Cheap Tarzan of the Apes (Silent) (B&W) (Video) (Scott Sidney) Price

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Customer Reviews of Tarzan of the Apes (Silent) (B&W)

classic!
This version of Tarzan was filmed in and around my hometown of Morgan City, LA and that is how I initially became interested in it. I have to admit that using the swamps of South Louisiana is NOT an accurate representation of a jungle, but it suits the film. Actually there are a lot of elements to this version of the film that may seem "odd" or "unusual," but that is one of its main beauties. Instead, there is an awesome story-line that follows the book quite well (better than any other version I am told.) Indeed, the movie is crude (it was made almost 70 years before I was even born!) but the strong story-line appears more fluid and noticeable because of this. If you are a purist or an afficianado, you would do well to see this classic! For the rest of us, however, there are other versions that offer more "Hollywood sheen." But, of course for the purists, you cannot pass up the chance to see the book "come to life!"

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An Absolute Gem
I have this on DVD and it's a cracker. I can't understand the criticism of Elmo Lincoln. Some of the comments made border on the ludicrous. Him one big feller and looks like the very sort of guy to survive in the jungle! Perhaps viewers are getting too used to the current fad for 'Tarzan - Male Model'! (Did y'see the last 'TV' one? - aaargh!) My copy has an incredible soundtrack which uses extracts from old 78 records, which has been put together with such care an effectiveness that there should have been an award. A joy from beginning to end, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

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Elmo Lincoln as the first "Tarzan of the Apes" in film
Actually, if you want to be picky, Elmo Lincoln was not the first actor to play "Tarzan of the Apes." Gordon Griffith plays the younger Tarzan before Lincoln, a former Arkansas police officer, takes over the role as the adult Ape Man. This 1918 film directed by Scott Sidney is fairly faithful to Edgar Rice Burrough's popular novel. The plot follows the novel more closely than does any other Tarzan movie. John and Alice Clayton (True Broadman and Kathleen Kirkham) are marooned by mutineers on the coast of Africa, where their son is born. After his parents die, the newborn Tarzan is adopted by Kala, one of the great apes. As he grows up, Tarzan finds his father's knife and is able to use it to become King of the Apes. Tarzan meets up with Binns (George B. Finch), the sailor who saved his parents, and then Professor Porter (Thomas Jefferson) shows up to investigate the unbelievable story of the white man raised by apes. Tarzan kills the native who killed Kala and rescues the Professor's daughter, Jane (Enid Markey) when she is kidnapped. Unlike Burrough's novel, the film version does not put off the happy ending between Tarzan and Jane for another day. "Tarzan of the Apes" is crudely made, but does remain true to the novel, something that would become less and less true of the dozens of Tarzan movies that would follow in its wake. Plus, the movie does it all in under an hour! However, if anything, Lincoln looks TOO muscular to be the jungle hero. Still, this film has a special place in the history of Tarzan.