The first Tarzan movie ever made-1918-Elmo Lincoln in Tarzan of the Apes- Full classic film
Tarzan of the Apes is a
1918 American action/adventure silent film directed by
Scott Sidney starring
Elmo Lincoln,
Enid Markey,
George B. French and
Gordon Griffith. The movie was the first
Tarzan movie ever made, and is based on
Edgar Rice Burroughs' original novel Tarzan of the Apes. The movie adapts only the first part of the novel, the remainder becoming the basis for the sequel,
The Romance of Tarzan. The film is considered the most faithful to the novel of all the film adaptations. Its most notable plot change being the introduction of the character Binns and his role in bringing the
Porters to
Africa; the novel brought them there through the improbable coincidence of a second mutiny.
This original silent version of the
Lord of the
Apes is perhaps the truest screen representation of the way Tarzan is envisioned in the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is seems very crude but really isn't. It follows the first story (in as much as it can in the limited time of the feature) very closely. Elmo Lincoln, while no
Adonis, is very adequate in the role. He's not
Johnny Weissmuller...but then
Johnny didn't really look all too much like Tarzan should have either.
John and
Alice Clayton, Lord and
Lady Greystoke (
True Boardman and
Kathleen Kirkham), are passengers on the Fuwalda, a ship bound for Africa. When the vessel is taken over by mutineers the sailor Binns (George B. French) saves them from being murdered, but they are marooned on the tropical coast. After their deaths their infant son is adopted by
Kala, an ape, who raises him as her own. The young Tarzan (Gordon Griffith) grows to maturity among the apes, becoming their king. Binns, returning to find the
Claytons after ten years' captivity among the
Arabs, discovers the ape man and travels to
England to report his survival to his family. An expedition led by scientist
Professor Porter (
Thomas Jefferson) is launched to investigate.
Meanwhile, Kala has been killed by a native, who is killed in turn by the now-adult Tarzan (Elmo Lincoln). The villagers kidnap Porter's daughter
Jane (Enid Markey); Tarzan rescues and romances her, and she comes to accept his love.
Elmo Lincoln - Tarzan
Enid Markey -
Jane Porter
True Boardman -
John Clayton,
Lord Greystoke
Kathleen Kirkham - Alice Clayton, Lady Greystoke
George B. French - Binns, a sailor
Gordon Griffith - Tarzan, younger
Colin Kenny -
William Cecil Clayton
Thomas Jefferson - Professor Porter
Bessie Toner - Bar Maid
Jack Wilson -
Captain of the Fuwalda
Louis Morrison - Innkeeper
Eugene Pallette - uncredited
Fred L.
Wilson -- uncredited
Directed by Scott Sidney
Produced by
William Parsons
Written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel),
Fred Miller and
Lois Weber (
adaptation)
Cinematography
Enrique Juan Vallejo
Editing by
Isadore Bernstein
Distributed by
First National
Release date(s)
January 27, 1918 (
Broadway, New York)
Resources: wikipedia.org, imdb.org
New soundtrack and dubbing: HandyCinema
Music:
Kevin Mac Leod (www.incompetch.com) licensed under
Creative Commons licence http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ .
Attribution 3.0 Unported (
CC BY 3.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
3.0