Tarzan and the Ape Man Movie (1932) and Some Unknown Facts

Now, I don’t blame Jane. Tarzan calls it paradise, but there’s no plumbing, no electricity, and Cheetah apparently thinks privacy means listening from a different branch. Every neighborhood has that one neighbor—even in the jungle.

Maureen O’Sullivan
Jane

Johnny Weissmuller
Tarzan

W. S. Van Dyke
Director

Behind our comic is Tarzan the Ape Man from 1932, directed by W. S. Van Dyke for MGM. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ characters, it was Johnny Weissmuller’s first Tarzan picture and the first full-length sound Tarzan film. It launched MGM’s long-running series and introduced audiences to Weissmuller opposite Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane. (AFI)

Here are three things you might not know about the people—and problems—behind the picture:

• Tarzan nearly got tangled up in an underwear contract. Weissmuller had already won five Olympic swimming gold medals, but MGM couldn’t simply hire him. He had an exclusive modeling contract with BVD. According to TCM, MGM arranged for some of its major stars to appear in BVD advertisements to secure his release. Apparently, even the future king of the jungle had paperwork to deal with. (TCM)
• Finding Jane wasn’t easy, either. MGM struggled to find the personality it wanted for the role until a photograph of young Irish actress Maureen O’Sullivan reached the casting department. She received a long-term contract, and this became her MGM debut. She and Weissmuller went on to appear together in five more Tarzan pictures. That’s quite a career move from one photograph. (TCM)
• The animal trouble was real. AFI’s production history records that cameraman Steve Bauder narrowly escaped serious injury when a lion attacked him and broke his camera. Another incident involved a hippopotamus charging a makeshift light-reflecting wall that crew members were holding. Those jungle scenes came with dangers a director couldn’t fix by shouting “Cut!” (AFI)

Now settle in and enjoy this old adventure. And if Cheetah offers you the treehouse next door, ask about the neighbors first.

-BJ

Photo credits: Maureen O’Sullivan—Russell Ball, Screenland, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Johnny Weissmuller—MGM publicity photograph, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain in the United States). W. S. Van Dyke—Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection, UCLA Library, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Photos displayed smaller; no other changes.

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Tarzan the Ape Man

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