It occurs to me that if Herman Brix hadn't broken his shoulder and been replaced by Johnny Weismuller at the last minute, Sol Lesser might never have inflicted no less than 5 different illiterate Tarzans on the world (including the 2nd half of Weismuller's run, when MGM gave it up).
"Mine" "Zar" "Go" "Don't" "Night comes" "No" "Mary" "Tantor" "Geeloo"
9 words, the entire vocabulary spoken by Buster Crabbe in "TARZAN THE FEARLESS" (1933).
Wikipedia has an article which explans the utterly-crazy circumstances that led to the production of this film, Sol Lesser's 1st of many Tarzans.
Despite Crabbe's Tarzan having an even-more limited vocabulary than Johnny Weismuller's (on Lesser's insistence-- something he maintained until he retired in the late 50s), in some ways the film has more of the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs than MGM's series. It's acknowledged that Tarzan is the heir of a huge estate in England, and fortune-hunter Jeff Herbert actually goes in search of Tarzan due to having a letter promising him ten thousand dollars for proof of Tarzan's death, to clear the path for someone else to inherit the title!
The story features one of Burrough's patented "lost tribes" living in the African jungle, in this case, a group of refugees from Ancient Egypt. And, at the end, Mary Brooks, whose scientist father has befriended Tarzan, makes it her mission to educate him! The finale, where his Chimpanzee friend has found and turned on the old-fashioned record player, and we see chimps, a gorilla and an elephant all dancing to the music, is hilarious.
I've long come to feel that Buster Crabbe was one of the most charismatic, likable actors to ever work in Hollywood. And watching this again, all I could think of was... OH, IF ONLY he had a "proper" script to work with. I probably would have ranked him up there with my favorite, Ron Ely!
And here's a wild bit of trivia. "Jiggs", the chimpanzee, actually appeared in all 3 unrelated TARZAN films series of the 1930s! (MGM, Sol Lesser, and Edgar Rice Burroughs)
TARZAN THE APE MAN TARZAN THE FEARLESS TARZAN AND HIS MATE THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN
He passed away in 1938.
"Mine" "Zar" "Go" "Don't" "Night comes" "No" "Mary" "Tantor" "Geeloo"
9 words, the entire vocabulary spoken by Buster Crabbe in "TARZAN THE FEARLESS" (1933).
Wikipedia has an article which explans the utterly-crazy circumstances that led to the production of this film, Sol Lesser's 1st of many Tarzans.
Despite Crabbe's Tarzan having an even-more limited vocabulary than Johnny Weismuller's (on Lesser's insistence-- something he maintained until he retired in the late 50s), in some ways the film has more of the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs than MGM's series. It's acknowledged that Tarzan is the heir of a huge estate in England, and fortune-hunter Jeff Herbert actually goes in search of Tarzan due to having a letter promising him ten thousand dollars for proof of Tarzan's death, to clear the path for someone else to inherit the title!
The story features one of Burrough's patented "lost tribes" living in the African jungle, in this case, a group of refugees from Ancient Egypt. And, at the end, Mary Brooks, whose scientist father has befriended Tarzan, makes it her mission to educate him! The finale, where his Chimpanzee friend has found and turned on the old-fashioned record player, and we see chimps, a gorilla and an elephant all dancing to the music, is hilarious.
I've long come to feel that Buster Crabbe was one of the most charismatic, likable actors to ever work in Hollywood. And watching this again, all I could think of was... OH, IF ONLY he had a "proper" script to work with. I probably would have ranked him up there with my favorite, Ron Ely!
And here's a wild bit of trivia. "Jiggs", the chimpanzee, actually appeared in all 3 unrelated TARZAN films series of the 1930s! (MGM, Sol Lesser, and Edgar Rice Burroughs)
TARZAN THE APE MAN TARZAN THE FEARLESS TARZAN AND HIS MATE THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN
He passed away in 1938.