed a doped-up lion on camera. But "Tarzan of the
Apes" made big money, over a million dollars in fact, and Scott came back
with a sequel and a serial. Lincoln's successor, paunchy Gene Pollar, wearing
an over-the-shoulder animal skin and leggings, was not what audiences wanted,
but the actors who followed him were no big improvement. P. Dempsey Tablor
was a middle-aged balding fellow wearing a fright wig. Jim Pierce looked
like a lifeguard. The role of Tarzan cried out for a younger man, a wild
child. An idealization of man pure in nature running free and honest was
how illustrator J. Allen St. John depicted Tarzan in Burroughs' stories. In '32,
MGM found young Johnny Weissmuller (pictured
here with Maureen O'Sullivan). He was an
Olympic swimmer who won 67 world
championships, five gold medals, set 94 American and 51 world records, AND
broke the one-minute mark in the 100-meter free style. MGM reduced Tarzan
to a monosyllabic lug, but who cared? Women were going bananas over hunky
Johnny. Kids were going ape. Even animals loved him. The rhino Tarzan battled
on screen was actually a pet that followed Weissmuller around the MGM lot.
After nine Tarzan pictures, Weissmuller moved over to Columbia and new success
as Jungle Jim (cartoonist Alex Raymond's creation) in 16 action-packed pictures.
Today, it's Disneyland's Tarzan, young Cameron Hutzler, who is turning
heads.